Joey
walking somewhere
- Joined
- Apr 1, 2014
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I find myself sitting here stuck in Salt Lake City for the weekend. I was hoping to find temporary work around town, but nothing was available. I thought about a quick backpack into the mountains, but I'm not sure I want to sleep in the rain. So I started drinking beer, and looking through old backpacking pictures. Here is a quick report of some pretty country up in the north west corner of Yellowstone National Park.
I did this solo trip back in July of 2013. It was a 4 day, 3 night backpacking loop. Here is the route:
Day 1. I started at the Indian Creek Campground, and headed up towards Bighorn Pass. What a beautiful area. Open meadows, surrounded by several peaks:
Soon I entered the Gallatin Bear Management Area. There are probably around 20 bear management areas in Yellowstone. These areas each have specific rules for use during the year. This is the only one that makes me nervous. Its also the only one they recommend traveling in a group of 4 or more.
Looking up at the pass:
The hike up to the pass is beautiful. There are good views from the top, but much of the area has been burned.
Looking east where I had hiked up from:
Looking west:
The trail heading down to the Bighorn Meadows and Gallatin River:
The wildflowers were in full bloom as I made my way down.
Soon I reached the Bighorn Meadows, and set up camp at backcountry site WB6. It was roughly 14 miles for the day.
One of the first things I noticed when I got to camp was that there was an easy tree to climb. I had a pretty good string of bear encounters going that year. My 2 previous trips included spending a night in an outhouse while a grizzly curiously circled around, and climbing a tree in the dark while a large grizzly huffed and puffed below. So I really wasn't shocked when another grizzly came running into camp behind me as I cooked dinner. I ran up the tree, and watched as the bear circled camp, trying to hide. I lost him in the woods, but could here him the rest of the night.
I would find out a few days later from some other backpackers that this same grizzly was running through everyone's camp that night in the Bighorn Meadows. 2 groups hiked back to the HWY 191 trailhead and slept there. Because I hiked down from the other direction, I didn't get any heads up about the bear.
Day 2. After not getting a great nights sleep, I wasn't looking forward to the 24 miles I had to hike to Shelf Lake. Here is a shot of camp in the morning:
I headed 2.3 miles down the meadows to the cut off trail with the Fawn Pass Trail.
I climbed up about 300 feet to reach the Fawn Pass Trail, and headed down the valley towards Fan Creek. Very beautiful open meadows here:
I decided to take a short cut. Instead of hiking up Fan Creek, I continued on to HWY 191, and hiked up 4 miles to Specimen Creek. I followed the north fork of Specimen Creek to Shelf Lake.
My total miles for the day was around 20 miles. I set up camp in the trees:
Shelf Lake:
Day 3. I headed off for Crescent Lake and High Lake.
Crescent Lake:
Soon I was at High Lake:
From High Lake, I still had another 8.5 miles to go to reach my camp at Sportsman Lake. And it was 5pm. I hustled back through the Gallatin Bear Management Area, passing through some of my favorite meadows.
It was getting dark when I dropped down to Sportsman Lake. Here is the patrol cabin near the lake:
I made camp at dusk:
Day 4. Sportsman Lake is one of my favorite campsites in the park. Here are some pictures from the morning:
You can see horses grazing. A horse party was camped at another camping spot on the lake:
I headed up to Electric Pass.
Looking out at Electric Peak:
Heading down to the east:
Looking back towards Electric Peak:
I reached the road, and hiked back to my car. The end.
Here is a video slide show:
Featured image for home page:
I did this solo trip back in July of 2013. It was a 4 day, 3 night backpacking loop. Here is the route:
Day 1. I started at the Indian Creek Campground, and headed up towards Bighorn Pass. What a beautiful area. Open meadows, surrounded by several peaks:
Soon I entered the Gallatin Bear Management Area. There are probably around 20 bear management areas in Yellowstone. These areas each have specific rules for use during the year. This is the only one that makes me nervous. Its also the only one they recommend traveling in a group of 4 or more.
Looking up at the pass:
The hike up to the pass is beautiful. There are good views from the top, but much of the area has been burned.
Looking east where I had hiked up from:
Looking west:
The trail heading down to the Bighorn Meadows and Gallatin River:
The wildflowers were in full bloom as I made my way down.
Soon I reached the Bighorn Meadows, and set up camp at backcountry site WB6. It was roughly 14 miles for the day.
One of the first things I noticed when I got to camp was that there was an easy tree to climb. I had a pretty good string of bear encounters going that year. My 2 previous trips included spending a night in an outhouse while a grizzly curiously circled around, and climbing a tree in the dark while a large grizzly huffed and puffed below. So I really wasn't shocked when another grizzly came running into camp behind me as I cooked dinner. I ran up the tree, and watched as the bear circled camp, trying to hide. I lost him in the woods, but could here him the rest of the night.
I would find out a few days later from some other backpackers that this same grizzly was running through everyone's camp that night in the Bighorn Meadows. 2 groups hiked back to the HWY 191 trailhead and slept there. Because I hiked down from the other direction, I didn't get any heads up about the bear.
Day 2. After not getting a great nights sleep, I wasn't looking forward to the 24 miles I had to hike to Shelf Lake. Here is a shot of camp in the morning:
I headed 2.3 miles down the meadows to the cut off trail with the Fawn Pass Trail.
I climbed up about 300 feet to reach the Fawn Pass Trail, and headed down the valley towards Fan Creek. Very beautiful open meadows here:
I decided to take a short cut. Instead of hiking up Fan Creek, I continued on to HWY 191, and hiked up 4 miles to Specimen Creek. I followed the north fork of Specimen Creek to Shelf Lake.
My total miles for the day was around 20 miles. I set up camp in the trees:
Shelf Lake:
Day 3. I headed off for Crescent Lake and High Lake.
Crescent Lake:
Soon I was at High Lake:
From High Lake, I still had another 8.5 miles to go to reach my camp at Sportsman Lake. And it was 5pm. I hustled back through the Gallatin Bear Management Area, passing through some of my favorite meadows.
It was getting dark when I dropped down to Sportsman Lake. Here is the patrol cabin near the lake:
I made camp at dusk:
Day 4. Sportsman Lake is one of my favorite campsites in the park. Here are some pictures from the morning:
You can see horses grazing. A horse party was camped at another camping spot on the lake:
I headed up to Electric Pass.
Looking out at Electric Peak:
Heading down to the east:
Looking back towards Electric Peak:
I reached the road, and hiked back to my car. The end.
Here is a video slide show:
Featured image for home page:
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