Of all the random solo adventures I had on the trip, I think this one was my favorite.
If you don’t want to read a lot just go to the Flickr slideshow. Pictures are worth more than the words.
So now I’m alone in Yellowstone. Justin and Jane have left for Glacier Nat’l Park. My car is in the shop so I can’t leave. I’ve currently got a sweet little camping spot nestled away from the RV’s and loud screaming children. My only neighbors are those with the balls to have hiked to here on foot, or biked a long distance (hiker / biker campsite). Good ol’ peaceful solitude.
So I’ve got two days to kill, what to do? First in the line of business was to get a Nat’l Geographic topographic map of the area and check out the trails. I was disappointed I didn’t reach the top of any mountains during my Tetons endeavor, so I scoped for the nearest mountain to my campsite. I find Mt. Washburn. Getting there requires 9 miles hiking out, about 3,000 feet of elevation gain, then hiking the same 9 miles back. That’ll kill a day. Mission accepted.
I plan to set out the next morning at 7am. I leave the next morning at 10am. The first part of the hike required me to hike down the road about a mile to the trailhead. The trailhead starts right next to a large boulder comically labeled “Glacial Boulder” in red letters. I start down the “Seven Mile Hole” trail. During the first part of the trail I get several opportunities to wander not far off the trail and get a wonderful view of Yellowstone canyon. It was nice to look out on the canyon this time without a hundred other tourists standing next to me.
As a side note, I was noticing quite an abundance of crows in all of the national parks. Come to find out it’s because of all the tourists, they draw the scavengers in huge amounts. It was rare if I saw any other birds when wandering the front country. However, as soon as I hiked maybe 2-3 miles from the road in Yellowstone I didn’t notice any more crows. That was a breath of fresh air.
After hiking through 2 or 3 miles I came upon the “Mt. Washburn” trail. I notice a sign that says “Bear Frequenting Area.” “Awesome,” I thought. Maybe I would get to see a bear. I made sure to stay alert, because even though I wanted to see a bear, I wanted to notice before I was 5 feet from it and I startle it.
Mordor
Most of the hike up to this point is through forest. Of course, I’m in Yellowstone, so every mile or so I come upon a tiny hot spring hidden back in the woods. It was interesting hiking through lush greenery and then walking into a small piece of Mordor. Even thirty minutes after hiking through a hot spring you can still smell the sulphur because you’re downwind.
The Meadow (Open this in Flickr and you can see my destination)
After a little debacle in an open meadow where I lose the trail temporarily (and run into some other hikers) I reach the point where the elevation starts to change. Most of the trail is relatively flat until the last 3-4 miles going up the mountain. Then it has no mercy. Unlike other trails there were no switchbacks, it just went straight up, balls to the wall. Usually when hiking I don’t ever stop and take rests but I occasionally stopped to breath a couple breaths and collect myself. Eventually I approached an overlook and I thought I had reached the peak. It had started raining a bit ago, and as I reached the peak it shifted into hail. I felt epic, cold hail stinging my arms as I stand on top of this mighty mountain. The hail dwindles and I snap a few shots then I look and notice that there’s a higher peak a bit away. Mt. Washburn is the highest peak in the area so if there’s a higher peak I haven’t reached my destination. The hike did feel a little short for 9 miles. “This isn’t it” I figured so I continued on the trail.
Recommended, Open in Flickr, "view large"
Then I reach another peak and notice the trail still continues. Come to find out the trail goes up and over a couple of ridges before reaching the peak of Washburn. Eventually I notice a small tower on one of the peaks in the distance, that tower being the old fire lookout tower on top of Washburn. So it turns out even though it was only 3,000 feet elevation gain it sums to more than that because you’re going up and down a couple of peaks to get there.
I went over a couple of these
As I hike along the ridge the view was spectacular, you can see the giant fissure in the earth from Yellowstone Canyon and behind that Yellowstone Lake (also huge). Along with all of the other spectacular surrounding mountain peaks, if you looked hard enough you could see the Tetons way off in the distance (they’re so small you can barely see them in the pictures). Of course the forecast was for rain for today, but things go differently in WY for rain the NC. Instead of being one giant cloudy storm with rain starting occasionally the clouds out west are more broken apart, and you can even see which ones carry rain or not. You can even look and see where the rain is and where it’s going. The coolest thing is seeing the rain falling a few miles away beneath another cloud, yet it’s entirely sunny where you stand. Alongside all of the amazing things you could see packs of longhorns roaming down the slopes a ways.
View from the Ridge
Interesting thing here, you can’t roam off the trail, or at least you would be a dick if you did. The surrounding landscape is tundra, practically a green desert. The harsh cold and sun exposure means the plants and animals that do live here are extremely fragile. Step on it and it may take ten years to recover.
The Fire Lookout Tower
I finally approached what was Mt. Washburn, I notice a group of three people also hiking along a ways in front of me. I reached the fire lookout tower and am greeted by a sign “Mt. Washburn Elev. 10,240 ft. 3,122 mt.” I was finally here. The view was still amazing. You could walk into the tower and they even had an info-graphic describing everything you see. Apparently Mt. Washburn resides on one edge of the huge Yellowstone caldera, from here you could see the remains of the entire ancient crater. One of the people in the group who arrived at the same time actually lived here and was quite knowledgeable about the place. I listened in as she told her friends all about what was around us and even asked a few questions. While we were standing outside we were even delighted by the presence of a tiny Pika running around the rocks. (Pronounced “Pike-ah”) The little thing was like a mouse, but it hopped around like a rabbit (in the rabbit family) and it had big sonar dish ears. Cute as all could be.
Pika
I enjoyed the view for quite a while before I finally had to leave, didn’t want to get caught hiking after sunset. I learned from my fellow hiker friend that bears frequent most from 6-9am and 6-9pm so I was still stupidly excited at the prospect of seeing one. If you know me you may notice I tend to clear my throat often(I don’t know why). I figured this was would alert any bears of my presence before I got to close. Well, I didn’t have to worry about that…
After the descent (which was quite painful in the rocks because I was of course hiking in Fivefingers) it was back to hiking through the woods and meadows. Things were soggy now thanks to the rain earlier so there were mosquitoes everywhere. FUCKING MOSQUITOES. I must have killed a thousand. The entire way 3 seconds didn’t pass at a time before I felt another one bite me and I slapped it off my arm. Maybe 3 got the opportunity to draw blood before meeting their demise. I was hoping it would rain again so I could don my rain jacket without sweating my ass off and it would block my arms from the mosquitoes. I didn’t have to worry about bears because I kept getting so pissed off I would scream at the mosquitoes. Grugrungungrugnn…
So after hours of that I was finally back within range of the front country. I started seeing crows again (meh). I decided to take another look at the Canyon before I reached the road and relax for my last few seconds of solitude. It was pretty close to dark when I arrived at the campsite. I arrived to be greeted by a couple of cyclists who had set up camp near me, both named “Steve.” They were doing a little bike touring and had ridden miles to get here. I regret not making conversation with them; I really have no excuse even though I was tired. I cooked some soup and passed out. A long beautiful day and experience behind me.
Next Chapter: Hayden Valley and the Mercy of the Buffalo
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