We were stuck in Gardiner and strolling around town when we met Doug and Tah, a local couple out walking a very friendly pack of three dogs. Of course I wanted to meet the dogs. After talking for a while Doug, a landscape architect working in Yellowstone, offered to give us a ride to Grant Village so we could catch up with our permit and get back on trail. The next morning he picked us up at our hotel and we headed back into the park.
Unfortunately Tah couldn’t join us, but she packed us each an awesome breakfast bowl with spiced oat milk, apples, grains, sprouts, and edible flower petals (quite an amazing and delicious surprise). Doug took his time driving us back through the park. He pointed out his favorite spots and even stopped at several spots along the way so we could get out and look around! I wish we could have spent more time with these awesome people!
After dropping us off at Grant Village, Doug headed out and we started off to West Thumb Geyser Basin to spend some time wandering around the thermals before camping for the night. We had no Idea what to expect (which is common for us on this trail) and we’re pleasantly surprised. The West Thumb of Yellowstone Lake is a caldera within a caldera. It is deeper and younger than Yellowstone Lake and its shoreline is littered with thermal springs and geyser cones. We walked along the boardwalks until it began to hail lightly and we decided to start the walk back to Grant Village.
This is when the storm really began dumping on us. The hail reached the size of dimes and nickels and kept coming. The lightning was bright and close. As we hunkered in the forest waiting to finish the road walk, hail accumulated all along the blacktop. When the storm showed signs of weakening we started the final miles of our walk and trudged through ankle deep ice water and hailstones. Eventually a park employee asked us to jump into the bed of her truck and drove us back to Grant. The park closed the road and sent snow plows to clear the 2-3 inches of hail accumulation. Apparently snow fell elsewhere in the park as well.
Finally warm-ish and dry-ish inside the cafe in Grant, we met up with Space Maker (a previous friend from the AT) and a few other thru hikers and swapped trail info and stories before walking back to our campsite to find out how our tent fared in the storm. Luckily the hail wasn’t nearly as bad at our campsite and our gear was safe. We spent most of the evening hanging around the campground bathroom, occasionally warming our hands with the hand dryer and chatting with Fire, the other thru hiker at our camp. We all turned-in for the evening and parted ways in the morning.
Although much of the front country in the park is fairly developed, it was still full of cool stuff to see (and lots of people as well). Seeing some of the features and the fragility of the crust around the thermals, I do understand the need for some of this development to make it safe and accessible to visitors. Nonetheless, we were glad to head into the backcountry and get away from the automobile tourists. The following day we finally got the chance to catch up with our backcountry campsites and headed for Upper Fire Hole.
On the way through the wetlands to Shoshone Geyser Basin, Rattle fell almost chest deep into a bog! I wish I had a video! Her phone was submerged but survived.Â
We finally reached the basin and got to walk among the thermals in the backcountry without all the tourists and boardwalk. The landscape was surreal and alien and again caught us by surprise. Suddenly we found ourselves on scorched ground with sulfurous steam all around while walking along an otherwise serene creek. It was gorgeous!
Upper Fire Hole campsite lies along the official CDT and for once in a very long time we shared camp with several thru hikers! We were earlier to camp than most and pitched our tent with an incredible view of the steaming spring beside the campsite. We ate well and hurried to bed, knowing the next morning we would reach Old Faithful Village and a $17 AYCE breakfast buffet!! National parks sometimes come with perks for people like us!