One of my amusements in the winter is to plot out backpacking routes. I can entertain myself for hours staring at maps, trying to connect points of interest into a walkable route. That’s the great thing about hiking as a pastime – there are always more places to go, more trails to walk. Finding the time to walk them is the biggest challenge.
Yellowstone is on every hiker’s life list. The combination of wildlife, thermal features, and huge chunks of wilderness are an irresistible attraction. I had hiked Yellowstone once before. After I graduated college in 1981 my dad gave me $200 as a present. Armed with that wealth, I loaded up my 1964 Chevy Nova with 3 friends and gear and headed north. We backpacked the Olympic Peninsula for 4 days, then headed east to the Rainbow Festival in the Okanagon National Forest. I decided to drive my car as far north as I could. That turned out not to be very far. The old Chevy had 350k miles on it, and the timing gear broke in a desolate spot between Calgary and Banff.
I abandoned the car and began hitching back home. I took a detour to Gardiner MT along the way. Using a gas station map for navigation, I hiked east into the Absorkies for 3 days and then south down the Hellroaring River for 2 days to Tower Junction in Yellowstone, where I resumed hitching my way back to CA. It was a fine hike through some very wild country.
But I have always wanted to hike through the heart of Yellowstone, not just around its edges, and thus spent some time sketching out a better-planned route. The one I laid out heads south along Yellowstone Lake into the Thorofare country; then east along the wild southern margins of the lake; stops by remote geyser basins near Heart and Shoshone Lakes; cuts through Old Faithful where I could resupply; north through more geyser country; east through the Hayden Valley stronghold of wolves and bison; then south through the Pelican Valley and the east side of Yellowstone Lake to complete the circuit.
The pandemic year of 2020 seemed about as good a time as any to do this hike. Hiking the PCT or other long trails is a bad idea – you have to go into small towns once a week or so to resupply. The locals are not anxious to host grubby hikers, and this grubby hiker would not be anxious to eat or sleep in their accommodations. A loop route with minimal need to resupply is much safer for all concerned.
The route I devised totals about 150 miles, with no big climbs (it is a circumnavigation of the caldera, after all). I planned on taking 9 days, with daily mileages of 10 – 27 miles. The Park requires hikers to camp only in designated campgrounds, which complicates and constrains the route. But I worked out a route, got the permits for it, and here it is:
A loop through the heart of Yellowstone. Icons show campsites and thermal areas. The start point is at Nine Mile TH, where the road intersects the east side of Yellowstone Lake. Click for a larger view.
The other thing needed besides a route was a hiking partner. Normally I am happy to hike by myself, but Yellowstone is famously full of bears. Bears rarely attack humans, but when they do it is usually individual humans. Attacks on groups just about never happen.
Fortunately, my friend and former biotech colleague Dan has been getting into long-distance hiking. When I suggested he join me, he did not hesitate. We did a shakedown hike (the High Lonesome Route), planned out our meals and gear, got packed up and drove to Yellowstone on June 30.
Our main logistic problem was resupply. I have carried nine days of food on hikes before. It is possible to carry this much food but it is unpleasant. Normally one can ship resupply boxes to Old Faithful. But the PO was closed due to the pandemic. Our best bet was to find a lodge or store in the Old Faithful industrial tourist complex that would hold a box for us.
The first establishment we talked to was sympathetic but had no storage facilities and sent us to a second. The person we talked to there was an avid hiker, and agreed to hold our resupply on the condition that we not name them nor their facility. Fair enough.
With that bit of business taken care of, we enjoyed a leisurely cruise through the park to Canyon CG, where we got bison sloppy joes at the grill and turned in for the night, dreaming of bison and wolves and grizzlies.
Hey Drew! This is so cool! I love the story of your first encounter with Yellowstone, not thwarted by a broken down Chevy. I am looking forward to following your adventures! Thanks for sharing.