Days 26-30: Into the Woods, on Foot
Day 26
With backcountry permit in hand Jonathan and I packed up at the Yellowstone Canyon campground and set off for three days in the woods. We planned to spend five more days in the park and would spend the first three on a hike to "4B1," a backcounty site at the Joseph's Coat hot springs. To get to the site we (1) hitchhiked to the trailhead, (2) hiked 8 miles down the Wapiti Lake Trail, then (3) bushwacked for 2 more miles off trail. This was my first ever experience with bushwacking (map + compass) travel-- I somehow never managed to go on the map and + compass hikes our college's outdoor rec program (ORGT) hosted. Jonathan had been to this site before when he worked at Yellowstone in the summer of 2009 and is versed in map + compass so he lead the way, and I learned a lot. We successfully arrived at Joseph's Coat that evening after a fun day of hiking and set up camp where we would stay for two nights. It was a really special place-- both because Jonathan and our friend David had been there eight summers earlier and because it is so remote. There was no chance of someone happening to go by. It was just us, the woods, the nearby bubbling hot springs, and any wildlife in the area (we saw some birds and bison chips but no others).
This is me almost totally eclipsed* by my bulging backpack... we wanted to have all the cold weather gear we might need. *Please consider the use of the word "eclipse" a foreshadowing of what's to come on Day 35.
On the Wapati Lake Trail we saw the biggest mushroom we've ever seen. We wished we knew whether or not its edible... any insight from our blog readers? It looks like someone took a few nibbles before us : )
Day 27
We woke up, just us and the woods, and headed out for an out-and-back bushwacking adventure. We spent the day attempting to reach Fairyland-- a special canyon area of unique thermal features which for me had taken on mythical proportions (and with just cause with a name like that!). Jonathan and David had reached the edge of Fairyland back in 2009. We didn't make it this time, but had a really good time walking through the woods. We made the decision to turn back when we gauged our progress and knew we wouldn't make it to Fairyland with enough daylight to get back to Joseph's Coat.
Its hard to describe what it was like for me to navigate through the woods by map + compass. Its nothing like wandering around-- there's a concentrated purpose and specific destination in mind. You're relying on the unseen magnetic force of the earth to guide you. Jonathan described to me previous map + compass experiences he's had where he and his group tried to take short cuts in the method, usually with bad results. He aptly noted that people are really bad at walking in straight lines without the compass providing direction-- we walk relative to what's around us, in this case the trees and contours of the land would bend us from our bearing if we weren't continually checking the compass.
The Bible verse 2 Corinthians 5:7 came to mind: "we walk by faith not by sight." Meditating on this verse while we hiked, it made the concept of "faith" more tangible for me. I can usually ignore the magnetic force of the earth, but with our map and compass this usually intangible force became tangible-- and it led us exactly where we wanted to go. God has a powerful hold on my life-- directing me into adventures that can be beautiful, hard, boring, surprising, painful, or sweet (usually some combination). Even though I can't hold those directions in my hands, I can walk by faith. Faith here isn't the opposite of sight (blindness), it's a better way to travel.
We did a lot of bushwacking over deadfall. There were a whole lot of trees to step over which made for slow going.
Here's Jonathan taking a bearing. The trees in the background were burned in an old fire, Many still stand.
We made it back to our Joseph's Coat campsite. In the afternoon it started to sprinkle on and off...
Day 28
...overnight it rained a lot and we woke up to intermittent rain. We took advantage of a gap in the showers to scramble out of the tent, pack up, and eat a row of fig newtons for breakfast while the rain picked up. Unlike in Georgia where it can still be quite warm during summer storms, it gets real cold when the sun's not shining out west. So, rather damp and quite cold, we set off on the reverse hike of day 26 (2 miles of bushwack then 8 miles on the Wapati Lake Trail). We had one more layer of clothes that we could have added, but opted to hold that in reserve for emergencies and hike fast in hopes of keeping our body temperature up high enough. We were cold and our legs were soaked but we made it back to the trail. It was a "this will be a good memory but right now I'm just cold," kind of feeling...
...but I smiled for a soggy picture!
Later in the afternoon the sun came out! We praised the Lord considerably for that. We dried ourselves up in the sun and then washed dried the rest of our gear at the Canyon Campground Laundromat, which was fun. We camped at the frontcounty Canyon Campground that night.
Day 29
The next day we hitched over to Old Faithful so that I could see a new area of the park. Even the ride over there was beautiful, and then a few minutes after we arrived Old Faithful did its thing and erupted!
After watching Old Faithful and eating a PB+Nutella on bagel lunch on the upper deck of the Old Faithful Inn we set off around the boardwalks to see the other nearby thermal features. The thermal features were really cool but the best part was...
...unexpectedly running into friends from back home-- Ryland and JP-- what a great surprise!
There's not a frontcounty campground in the Old Faithful area so we tried to pick a backcounty site that would just be just a short hike in as we'd be starting late in the day. It turned out that these sites are in high demand. We were able to book one site that wasn't super ideal, but then the ranger Jonathan was working with to book the site also told him about an ADA accessible site that is reserved until 4pm for people with specific physical mobility needs, but if its not taken then anyone can use it. First we were impressed and glad that the park had this kind of site, then we were glad when we were able to book it for that night. The two mile hike in was on a smooth gravel path, and along the way we saw a bison (my first in the wild!).
The campsite was beautiful,
and it had a kind of pit toilet we hadn't encountered before. I was really interested in it from an ADA-design perspective, and appreciated using it too : )
Day 30
We woke up at our beautiful site near Old Faithful then continued on a loop hike that took us by Fairy Falls (not to be confused with Fairyland but still lovely). This would be our last day in Yellowstone-- after the hike we planned to hitch hike back to Travis's man cave to recollect our bikes and continue south.
Our hike took us by the overlook of the Grand Prismatic. How cool is that hot spring?
But then it was time to go. Our hitch hiking experience in the park was really great-- we never waited more than 20 minutes. We are so thankful to all the folks who gave us rides. Each person/couple stands out in my memory as much as the awesome natural features of the park. Each person had a unique story and we really enjoyed the sometimes brief, sometimes long rides we shared. Jesse, pictured below, really stood out. First off, he has an awesome Sprinter van that he customized, inside and out, and secondly because he's living in the van and driving around the county sharing his story of getting sober of how its changed his life. He drove us all the way from Old Faithful to the town of West Yellowstone, outside the park.
In West Yellowstone we had to stop at a food stand called Yellowscones (we just loved the punny play on words). Here we learned about western scones which are fluffy and fried and not anything like the Scottish scones we were used to. There're delicious, and pictured below with huckleberry jam on top.
There's also conveniently a ranger station in town, even though its outside the park, so I had the opportunity to be sworn in as a Yellowstone Junior Ranger. To become a junior ranger you have to (1) hike on a trail, (2) go to a ranger program, and (3) complete a really comprehensive (and fun) workbook. Having successfully completed these prerequisites I was proudly sworn in. I'm wondering if I can put this on my resume when Jonathan and I someday pursue our dream of working at Yellowstone again ; )
After completing our post-Yellowstone errands in West Yellowstone we hitched back to the man cave (this was our most surprising pick up-- by a tour guide with his Chinese tour group and us all squeezed into their van!). I'm so thankful for the time we got to spend in the park-- for the people we met and the beautiful and unique things we got to see. Its a special and unforgettable place.
Stay tuned for future blog posts on the next several days of riding which brought us to the Grand Tetons National Park, then several more days of riding that brought us to Pinedale. We're heading out of Pinedale today (8/26), and we're on track for getting to the Breckenridge/Denver area arriving back home September 9th.
With backcountry permit in hand Jonathan and I packed up at the Yellowstone Canyon campground and set off for three days in the woods. We planned to spend five more days in the park and would spend the first three on a hike to "4B1," a backcounty site at the Joseph's Coat hot springs. To get to the site we (1) hitchhiked to the trailhead, (2) hiked 8 miles down the Wapiti Lake Trail, then (3) bushwacked for 2 more miles off trail. This was my first ever experience with bushwacking (map + compass) travel-- I somehow never managed to go on the map and + compass hikes our college's outdoor rec program (ORGT) hosted. Jonathan had been to this site before when he worked at Yellowstone in the summer of 2009 and is versed in map + compass so he lead the way, and I learned a lot. We successfully arrived at Joseph's Coat that evening after a fun day of hiking and set up camp where we would stay for two nights. It was a really special place-- both because Jonathan and our friend David had been there eight summers earlier and because it is so remote. There was no chance of someone happening to go by. It was just us, the woods, the nearby bubbling hot springs, and any wildlife in the area (we saw some birds and bison chips but no others).
This is me almost totally eclipsed* by my bulging backpack... we wanted to have all the cold weather gear we might need. *Please consider the use of the word "eclipse" a foreshadowing of what's to come on Day 35.
On the Wapati Lake Trail we saw the biggest mushroom we've ever seen. We wished we knew whether or not its edible... any insight from our blog readers? It looks like someone took a few nibbles before us : )
Day 27
We woke up, just us and the woods, and headed out for an out-and-back bushwacking adventure. We spent the day attempting to reach Fairyland-- a special canyon area of unique thermal features which for me had taken on mythical proportions (and with just cause with a name like that!). Jonathan and David had reached the edge of Fairyland back in 2009. We didn't make it this time, but had a really good time walking through the woods. We made the decision to turn back when we gauged our progress and knew we wouldn't make it to Fairyland with enough daylight to get back to Joseph's Coat.
Its hard to describe what it was like for me to navigate through the woods by map + compass. Its nothing like wandering around-- there's a concentrated purpose and specific destination in mind. You're relying on the unseen magnetic force of the earth to guide you. Jonathan described to me previous map + compass experiences he's had where he and his group tried to take short cuts in the method, usually with bad results. He aptly noted that people are really bad at walking in straight lines without the compass providing direction-- we walk relative to what's around us, in this case the trees and contours of the land would bend us from our bearing if we weren't continually checking the compass.
The Bible verse 2 Corinthians 5:7 came to mind: "we walk by faith not by sight." Meditating on this verse while we hiked, it made the concept of "faith" more tangible for me. I can usually ignore the magnetic force of the earth, but with our map and compass this usually intangible force became tangible-- and it led us exactly where we wanted to go. God has a powerful hold on my life-- directing me into adventures that can be beautiful, hard, boring, surprising, painful, or sweet (usually some combination). Even though I can't hold those directions in my hands, I can walk by faith. Faith here isn't the opposite of sight (blindness), it's a better way to travel.
We did a lot of bushwacking over deadfall. There were a whole lot of trees to step over which made for slow going.
Here's Jonathan taking a bearing. The trees in the background were burned in an old fire, Many still stand.
We made it back to our Joseph's Coat campsite. In the afternoon it started to sprinkle on and off...
Day 28
...overnight it rained a lot and we woke up to intermittent rain. We took advantage of a gap in the showers to scramble out of the tent, pack up, and eat a row of fig newtons for breakfast while the rain picked up. Unlike in Georgia where it can still be quite warm during summer storms, it gets real cold when the sun's not shining out west. So, rather damp and quite cold, we set off on the reverse hike of day 26 (2 miles of bushwack then 8 miles on the Wapati Lake Trail). We had one more layer of clothes that we could have added, but opted to hold that in reserve for emergencies and hike fast in hopes of keeping our body temperature up high enough. We were cold and our legs were soaked but we made it back to the trail. It was a "this will be a good memory but right now I'm just cold," kind of feeling...
...but I smiled for a soggy picture!
Later in the afternoon the sun came out! We praised the Lord considerably for that. We dried ourselves up in the sun and then washed dried the rest of our gear at the Canyon Campground Laundromat, which was fun. We camped at the frontcounty Canyon Campground that night.
Day 29
The next day we hitched over to Old Faithful so that I could see a new area of the park. Even the ride over there was beautiful, and then a few minutes after we arrived Old Faithful did its thing and erupted!
After watching Old Faithful and eating a PB+Nutella on bagel lunch on the upper deck of the Old Faithful Inn we set off around the boardwalks to see the other nearby thermal features. The thermal features were really cool but the best part was...
...unexpectedly running into friends from back home-- Ryland and JP-- what a great surprise!
There's not a frontcounty campground in the Old Faithful area so we tried to pick a backcounty site that would just be just a short hike in as we'd be starting late in the day. It turned out that these sites are in high demand. We were able to book one site that wasn't super ideal, but then the ranger Jonathan was working with to book the site also told him about an ADA accessible site that is reserved until 4pm for people with specific physical mobility needs, but if its not taken then anyone can use it. First we were impressed and glad that the park had this kind of site, then we were glad when we were able to book it for that night. The two mile hike in was on a smooth gravel path, and along the way we saw a bison (my first in the wild!).
The campsite was beautiful,
and it had a kind of pit toilet we hadn't encountered before. I was really interested in it from an ADA-design perspective, and appreciated using it too : )
Day 30
We woke up at our beautiful site near Old Faithful then continued on a loop hike that took us by Fairy Falls (not to be confused with Fairyland but still lovely). This would be our last day in Yellowstone-- after the hike we planned to hitch hike back to Travis's man cave to recollect our bikes and continue south.
Our hike took us by the overlook of the Grand Prismatic. How cool is that hot spring?
But then it was time to go. Our hitch hiking experience in the park was really great-- we never waited more than 20 minutes. We are so thankful to all the folks who gave us rides. Each person/couple stands out in my memory as much as the awesome natural features of the park. Each person had a unique story and we really enjoyed the sometimes brief, sometimes long rides we shared. Jesse, pictured below, really stood out. First off, he has an awesome Sprinter van that he customized, inside and out, and secondly because he's living in the van and driving around the county sharing his story of getting sober of how its changed his life. He drove us all the way from Old Faithful to the town of West Yellowstone, outside the park. In West Yellowstone we had to stop at a food stand called Yellowscones (we just loved the punny play on words). Here we learned about western scones which are fluffy and fried and not anything like the Scottish scones we were used to. There're delicious, and pictured below with huckleberry jam on top.
There's also conveniently a ranger station in town, even though its outside the park, so I had the opportunity to be sworn in as a Yellowstone Junior Ranger. To become a junior ranger you have to (1) hike on a trail, (2) go to a ranger program, and (3) complete a really comprehensive (and fun) workbook. Having successfully completed these prerequisites I was proudly sworn in. I'm wondering if I can put this on my resume when Jonathan and I someday pursue our dream of working at Yellowstone again ; )
After completing our post-Yellowstone errands in West Yellowstone we hitched back to the man cave (this was our most surprising pick up-- by a tour guide with his Chinese tour group and us all squeezed into their van!). I'm so thankful for the time we got to spend in the park-- for the people we met and the beautiful and unique things we got to see. Its a special and unforgettable place.
Stay tuned for future blog posts on the next several days of riding which brought us to the Grand Tetons National Park, then several more days of riding that brought us to Pinedale. We're heading out of Pinedale today (8/26), and we're on track for getting to the Breckenridge/Denver area arriving back home September 9th.
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