Day 50-53: Yellowstone

August 10-13; Mile 790-843

Day 50

Our zero day in West Yellowstone, filled with chores, eating, and some relaxing. 

Day 51

Lark, Strix, and I finished breakfast just as Handy and his dad arrived from Idaho Falls. We piled our packs into the bed and climbed inside for the short ride up to the trail. I had heard about how flat the rim of the caldera and the trail through Yellowstone would be, so I was disappointed when I actually had to hike uphill through the trees. 

We stopped for water after 3 miles, and I had to balance carefully on top of a drainage pipe to reach down and place my container beneath the stream. The trail passed through more crispy meadows full of shriveled balsamroot, and Strix and I stopped to eat some huckleberries before heading onto a smooth dirt track in the shaded woods. 

I exited Montana for the final time at a road intersection where Lark was just packing up from his break. He decided not to stay and extend his break, and promptly took the wrong trail instead of turning onto the road. I was about to make the same mistake when Handy showed up and turned toward the Idaho sign. I followed just as Lark bushwhacked his way out of the forest and back onto the road. 

The rest of the day was spent hiking on the road, sometimes through deep sand, sometimes on crunchy gravel. Our final water source lay a half mile off-trail along a different road, and from there we would walk more than a marathon before the next water source. It was going to be a long, dry stretch of hiking – my longest water carry ever. 

Lark was cooking his dinner as I reached the off-trail stream, and I started filtering 4 liters for the carry ahead. A group of NOBO hikers showed up then, full of advice about the many buffets of Yellowstone – as well as a room full of clawfoot tubs in one of the lodges where they had all taken baths. Handy showed up next and asked if we had seen Strix. Uh oh. She had passed him before the turn, and if she missed this water there was nowhere else to go. 

I headed out soon after, keeping my eyes open for signs of Strix or a surprise grizzly attack. Before I left, Handy and Lark had been talking up the idea of camping at the water source, and part of me expected that I would be camping alone that night. 

Just before reaching the planned camp spot, I spotted a fawn dart into the trees. It stopped several yards into the foliage and stood still, watching me amble past. Its sibling was across the road, also flecked with white spots, and it pranced away as I began setting up my tent. 

Thankfully Strix showed up before long, and it turned out she had gone to a different part of the same drainage to get water, and had assumed we all were going there too. Handy and Lark weren’t far behind, and for the first time in a while all four of us were camping together again. 

Day 52

I delayed leaving in the morning by half an hour or so. Normally I was the first to leave camp each day, about 30-60 minutes ahead of the others. Handy would pass me after I had done 5-6 miles, I’d usually see Strix around mile 9 or 10, and Lark? Either I saw him in the morning or I didn’t see him until camp. But we were back in more dangerous grizzly country, so all that went out the window. 

Lark and I hiked together along the forest road in the morning, talking about wine and stopping every hour to stretch. I heard something move in the trees below the road, but I never laid eyes on it. It was probably one of the fawns from the night before. Probably. 

There was a short respite of actual trail before we were back onto road again. The sections of sand were slow-going, and I wove back and forth in search of firm ground. The road came within spitting distance of the Yellowstone park boundary before making a hard right and leading us south for several miles, tantalizingly close to the park. 

Back on trail once more, I could feel the change in the geology beneath my feet. The land had transitioned to crunchy volcanic pumice, and the trail both felt and sounded different as I walked. 

The four of us stopped for lunch at the park boundary in a small camp spot with shade. An hour later we left Idaho behind for the final time and crossed into our third state of the trail: Wyoming. Handy was long gone, but Lark, Strix, and I had an impromptu photo shoot at the state line, absolutely covering ourselves in fine dust each time we lay on the ground with the makeshift sign. 

Fewer than six miles remained until our camp spot – and our only water source for the whole day – but I had less than a liter left in my bottles. The last two hours were a dehydrated slog through an old burn scar and then hot, dry grasslands with zero shade. The path was volcanic sand mixed with pumice rocks to trip over, and near the end some sulfurous fumes added to the experience. 

I rationed my water and drank the last swallow 1.5 miles from the lake. The blue water was a sight for sore eyes, but the near shore was too marshy to gather from, and I was forced to march along the shore, parched, the water just out of reach for another quarter mile. When I got to camp I left my pack with Strix and took my bottle and filter to the lake and drank my fill. I had barely eaten since lunch because I had been too thirsty. Now the hunger came back with force. I grabbed my food bag and water gathering supplies, went for a swim, and then sat in the sun on a log downing all my snacks from the afternoon in a gluttonous feast. 

After that it was time for dinner. We cooked by the bear hang area in a nice shady patch, then Strix and I had to redo our hang since I forgot to put my sunscreen in the bag and she found a granola bar in her backpack. 

Two NOBOs showed up as we were getting ready for bed and asked about our favorite sections ahead. 

Day 53

My bag was packed and I was doing my morning stretches when I noticed that my ring was missing. Of all the days, it seemed ironic to lose my wedding ring the day I would be meeting my husband. Thankfully it was just a silicon band that I wore for outdoor trips. 

I gave up looking after five minutes and hiked out along the trail. Lark was long gone, visions of breakfast buffets at Old Faithful urging him on, and Strix had also left before me to get an early start for the long day (for them). And so it was surprising when after an hour I caught up to Strix sitting on a log. She had a migraine and was darkly contemplating what would happen if a grizzly appeared and she projectile vomited in its direction. Thankfully drinking and eating seemed to be helping, and I offered her the only vegan option I had. 

There were some dark clouds brooding on the western horizon, and before long I heard the familiar crack of thunder off to my side. We had gotten another nighttime thunderstorm the previous night, and now this morning storm at 8 am; it seemed like the trail was sending me off in stormy fashion. 

A few rain drops splattered onto the trail, but I could already see the blue edge of the clouds creeping its way across the sky.  I came to a descent, and through the trees I could see the billowing clouds of hot springs ahead. I hurried downhill as another thunderstorm scudded past with a few thoughtful rumbles. 

Biscuit Basin was closed due to a thermal explosion or something, but instead of taking the bike path all the way to Old Faithful, I detoured up the road and back onto the CDT to walk past the geysers and hot pools along its path. Gem Pool was a beautiful turquoise, Morning Glory Pool invited you siren-like into its crystal-clear depths. There were tiny cauldron-like pots boiling and massive geysers spewing steam and spray. I stopped to watch Castle Geyser for a few minutes before continuing through the throng of tourists toward the buildings ahead. 

A massive crowd had gathered along the edge of Old Faithful, and as I drew closer I saw a few people running. Strix called me over to join her, Handy and Lark strolled over, and suddenly Dov was there as well. And without waiting more than five minutes, I got to see the grand finale of the day: the lauded eruption of steam and water from Yellowstone’s most famous geyser. 

After watching the eruption, we headed to the dining room for lunch. I stuffed myself at the buffet, and then bid farewell to my friends as Dov and I left to drive to a friend’s wedding in Colorado. We stopped at the last crossing of the divide to take photos, and on our way out of the park, I noticed a familiar hiker trying to hitch beside the road. Dov and I turned around and picked up Scurvy, taking him by surprise, and safely dropped him off at the fee campground up the road. Then it was back south toward four days off from hiking.