ERUPTION!
Tuesday
was a big day. We were starting our
Yellowstone backpacking trip, but had a lot to accomplish before we could get
started. First up, we had to drive from
Pinedale to Jackson so we could drop Boone off at the Happy Tails Pet
Resort. Then it was on through the
Tetons to Yellowstone’s south entrance.
We’d pick up our backpacking permit there before heading to the Heart
Lake Trailhead.
Originally
Christy and I had planned a five-day trip starting at the Falls River Ranger
Station in Yellowstone’s southwest corner.
The plan had been to visit several of Yellowstone’s finest waterfalls
and swimming holes. We’d start with a
hike through Bechler Meadows to Dunada
Falls, which features a swimming hole fed by a hot spring. From there we’d hike into the Bechler River canyon and check out Colonnade Falls and Iris
Falls. After that, it was on to Union
Falls and some quality time spent in The World’s Finest Swimming Hole, which is
nearby. Then we’d return to our starting
point. We’d visited Colonnade Falls,
Iris Falls, and Union Falls on a previous trip, but I was eager to go back to
get better photos. Plus, it’s impossible
to spend too much time in some of those spring-fed soaking spots.
Unfortunately,
a week earlier I’d received a phone call from the backcountry office. Due to the severe, long-lasting winter, there
was still an unprecedented snow pack on the plateaus above the Bechler Canyon. All
that melting snow had turned Bechler Meadows, which
is immediately downstream from the canyon, into one of Yellowstone’s largest
lakes. Doing our hike would’ve required
wading through it. After a bit of
consideration, we decided to go with a backup plan.
Coming
up with a reasonable alternate trip at the last minute was difficult. High-elevations were probably out of the
question, as was pretty much anything with a significant stream crossing. After our dicey crossing below Seneca Lake in
the Wind River Range, we weren’t eager to repeat that experience. Fortunately I came up with an excellent
backup plan.
The
backup plan consisted of only a three-day trip, but it’s been on my to-do list
for a long time. We’d hike in to Heart
Lake on the first day, passing one of Yellowstone’s most remote thermal areas
along the way. On the second day, I
hoped to climb Mount Sheridan, which is one of the most significant peaks in
the park. Sheridan is a remnant of the
original Yellowstone volcano caldera. I
was looking forward to climbing it as much for its significance as for its
views of southern Yellowstone and the distant Tetons. Of course, that would be dependent on the
conditions. Mount Sheridan is 10,308’
high. If there was still snow on the
Pitchstone Plateau, how much would I find up there?
Tuesday
morning started early with one of Carole’s fine breakfasts. We enjoyed some conversation over the meal
before packing. The drive to Jackson was
scenic as we passed through a canyon along the way. Jackson was bustling with tourists, but we
found our way to the Happy Tails Pet Resort without any problem. We thought we might be able to drop Boone off
without having him realize what was going on, but we had no such luck. He was barking his head off as we pulled away
bound for Yellowstone.
The
drive through Grand Teton National Park started out nice but eventually bogged
down due to construction delays and wildlife rubbernecking. Then we had to wait in a long line to
purchase our entrance pass into the park.
The delays continued beyond the entrance, apparently due to an
accident. We finally reached the south
entrance and stopped at the ranger station to pick up our permit.
This
was a lengthy process as well, as we had to watch the dreaded bear safety video
before we could get the permit. I think
I have that video pretty much memorized by now.
Once that was accomplished, we discussed our trip plan with the
backcountry ranger. All seemed well,
outside of some grizzly bear sightings at some of the campsites along the lake. Then I asked her about the conditions on
Mount Sheridan. She consulted a huge
book that must’ve had backcountry reports on every area in the park. She read it quickly, shaking her head. According to the most recent report, the
trail to the summit was still snow-covered and considered dangerous due to
avalanche hazards. Attempting the climb
was definitely not advised. I pointed
out that the report was dated July 13th (it was now the 26th),
but she stated that the report would’ve been updated if conditions had
improved.
I
had my doubts. Avalanche
hazards? In
late July? This seemed wildly
unlikely, even after a record-setting winter.
After we left, I shared my doubts with Christy, and suggested that I
wasn’t giving up on the mountain until I had a chance to eyeball it for myself. Christy wasn’t amused, but she wasn’t
planning to join me on the climb regardless.
We
needed to fill up on water before we started, but didn’t see any at the ranger
station. We headed up the road to the
Lewis Lake Campground, where we discovered that the water was temporarily out
of order. We stopped at the Lewis Lake
Picnic Area for a quick lunch and some final packing before resuming our
quest. Of course there wasn’t any at the
Heart Lake Trailhead. There was a lot of
it in Lewis Lake, but I didn’t want to bother filtering it. Eventually we drove all the way up to Grant
Village. We finally found water at the
visitor’s center before doubling-back to the trailhead.
We
hit the trail at 2pm. This was a bit
later than I planned – normally I like to be getting close to camp by 2! The hike started with a boring 4 or 5 miles
through partially burned lodgepole pine. At least a steady breeze kept the mosquitoes
away. The only redeeming quality to the
first two hours of the hike was the occasional meadow. Those meadows were already bursting with
wildflowers, and we stopped at one so I could take photos. We resumed the hike and reached a spectacular
overlook 5 minutes later. From a rock
outcrop we looked out towards sprawling Heart Lake. Heart Lake doesn’t compare to Yellowstone
Lake in size, but it’s huge nonetheless.
Aside from being large, it is truly gorgeous. Below us, Witch Creek tumbled down through a
valley, its many hot springs, geysers, and other thermal features creating an alien
landscape. Mount Sheridan was still out
of view, but even without the mountain, the vista was breathtaking.
We
enjoyed fantastic scenery the rest of the way.
Every bend in the trail brought us closer to the lake, but I was no
longer in a hurry to get there. In fact,
I felt like I was already there.
We
reached the first thermal area, at the beginning of Witch Creek, a few minutes
later. We explored the area, which
features hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles.
The smell of sulfur was overpowering, so we didn’t linger very
long. We continued our descent, now high
above Witch Creek. Part of the way down
Christy asked for a break, and we each sat on a log on opposite sides of the
trail. I had just pulled out some snacks
when Christy jumped up, pointed over my shoulder, and exclaimed, “Wow, check
that out!”
I
turned around, half expecting to see a grizzly bear on a unicycle or something
else equally improbable. Instead, I
spotted an erupting geyser on the other side of Witch Creek. Cool!
I hadn’t even realized there was a geyser there, so obviously I wasn’t
expecting to see an eruption. Later we
mentioned this to a couple of rangers.
They weren’t surprised.
Apparently the entire valley is full of geysers and other thermal
features. Only one is named, and it
seems that they haven’t really been fully documented.
We
watched the geyser erupt for several minutes.
It was no Old Faithful – the eruption was only 20’ high or so. However, the lack of height was more than
compensated by the surprise factor, and the simple fact that we had the entire
experience to ourselves.
Eventually
the geyser returned to obscurity and we resumed our descent. We bottomed out along Witch Creek, and we
passed numerous colorful hot springs as we approached the lake. Just before the lake we passed a ranger
station, and two rangers on the porch hailed us. They checked our permits and we chatted a
bit, telling them about the geyser eruption.
Then I finally got around to asking the question that was at the top of
my mind.
“So,
has anybody been up Mount Sheridan yet this year?” I asked.
“Oh,
lots of people have been up there”, he responded.
I
started laughing. I explained what we
had been told at the permit office, and he rolled his eyes. He said he wasn’t surprised. Apparently the backcountry permit offices are
typically a little out of touch with what current conditions really are.
Needless
to say, this day was turning out to be rather grand. After a rather sluggish start, we’d been
treated to lovely wildflowers and a spectacular view. Then we’d watched an undocumented geyser
erupt and hiked past countless thermal features, all before finding out that
the mountain I really wanted to climb was open for business, after all. Yes, it was a good afternoon.
Believe
it or not, it got better. We hiked to
the lakeshore and followed it south towards our campsite. Along the way we passed a thermal area that
contains the only named geyser in the area.
Rustic Geyser wasn’t doing anything more than steaming, but that was
ok. From there we continued south, on
the hillside above the lake. We passed
several campsites, but ours was still ahead.
The wildflowers along here were the best I’ve ever seen – anywhere. The blooms were absolutely spectacular,
covering every color of the rainbow.
Meanwhile, mighty Mount Sheridan towered over us, an impressive cap of
snow on its lofty peak. I couldn’t wait
to get up there.
It’s
a good thing the hike to campsite 8H3 was scenic, because it seemed to take
forever. We finally reached a signed
junction for the campsite, and headed down a side trail towards the lake. Before long the trail merged with a creek,
and trying to skirt it just led us into marshy meadows that were equally as
wet. Eventually we reached a footbridge
that allowed us to climb out of the creek and back onto dry land. We passed campsite 8H2 there and headed back
into the woods to our site.
Our
campsite was a little muddy but pretty nice overall. It was set in the woods, with meadows on all
sites. Both the forest and the meadows
were full of more wildflowers. We didn’t
have much of a view of the lake from the actual campsite, but a short walk down
a path from there led to a small, rocky beach.
We
arrived late thanks to our late start.
We had a quick dinner and were careful to follow all of the proper
procedures to avoid a bear encounter.
The Heart Lake rangers had mentioned that a grizzly had been passing
through campsites along the lake over the last few days. The bear hadn’t bothered anyone, but we
needed to be alert to the possibility of an encounter.
NOT ADVISED
I
was up at 7am for my attempt on Mount Sheridan.
Christy had decided to take a rest day, so she slept in. I had a quick breakfast of granola cereal and
headed out. I returned to the main trail
and headed north, back in the direction we’d come the previous evening. After a mile or so I reached the signed
junction with the trail to Mount Sheridan.
I headed up this trail a short distance before stopping to shed
clothes. After a chilly morning, the day
was warming quickly.
Before I could get going again a group of about
15 teenagers passed by. I was actually a
little startled, as I hadn’t seen anyone all morning, and we’d hardly seen
anyone the previous day. I resumed my
hike after they passed, and passed them when they stopped a few minutes
later.
The
early part of the hike featured more fantastic wildflowers as the trail
wandered between sunny meadows and dark forest.
The easy stroll ended all too soon though with switchbacks on the flank
of the mountain. I climbed through
burned lodgepole pine, and spotted a single doe. Later I was startled when a log came tumbling
down the mountainside towards me. I
thought I was going to have to play Donkey Kong and jump over it, but it got
caught between two trees just before reaching me. A bit later I saw a single buck that bolted
away as I approached.
The
climb seemed to go on and on. Eventually
I was rewarded with the occasional view of Heart Lake far below. I was still a long way from the summit when I
encountered the first snow. It was soft,
but on a fairly steep slope. Initially I
was able to avoid it, but the last part of the hike was exclusively in the
snow. Fortunately the footing wasn’t too
bad, and it barely slowed me down as I pushed on towards the summit.
I
was almost at the crest of the final ridge leading to the summit when some of
the teenagers caught up with me.
Honestly, I felt pretty good about being able to keep ahead of them for
as long as I did. We all reached the
summit ridge together and were stunned by the view. I actually heard some audible gasps as a
winter wonderland of snowy ridges and basins stretched out below us. In the distance, the mighty Tetons pierced
the sky. Across from us,
and almost 1,000’ lower, was a lovely little alpine basin containing a
completely frozen lake. How that could
be possible in late July at a modest elevation of around 9,000’ still blows my
mind.
The
view was incredible, but we still weren’t at the summit. We all followed the ridge upwards, now out of
the snow for the first time in an hour or more.
We passed around the flank of a minor peak and regained the ridge. Here was an incredible snow cornice extending
all of the way to the summit. The
cornice was beautiful, carved by the wind in swirling shapes and patterns. It was also exceptionally dangerous. Walking out on it would’ve been a death
wish. Instantly I understood the
ranger’s warning about avalanche danger.
Fortunately the crest of the ridge adjacent to the cornice was
snow-free. It provided an easy route for
the final stretch to the summit.
We
reached the summit and its hut, which was locked. The wind was howling up here, the temperature
having plummeted somewhere along the way up.
I put on a jacket, pant legs, a hat, and gloves before wandering around
the summit to take in the 360-degree view.
From the top I could see each of Yellowstone’s big lakes, including
Heart Lake, Lewis Lake, Shoshone Lake, and of course Yellowstone Lake. From my vantage, Yellowstone Lake looked
almost like an ocean, except that the mighty Absaroka Mountains lurked in the
distance beyond it. Farther north, at
the far end of the park, I could make out the snowy Beartooths
and the Bighorns. To the west, I was
astonished to see the relatively low plateau above the Bechler
canyon still covered in snow. Back to
the south was an impressive jumble of nameless mountains, leading off towards
the Wind River Range. My favorite view
though was southwest, towards the mighty Tetons. The Tetons are beautiful when viewed from the
valley, but from my lofty perch they were even more dramatic.
In
addition to the hut, the summit features a picnic table and an outhouse. The teenagers had themselves a picnic there
while I roamed about taking photos. I
ended up spending more than an hour on the summit despite the cold. Mount Sheridan is just one of those places
that is hard to leave.
Eventually
I had to leave though. I’d made the
climb in 2 ½ hours, but my descent was much quicker. I started back at 11:30 and returned to camp
in time for a late lunch. Shortly before
I arrived I passed some fresh bear scat, which was a bit alarming. I’d been a little leery about leaving Christy
in camp alone, but I knew she could handle herself in bear country. Plus, the campsite next to ours was occupied,
so she wasn’t completely alone. It
turned out that Christy had enjoyed a lazy, bear-free morning relaxing on our
own private little beach.
After
lunch we broke camp and relocated to the far side of Heart Lake. One problem with changing plans at the last
minute was that we weren’t able to get two consecutive nights at the same
campsite. Our final night would be at
campsite 8J1, on the east side of Heart Lake.
Even though I was tired from climbing Mount Sheridan, I was looking
forward to hiking to the other side of the lake. I was anticipating a great view of Sheridan
from that side.
We
hiked north along the lake back towards the ranger station. This was the fourth time I’d hiked this
stretch of trail in less than 24 hours, but I hadn’t tired of the flowers or
the views of Mount Sheridan and Heart Lake.
Shortly before the ranger station we took a break on the shore just
below the Rustic Geyser Basin. I dropped
my pack there for a little exploration.
Rustic
Geyser was steaming pretty heavily as I headed upstream towards it. Rustic Geyser is quite active, and I was
hoping to catch another eruption while we were there. The area between the basin and the lake is
mostly grass and barren ground. The
barren ground made me nervous – the danger of plunging through thin crust into
boiling water seemed all too real to me.
I stayed in the grass initially, but the deer flies were awful
there. Eventually I moved back in the
trees to avoid them. With this approach
I was able to reach the flank of the geyser basin.
From
the side of the basin I had a good view of the steaming geyser and a brilliant
blue pool nearby. I wasn’t entirely
satisfied though, so I climbed up on the hill above the basin. There I was rewarded with a birds-eye view of
both the geyser and the pool.
I
returned to the trail, once again cautiously skirting all areas that looked
even remotely treacherous. I rejoined
Christy, and we followed the gravel lakeshore back towards the ranger
station. The ranger station was
deserted, and we noticed that the ranger’s canoe was gone. I guess they were out “patrolling” on the
lake. What a tough life.
We
followed the north side of the lake, still on the gravel beach. The scenery was great along here, and I kept
turning around to admire might Mount Sheridan behind me. Unfortunately this part of the lake was
marred by swarms of flies. They weren’t
biters, but they were so thick that they got into your mouth, nose, eyes, and
ears as you walked. Eventually the trail
left the lakeshore and headed up into the woods, away from the bugs. I never thought I’d be so happy to get away
from the lake.
The
rest of the hike to camp was uneventful.
There were some nice flowers, but nothing like what we’d seen on the
west side of the lake. Mostly we hiked
through woods, with occasional meadows here and there. Finally we reached the signed junction for
our campsite. The spur trail was long,
but it was worth it. Our campsite was on
a bench a short distance above the water.
From camp, we had a spectacular view across Heart Lake to Mount
Sheridan. It was only late afternoon,
but already I was looking forward to getting up early the next morning for
sunrise photos.
The
wind died down that evening, which was unfortunate. For the first time on this trip we were
invaded by mosquitoes. Christy built a
smoky fire that served as an effective deterrent. We went to bed shortly after sunset, as we
had another early start planned for Thursday.
WITCH CREEK
I
was up at first light the next morning despite the cold. I’d brought the tripod, and I planned to make
full use of it. I wasn’t
disappointed. First, an eerie fog
settled on top of the lake. The mist
came and went, hiding and revealing the bulk of Mount Sheridan in the early
morning light. Then came brilliant
alpenglow as the fog slowly dissipitated. The fog was replaced with a lovely reflection
of Mount Sheridan in the calm waters of Heart Lake.
Once
the show was over we made a small fire to compensate for having only cold
granola cereal for breakfast. We broke
camp quickly and began the hike back. We
passed the ranger station and headed up Witch Creek. At the second bridge we stopped for a break,
as I wanted to explore some before we left this magical place behind.
Christy
waited at the trail while I hiked upstream.
I moved cautiously again, avoiding areas devoid of vegetation. I passed all kinds of thermal features,
including hot springs, mud pots, fumaroles, and deep pools. One pool was a gorgeous blue. I hopped across Witch Creek and approached
the geyser that had erupted on our way in.
All was quiet, except for 4 people sitting and observing it. One had a laptop. Perhaps they were scientists? I decided not to disturb them. Instead, I headed back downstream on the
opposite side of the creek. I passed even
more thermal features before returning to the trail and rejoining Christy.
From
there we began the only difficult part of the hike. The trail gains about 700’ in a little over a
mile leaving Witch Creek. Park rangers
call the climb Paycheck Hill. We passed
a couple of rangers and quite a few hikers as we headed out. I was actually a little jealous of them, even
though we had just been where they were headed.
Heart Lake was such a fantastic destination, I
was ready to go back before we’d actually left.
In fact, I’d say that Heart Lake was one of the best backpacking trips
we’ve taken. Between the lake, the
thermal features, the magnificent wildflowers, and Mount Sheridan, the trip
featured a lot packed into three short days.
Not bad for a backup plan, huh?
Continue reading about our trip as we spend a day touring Yellowstone National Park.
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