Sky Rim/Rescue Creek & Lava Creek/Yellowstone River Trail

Today (Tuesday) I decided to be super ambitious and go hike 27+ miles including two summits at a trailhead that was 2-3 hours away. But as usual, my plans don’t always work…this time included.

Let me back up a little. I was honestly in bed by 2145 so that I could get up when my 0340 alarm went off. Not surprisingly, I woke up at 0328…before my darn alarm went off. Oh well, still left by 0400—stupid Mammoth to Norris is closed until 0700 so I had to tack on an extra 45-60 minutes and go through Tower and Canyon to get to the trailhead which is in the very far NW corner of the park—that section that got added in 1929. Anyways, I was at the Daly Creek trailhead ready to go by 0630 to start my wonderful day. The area is gorgeous!!! I knocked out the first 7 miles in 2.5 hours.

Hiking east from the trailhead during sunrise

Along the western portion of the Sky Rim trail

Then the next four miles took me 3 hours. You know why? Here’s a little quiz for you:

What is the technical terminology for the white stuff pictured below? Also, please picture brown mucky stuff everywhere that there isn’t white stuff and name it as well.

If you answered snow and mud, I’m sorry—that’s incorrect. The proper terminology is “exhausting” and “time-consuming.” (Their roles are interchangeable.) If the word that you used to describe me was “impatient,” then you’re correct. Shoulda waited until July…but I wanted to go now!

So by the time I got to the top of Bighorn Peak, there was a very small chance I’d make it the extra ~8 miles RT to Sheep Mountain (the one with the giant rectangle on it). Bighorn Peak was awesome though and you can see so much!

view east from portion of Sky Rim trail

view southeast from Bighorn Peak

Bighorn Peak

Sheep Mountain...4 miles too far away

I did partially attempt the trail east from Bighorn Peak to Sheep Mountain, but by that point in time (about 1300), the snow was super mushy from all the sunlight and I was sinking up to my waist with every step. There was absolutely no way that I’d be able to do that for 8 miles, then still do 8 miles back to the trailhead before dark. By this point, I’d already wrung my first pair of socks out twice and let my boots sun during lunch, then switched to my second pair of socks before this attempt. Unfortunately, even using my pack towel didn’t help dry my boots or feet (which had gotten massive amounts of snow in them), so the second pair of socks didn’t stay dry very long. Continuing would’ve put my feet at serious risk. If I didn’t get back during daylight hours, I also would’ve been in unfamiliar territory with only a headlamp to help with the trail. Keep in mind that I had no overnight gear, as I packed for a day hike and left spares of things in my car at the trailhead. Also, my allergies are destroying me. The smart choice (regrettably :P ) was to turn around and plan another hike to Sheep Mountain later in the summer.

^See, sometimes I’m good at decision-making.

Also, I invited all the other rec rangers (and my supervisor—Alicia) to come with me today—here are two of their responses:

·      “That’s a bit much for me, but I’m super excited to hear how it goes!”

·      “I am glad you are doing it so I don’t have to…”

:( Wimps totally could’ve made it. But I doubt any of them would’ve liked to wake up that early. :D

Also, per tradition, I bought post-hike ice cream in West Yellowstone. I had Caramel Waffle Cone Crunch or something like that from the homemade ice cream place. It was yummy of course! Just not a free sundae from my friends at the Coffee Corner in Yosemite. ;)

Minus the snow, this really was my kind of trail and I’d totally give it a 10/10 or a 5-star rating or whatnot. Just make sure you hold off until the snow is melted, and if you bother to read the backcountry ranger trail condition reports…actually follow what they say. If the campgrounds in the area are closed due to too much snowfall à the trail is probably covered in snow as well. *shakes head at self*

Yesterday, (Wednesday), I hiked the Rescue Creek/Lava Creek loop starting from the Blacktail Creek trailhead. I made the wise decision to put sunscreen on pre-hike. I made the unwise decision to leave said sunscreen in my car during my hike. Darn Bethany, always messing up. To say the least, the trails were extremely wide-open and sunny—and my skin almost everywhere is a few shades darker than it was prior. The shoulders are red.

Lots of pretty flowers.

So I knocked out the first 8 miles in 2.5 hours, and then I had to walk on the road for 2 miles to get to the next trailhead. I was going to grab one of our hi-vis vests from the gear cache before I left…but I forgot. Luckily, I didn’t get run over by one of the tourons. So after those lovely two miles of road-trekking, I get to the trailhead for the Boiling River—which is all blocked off because the water is so high right now. Well, I’m a ranger so I can do what I want and………….nah, I took the road again after I went around the barrier and read all the signs and let myself into the bathroom. But then, as I’m looking down at the trail from said road—there’s nothing wrong with the actual trail—the river isn’t high enough to be over the trail; it’s just too high for swimming. So over the guardrail I go and down to the trail. Honestly the trail at this point even if there was a bunch of water over it would have been safer than the tourons driving around those curves.

Check out this sweet bridge that I just had to take a picture of because I knew my mom would totally have freaked out. It’s one of those cool ones where it moves every time you move. ;)

 

Never seen the underside of this bridge before (Mammoth to Tower)

The rest of the Lava Creek Trail was peachy. Nothing too exciting to report besides Undine Fall, which I got to be on the north side of—instead of the south side like all the tourists in their cars.

And then after the Lava Creek trail technically ends and the Lava Creek Spur trail takes you back to the Blacktail Creek trailhead…that’s where things get interesting. One second—the trail is crystal clear, the next—the trail is gone. So those last two miles would’ve been a bushwhack. However, that area by Blacktail Ponds is currently closed (south of make-believe trail) for some bird’s nesting season and vegetation restoration. So after a ways of me not finding the trail, I went over to the road and tried not to get hit by any cars for the last mile of my journey. (I succeeded.)

Went to the Employee Rec Office and turned in my mileage log. The dude was surprised at how quickly I finished the 100 miles and I joked with him that my coworkers want me to finish the 500-mile lifetime club by the end of the summer. He said no one has ever done that before. You know what that sounds like? A challenge.

Fast forward to today (Thursday) and I started at Hellroaring in the morning and hiked the Yellowstone River Trail, so through the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone. This Hellroaring experience was much better than the last, mostly because I turned off the trail shy of the USFS part of the loop that added 11 miles and a bear to my last adventure there. I did have to add 3 miles to my trip in order to take the stock bridge across the creek instead of attempting to ford it (which would’ve been suicidal in it’s current state). Speaking of good decisions, I not only applied sunscreen before I left, but I also brought it with me. And I brought bug spray. Now how much better can it get? (I’ll tell you later.)

Why hello Yellowstone River!

This is a pretty well-traveled area, so picking out the path wasn’t an issue the entire day—which I was extremely pleased about. I also saw a lot more people than usual and talked to almost all of them. Good times.

My lunch spot--a rock on the edge of the river

This rock had three trees growing out of its cracks. Gotta be a metaphor for something.

After I passed Crevice Lake, which is super great, I got to see an additional waterfall where Crevice Creek goes into the Yellowstone River, so that was an added bonus. There was also a really cool rock right there that basically had a seat carved out of it, so I laid there and basked in its glory. :)

Crevice Lake

still Crevice Lake

falls on Crevice Creek

So then after the makeshift falls, I came to Knowles Falls, which are really wide and not very tall—but very noisy.

Knowles Falls

So as I was getting ready to get ready to exit the canyon area, there was a great view of Electric Peak—so here it is.

Western portion of the Yellowstone River Trail, view of Electric Peak

That whole last portion of the trail bounces between USFS and NPS land, but it doesn’t really matter. I was supposed to end up at Eagle Creek trailhead in Gardiner, but I wasn’t entirely sure where that was. (My coworker Caleb was coming to get me.) Seeing as how the last trail junction I had passed was 8.5 miles from the trailhead, I gave him a super rough ETA of 4:50 +- 7 minutes, leaving myself a 15-min. window to make it there. I did not, however, account for the bazillion switchbacks to get up out of the canyon, so that was absolutely miserable. Who does that on mile 20 and 21 of a hike? Uphill switchbacks…c’mon man! Also, the trail deposited me on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere…no bueno. So I walked along said gravel road until I discovered that I was near Eagle Creek Campground (run by the USFS). Magic—Caleb came and got me. (I owe him ice cream; he also drove me back to my car at the Hellroaring trailhead.) Okay, but here’s the great part—guess what time I got to the Eagle Creek trailhead?!? 4:51. How fantastic is that?! Darn right, I know how fast I hike. ;)

Oh, in regards to me being super prepared today—guess who hadn’t done laundry and didn’t have any of her favorite hiking socks to wear? Me. Guess who wore a pair of non-hiking socks that were tall and a pair of liners though? Me. Guess whose feet are absolutely terrible right now—in regards to pain and blisters? Mine. Guess who ordered more hiking socks via her pro deals yesterday and already got a shipping notification? Also me. So they’re on their way. Guess who’s excited to get more socks? ME!

Mileage count = 151.9