To Yellowstone! Days 39-45

MC: There were only five days standing between us and a successfully planned family outing at Yellowstone National Park. Hannon and I did what is not recommended, and that is we planned a family event in the middle of a thru hike. His mom, sister, and aunt were showing up the day before his birthday, which was the same day we were walking into Old Faithful. It’s not recommended because you can’t control the outcome of your hike necessarily; injury, weather, and fires can derail your plans, and thus cause stress on you and your family. However, we were convinced we could plan “the shit” out of this hike, which included a sizable spreadsheet detailing each day between town, down to the miles hiked each day and the food consumed…and it worked. The hiking required to make it happen resulted in two very long days, a 31.5 and a 28 mile day, which is big for us, and also the first time we went over 6000’ in elevation ascent, and this coincided with the 31.5 mile day, it was rough. But alas, we walked our happy tails in Yellowstone National Park the day before Hannon’s birthday, on time, and immediately went to the Inn’s lunch buffet (thank you, Robin!), checked in early, and awaited our family’s arrival. 

In general, our time in Yellowstone has been wonderful. We have had lovely food and drink, great time with the family, traveled the Grand Loop and saw close to a thousand bison, and watched Old Faithful half a dozen times. Hannon and I intend to come back in the future, he even wants to come in the winter! Being from Louisiana, this is a big commitment. We have one more night in the park before depart for Dubois, WY, and we spent it near the northern entrance to the park in Gardinier, MT, having local beer and pulled pork sandwiches with the family (thank you, Anna!). 

As always, here’s to no negative encounters with wildlife, good weather, fire work arounds, and limited bugs.

HD: Wyoming is my parents’ favorite state. For a couple so firmly ingrained in south Louisiana  culture and family, this may come as a surprise. My mother wanted to travel, and our  summertime road trips quickly focused on all that is Wyoming. They continued to visit after I left for college, returning several times to Yellowstone, Jackson Hole, Cheyenne, and other smaller towns. This was sort of a homecoming for me, and I am excited to spend 500 miles walking through the state.

This section was all about getting to Yellowstone on time. MC won the permit lottery back in March, and we needed some big miles to walk into the park on time.  The rule is to plan meetings either at a specific place or time, but not both. We pulled it off, though, and everything  worked according to plan.

We began the hike poorly, hung over from the retirement party on the hottest hiking day so far. Our 25 mile day quickly turned into 20 miles, setting us up for a 50 Kilometer forced march. We hiked with headlamps in the morning for the first time, and finished after sunset but still with enough light to set up our tent at the end of the day.

The only large game we saw was a black bear; he hid in the bushes until we spoke and then he ran off. The smaller creatures, however, were prolific. This section had fewer trees and many miles of tall grasses and wildflowers. The grasses were filled with all colors and sizes of grasshoppers and crickets – 50 or more for every square foot. We ran our trekking poles across the top of the grass and they jumped ahead like a wave in front of us.

The trail became easier as we  neared the park, and it was a relief to make good miles with less effort. Hopefully this bodes well for the future!

Two states down now, and Wyoming should be different and exciting. We’ve watched Old Faithful erupt several times, and we’re eating everything in sight right now (thanks Uncle Joe and Mrs. Laura McBride!). After two days off in the park with family, we hike southeast tomorrow morning through the park for 5 days to the town of Dubois for a resupply before hiking into the Wind River range.