Yellowstone National Park - Heart Lake - August 30, 2002 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Yellowstone National Park - Heart Lake |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Wyoming |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | August 30, 2002 |
| Duration: | 2 days |
| Trail Conditions: | Good |
| Trail Traffic: | Light to Moderate |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny, Partly Sunny |
| Trip Winds: | Light |
| Trip Precipitation: | None |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 71-80, Low: 41-50 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | 8/30/02 (Friday) - MT/WY - Mostly Sunny. Cool in am, 50's. Warm during mid-day to 70's. Low's overnight to 40's. I got up at 4am this morning to call Delta (on the east coast) to find out about my lost bag (with my pack and all my backpacking gear in it). They still had no idea where it was, so I went back to bed and got up again around 8am to call them a second time from the motel. Still no dice, so The Helmet, The Sheik and I decided we'd head to Yellowstone National Park, get a backpacking permit for tomorrow, and head to Jackson for the night. With any luck, Delta might find the bag during the day and get it to Jackson by evening. We checked out of the hotel by 10am and left Billings for the park. It took us about two hours to reach the northern entrance, and once we were inside I called Delta again to check on my bag. They still had no idea where it was. So The Helmet and The Sheik checked out the nearby hot springs while I spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the airline, then we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. While we were in the area, we stopped at the backcountry ranger station and got a permit for Saturday and Sunday night on the trail. My contingency plan was to rent gear in Jackson on Saturday morning if Delta didn't find my pack (although I wasn't looking forward to all the effort). Stopped at Old Faithful and also at a few other spots as we drove through the park. There was a lot of wildlife along the road today, and we got some good pics. At Old Faithful, we toured the area, watched the eruption, got groceries, and I spent another 30 minutes on the phone with Delta. Fortunately they found my backpack (which had never left Atlanta), and had sent it on a plane to Jackson via Salt Lake City. It was due to arrive late tonight. So I left the Old Faithful area in good spirits around 5:30pm and snapped some photos of a coyote strolling through the lot as we walked to the car. We headed for Jackson this evening, which took us almost two hours due to construction and a moose sighting (which caused us to hike about 100 yards off the road for some pics since The Helmet and The Sheik had never seen one before today.) We checked into the Anvil Hotel in Jackson, then went out for pizza and beers in town. Our hotel was only a few blocks from the town square, which made it easy to run back to the hotel at 10pm to see if my pack was delivered from the airport. It wasn't, so The Helmet offered to stake out the room while The Sheik and I walked a few blocks to a bar up the street. It was slammed, so we stayed for a brew then headed back to the room by 11pm (to find that my pack had finally arrived.) Yes! Critters - Elk, Bison, Deer, Moose, Coyote 8/31/02 (Saturday) - WY - Sunny again. Cool overnight to 40's. Warm today to 70's. Got up by 8:30am and walked through town in search of breakfast and to get a fishing license at Jack Dennis outfitters. The eats were pretty limited (although there was a small fair going on with a few booths) so we drove to McDonalds to grab some food. There was a K-mart nearby where we picked up some fuel and other items, then headed to town where The Sheik got a few more things while I checked out a potential hotel for a winter ski trip. We went back to the motel room to finish packing for an hour, then left Jackson for a 1 1/2 hour drive to the trailhead at the South Entrance of Yellowstone National Park. We parked nearby and ask a ranger at the gate to add an extra day to our permit since the weather was so nice. We headed for our campsite by late afternoon and immediately had to ford the Snake River. It was about a six mile hike to our campsite but the terrain was relatively flat, so it was fairly easy. Thunderstorms were lurking in the area, but never hit us this evening. I had some time to do some fishing on the Snake River (where our campsite was situated) as the sun set on the meadow. The Helmet and I tried to find the spot where a "hot" river mixed with the Snake (where we could do some soaking), but after following it for about a mile, we decided to bag it. It got cool this evening, and the fire was a welcome addition to the campsite. The park doesn't allow fires in some places, but this site had a fire ring. We were situated right at the edge of a huge meadow and this was a great place to watch the sunset and to view the stars after dark. The Helmet was a fan of the area, and claimed that this was the nicest campsite he'd ever had. We sat around the fire until after 11pm, drank some wine and smoked some cigars and had a great evening around the campfire. Critters - Fox? Coyote, Deer, Moose and Calf, Bear Tracks |
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