Yellowstone National Park - Heart Lake - September 1, 2002 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Yellowstone National Park - Heart Lake |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Wyoming |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | September 1, 2002 |
| Duration: | 3 days |
| Trail Conditions: | Excellent |
| Trail Traffic: | Moderate |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny, Partly Sunny |
| Trip Winds: | Light |
| Trip Precipitation: | None |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 71-80, Low: 41-50 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | 9/1/02 (Sunday) - WY - Sunny. Warm with high's near 80. Cool at night to low 40's. The Helmet, The Sheik, and I got a late start this morning. Woke around 9am and didn't start hiking until almost 11:15am. Had breakfast in the sunshine along the river and watched the steam roll off the hot spots in both the river and a hot creek. Explored the hot creek area and the hot springs nearby after breakfast. It was a ten mile hike today to Heart Lake. We originally planned on stopping for lunch by 1pm, but pushed on to a meadow just south of Basin Creek Lake and took a thirty minute break. Took another break at the lake, which turned out to have some hungry trout in it. Hooked two of them and landed one that was a nice Cutthroat. We originally had plans to camp on this lake on Monday night, but changed the reservation. That’s too bad in retrospect because Basin Creek Lake was awesome. Left for Heart Lake around 3pm, and hiked the final five miles with a break near Sheridan Lake. We were all pretty tired despite the moderate terrain and The Helmet dug up his walkie-talkie for the Sheik who was in the back of the pack. The Helmet and I pulled ahead of him and made it to our campsite at 8H3 along the lake about thirty minutes before he did. We had neighbors nearby, but were isolated from them by a group of trees. I tried some fishing after pitching my tent, but didn't have any luck this evening on Heart Lake. I did notice two moose, however, about ten yards behind me as I fished on the shore at dusk. It was a cow with her calf, and they seemed only partially interested in my activities. I went back to get The Helmet and my camera and we snapped a few pics as they grazed along the shore after sunset. The Sheik decided to cash in his chips and sacked out early tonight without dinner. He was really tired from the hike today. The Helmet and I gathered some firewood and cooked up dinner as darkness set in tonight. We hung out for a few hours and noticed the stars through the tall evergreen trees around our campfire. The wind picked up this evening but we were fairly insulated from it by the trees. Sacked out around 11pm. Critters - Deer and fawns (2), Moose and calf, Cuthroat Trout, Marmot 9/2/02 (Monday) WY - Sunny again. Warm to 70's. Low's in 40's. The Helmet and I got up by 9am this am and had some quick snacks before making a two mile round trip to the ranger cabin. Fortunately, the ranger (and his wife) were in the cabin this morning. We asked to switch our site to Heart Lake (instead of Basin Creek Lake) so that we could have a rest day today and to avoid any backtracking. The ranger radioed in our request and got us approved for 8H6 on the north end of Heart Lake not far from his cabin. The Sheik was quite pleased with our success (and was still recovering from yesterday) but suggested a climb up to the lookout tower on Mt. Sheridan. All of us decided against the eight mile roundtrip hike which had an ascent of 3000 feet. Instead, we had a leisure breakfast, packed up, and switched camps around 11am. At our new site, both The Helmet and I went swimming in the lake, then we pitched camp nearby. It was warm this afternoon but Heart Lake was still a very chilly. After some snacks, I fished for a few hours while The Helmet and The Sheik hiked around the north and western shores of Heart Lake. I never caught a trout, but I did have a few hits around the ranger cabin. Met up with some other hikers who were camping around the 8H3 site, and they walked about one mile north of the ranger cabin for a soak in Witch Creek. We considered it, but one group claimed there were little red worms on them when they climbed out of the river. So I spent the rest of the evening touring the hot springs near 8H6 and watching two deer in the meadow near our campsite. The Helmet, Sheik, and I set up our dinner area next to the shore of Heart Lake. I threw some more lures for thirty minutes, but the fish were more interested in fake grasshoppers than in my spoons (or so I heard from some fly-fisherman). We cooked up dinner at dusk and spent the rest of the evening sitting by the lake as darkness set in and the stars came out in force. It was cold tonight (especially without a campfire which was not permitted at this site), but the lake was very picturesque. Crashed around 11pm with plans to hike out tomorrow. Critters: Deer (2), Moose and calf, Loons 9/3/02 (Tuesday) - WY/MT - Sunny and hot to upper 70's, maybe low 80's. Cooler in the evening to 40's overnight. Woke up early for the hike out today, but still didn't get started until around 9:30am. It was a 7.5 mile hike to the Heart Lake trailhead (and the South Entrance Park Road), and the initial climb out of the lake basin was hot and challenging. We passed a number of hikers on the way out today. All were headed to Heart Lake for the night. |
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