Yellowstone, Old Faithful Village Hikes, 8-15-24

8-15-24, Lone Star & Upper Geyser Basin

Howard Eaton Trailhead Map.

For the Old Faithful section of our trip we hoped to do easy hikes from the Inn followed up with tours through the Upper Geyser Basin in the evenings. Lone Star is one of our favorite hikes and we stopped by the VC in the evening for guidance on finding the Howard Eaton TH across the highway from the Village. But the rangers didn’t know about the trail and cautioned us against hiking it because they thought we would have to hike along the road.

Lone Star Geyser erupting.

But the next morning we walked across the street to the Xanterra dorm area and easily found the start of the trail on the left marked by the orange ski trail blazes. (just split left on the gravel once across the road, and don’t continue on the concrete path). We’d had to do a lot of gear sorting, and didn’t get an early start for this trip, but I still wore a wicker and hoodie in the morning chill. 

Lone Star Geyser erupting.

The Howard Eaton Trail is a forest hike, but has an easy grade and goes through a pretty area. We saw one pair of backpackers hiking out. Lone Star erupts on a three hour cycle and we had no idea where in the cycle it was. So, we were happy to see two parties waiting at the site. The guide from one of the groups told us the eruption was ~30 minutes off, but before we could get settled in it started. First there was a small pulse, then a 30’ column of water, gradually changing to a loud steam phase. The geyser isn’t as tall, or as regular, but I think it is more impressive than Old Faithful. The eruption lasted 25 minutes. The guided party reported that there had been no pre-eruption activity. We’ve seen Lone Star several times now and have always arrived just before the eruption. Being so lucky with the geyser made up for all the soggy gear and rainy hiking we’d been having.

Lone Star erupting.

Two separate groups arrived just after the eruption, one was backpacking and planned to stay for the next eruption. Jean and I did the short side trip to Campsie 0A1 on the return, just to confirm that 0A1 was an attractive campsite. By the end of the hike, I was stripped down to a T-shirt for nearly the first time on the trip. 

The crowd waiting for an eruption of Old Faithful.

Back at the village we stopped at the Snow Lodge to get caught up on messages, then hit our room for an afternoon nap. We decided to eat in, and Jean boiled up a freeze dried dinner with mashed potatoes that we ate on the breezeway while waiting for an Old Faithful eruption. We had a long chat with a high school grad working at the Inn. 

Old Faithful erupting.

None of the predicable geysers were expected to erupt that evening, but we hiked Geyser Hill out to Castle and back. Sawmill was erupting modestly, but it’s just the mass of activity that makes the upper basin so unique. 

The Old Faithful Inn.

Sawmill Geyser Erupting.

8-16-24 Mystic Falls

Our goal was to hike out to the Mystic Falls loop and get a look at Biscuit Basin. Biscuit had a hydrothermal eruption (captured on film) earlier in the year and was still closed. We had a cold foggy start. Jean bandaged up the hamburger on my right heel. We could still access Mystic by taking the bike trail over from Daisy Geyser, after circling that group. The bike trail brought us to the Mystic Falls Trail, just where it exits the Biscuit Loop. 

Mystic Falls from below.

Mystic Falls is in three tiers, about 100’ high, the same height as the Upper Falls of the Yellowstone, though the Little Firehole has much less flow. I was still wearing long pants, a wicker, and the gray hoodie. The trail tough to find after both the falls viewpoint and the main overlook. A few more blazes at both spots would help. The climb to the overlook is short, but steep. 

Mystic Falls.

The overlook is fantastic and spans almost the entire Upper Basin. We could see the damage from the Biscuit Basin explosion clearly; a section of damaged boardwalk and handrails, and a large debris field of dark “biscuits” thrown out of the throat of the geyser when it exploded. (the NPS located the explosion at Black Diamond Pool). Luckily, most of the debris went safely away from the boardwalk.

The Upper Geyser Basin from Mystic Overlook.

 https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/news/240723.htm

On the return hike we saw the end of an eruption of Daisy Geyser. We also did a side to trip to Morning Glory Pool (crowded!) and looped around Riverside Geyser (which we hoped to see erupt later in the trip). Next we viewed another eruption of Old Faithful. 

Close up of Biscuit Basin.

After dinner we checked in at the VC and got good info on our planned hike to Mallard Lake.

From Mystic overlook.

Daisy was predicted for 3:52 and Riverside for 4:05, so we had a busy evening. We left late for Daisy, but there was a crowd there when we arrived. 

Grotto Geyser.

Daisy eruptions are 3-4 minutes long and 40-50’ high, so we stayed for the full event, then sprinted over to Riverside. Despite a little flat out running we missed the start, but still saw most of the 12-15 minutes water phase. 

Morning Glory Pool.

Daisy in Eruption

Riverside Geyser.

8-17-24 Mallard Lake

The evening before I got a little tickle in the back of my throat that was the first indication of a positive test for Covid-19. The next morning, I felt just a little stuffed up and had a minor sore throat. We bought cough drops and flu meds and headed off for an easy hike to Mallard Lake. Mallard starts in back of the Old Faithful Lodge giving us our third car free day in a row. 

Heading for Mallard Lake.

The trail is wide and well-marked for winter skiing. I made a note here that there are not any blazes on the hiking trails in Yellowstone. We saw three parties on the trail, including two solo hikers, a rarity for bear country. The backpacker really liked CS 0B2, so we planned an early lunch there. Most of the hike was in open forest, pretty, but rather unremarkable.

Arriving at campsite 0B2.

The campsite was on the end of a small peninsula into the lake and beautifully sited. It would be a good alternative for an easy in site. We lounged around and explored the other sites. 0B3 was OK, but 0B4 was tiny and lacked a decent cook area.

The view from 0B2.

I was tired by the time we returned to the Inn, but not unexpectedly so for two solid weeks of hiking. I was also losing my appetite and had a stronger sinus headache. It took a long nap and another dose of the flu meds to get me out for dinner and back into the geyser basin. My symptoms would eventually include chills and hot flashes. 

Castle Geyser.

We had an early dinner in the lodge cafeteria (never crowded, but mediocre food) and watched Old Faithful erupt from inside. I took a post dinner nap then we headed out for a 4:45 eruption of Castle The eruption was a little late, but started with 30’ water jets that eventually reached 40-50’ high. The water phase lasted about 18 minutes with a ~22 minute steam phase alternating with water jets. This one threw out a lot of water, but the sky behind was a flat gray and the eruption didn’t jump out in our pictures.

An eruption of Lion Geyser.

On the walk back we saw Lion erupt from a distance and also saw two bison grazing on the lawn of the general store. 

Bison grazing by the general store.

8-18-24

This was more of a travel day. We wanted to stop at a few places on the way over to Cooke City, where we would prepare for our last hike of the trip, into the Beartooth. I had still not licked my flu, though the meds let me feel better.

Early morning in the Upper Basin.

We intended to start with a quick trip around the upper basin but ended up in the predicted window for Grand Geyser. Grand made us wait a bit, but it was worth it with 12 minutes of a 50’ mixed water and steam. The sky again was overcast, so not great photos. 

Approaching Grand Geyser.

We then sat again for another eruption of Old Faithful. After the eruption we ran into our friends from Taiwan who were now staying at the Village. We again chatted a while about our various adventures. We were able to donate some unused gear and food at the Inn bellhop station and headed off for Grand Prismatic Pool on the advice of Joseph and Dahlin. 

Grand Geyser erupts!

For Grand Prismatic we parked at Fairy Falls and took the relatively new spur to the overlook above the pool. This was a crowded route, and blasted by the sun, but worth it for a better view of the pool than is possible from up close.

A classic Old Faithful eruption.

Our final stop was at Artist Paint Pots, a trail I did not recall having hiked.

Grand Prismatic Spring.

The paint pots were just OK, and the facility full, so maybe after two weeks in the park we were getting jaded, Driving around Mt Washburn we viewed a small herd of bighorn sheep on the slope above us, our first sheep siting of the trip. The bison in the Lamar Valley posed no delays and the traffic was easy the rest of the way to Cooke City, where we had another room in the Super 8. 

The Artists Paint Pots.

Bighorn Sheep on the slope of Mt Washburn.

Yellowstone, Heart Lake Backpack, 8-12-24

At the Heart Lake Trailhead.

Our backpacking trip to Heart Lake would be the highlight of our 2024 Yellowstone trip. We had made the trip twice before, and it has proved to one of our all time favorite areas. I’d booked a block of rooms at the Old House at Old Faithful for August 2024 on the first day they’d opened, almost a year in advance. YNP was in the first year of their early access lottery for backcountry permits, and I signed up for the lottery in March. I drew April 9 (from a range of April 1-24) for my access date, and was able to reserve two nights at the Rustic CS (8H6) at Heart Lake just prior to our Old Faithful stay. The timing was crucial for this. Jean and I had already decided that given the hassles of flying with camping gear, if we couldn’t get a Heart Lake campsite, we would not backpack at Yellowstone.

Paycheck Pass and our first view of Heart Lake.

Two days in the Beartooth, and three day hikes near Canyon, had given us a good break in period. What little weather information we had made it look like things were becoming clearer and drier. We’d had one small problem. As I was testing our MSR Whisperlite stove by our cottage at Lake Village, I discovered a leak in the valve that I was not able to fix. The stove is almost 20 years old and has O-rings and other parts likely long dried out. We use the stove for both cooking and boiling drinking water, so there was no way to do without it. Luckily, we were able to drive to the campground store at Fishing Bridge, and the salesman found a MSR Pocket Rocket and two cannisters for us. The pocket rocket worked well. One cannister lasted through a test boil, plus the three day trip.

The trip stated well, we saw an elk her calf on the road driving in. We were better prepared for the weather, wearing long pants and a hoodie from the start. The first half of the hike to Heart Lake is a monotonous trek through pine forest burned in the 1988 fire. When buggy this is a torturous route, but this year we were late enough that bugs were never an issue. It took us about 1:50 to reach “Paycheck Pass”, where the trail breaks out into the uppermost of the five geothermal areas of Witch Creek, with expansive views of Heart Lake and Mt Sheridan. 

Mt Sheridan and the Rustic Geyser Group from the shore of Heart Lake.

Lower down we chatted with the previous night’s campers at 8H6, they reported few bugs and no problems with bears, good news for us. We reached the lake shore at the unoccupied patrol cabin in another 1:45, then walked the lakeshore for a half mile to our camp site. 

Pitching our tent.

Rustic Campsite (aka 8H6) has some amazing amenities. Heart Lake in your front yard covers 2,150 acres, one of the largest wilderness lakes around. In the back yard is the Rustic Geyser Basin, headlined by the colors of Columbia Pool and frequently erupting Rustic Geyser. Next door is the old lookout tower on nearby 10,300’ Mt Sheridan, an ideal hike for your middle day. What it doesn’t have is an ideal spot for your tent. By Jean’s exacting standards there isn’t a place ideally smooth or level enough for our tent. But we made do, pitching our tent near a new log enclosure, and just downhill from the old cook area. 

Columbia Pool with Heart Lake in the background.

With bear protocols in place at Yellowstone, we got our tent up and food moved to the cook area. We could see Rustic Geyser and it’s nearby features steaming away, so we headed over to see if we could watch an eruption. We hiked through the woods on the left side to access the gentle hillside above the small basin. There are two fumaroles and one pool on the hillside, with a good view of Columbia Pool just below. We had a decent view of Rustic and others boiling away, but didn’t see a safe looking route that let us get nearer. After about a 15 minute wait, we heard the rumble of thunder and saw dark clouds pouring over Mt Washburn. We abandoned our post and bolted for the tent. About halfway back I took a quick look and saw the last few seconds of Rustic erupting in a 6’ plume, but not lasting even long enough for a quick pic.

A view of the Rustic Group from above.

The shower kept us pinned in the tent, but it was barely strong enough to completely wet the ground. For dinner we fired up the pocket rocket, which worked well, but was probably not really designed for boiling multiple rounds of water. We spent a little time on the beach before hitting the sack in advance of our Mt Sheridan hike. 

Watching the rain shed off our tent fly.

8-13-24, Mt Sheridan

Heart Lake from Mt. Sheridan.

We were up at 7:45 Eastern for our Mt Sheridan hike. The weather forecast from the previous day gave us a clear morning, but predicted rain in the afternoon. The trail climbs almost 3,000’ from the lake to the summit, but is well graded. We started out through the meadows at the base of the peak, climbed switchbacks through the forest to the ridge crest, then finished with an above tree line section. Even this late in summer the flowers were out, and a few snowfields remained near the ridge crest. But the sky was already clouding over, and we picked up the pace hoping to beat the rain to the top. 

In the fog on the lower slopes of Mt Sheridan.

The weather started cloudy and did not improve as we climbed. We could barely see the peaks surrounding Heart Lake, and had limited views down toward the lake and geyser basin. By the summit we were in and out of dark, billowing clouds. We huddled in the lee of the tower just long enough to eat some snacks and snap some pictures. But after 30 minutes, thunder pealed and headed down. 

Jean at the summit of Mt. Sheridan.

The top ridge section of the trail is exposed and we wanted to get down to the safety of the trees ASAP. The wind rain began almost immediately, chilling us as we tried to hurry across the exposed ridge. Once back into the trees we had a little safety margin. My new REI raincoat was holding up well, but Jean’s old Precip jacket was leaking. Jean led a stiff pace all the down into the meadow, which kept us working hard enough descending to stay warm. Near the campsite there was a short rain free interlude where we imagined some relaxing time on the beach, or at the geyser for the afternoon. But it was not to be, as the rain picked up again. Jean was completely soaked, and my feet were soggy wet.

Gear drying in camp.

Back at camp we found that the faint trail up to the cook area had drained water back towards our tent that was now ponding under the vestibule on my side. We picked up the tent and moved it away from the trail, which kept all our gear dry. After a two hour hike in the rain, we had another hour pinned in the tent watching the rain drops splatter on the fly.

Finally, the birds began singing and the rain began to let up. It was still quite early in the afternoon, but we didn’t trust the rain and began to cook dinner, grateful for the chance to avoid cooking in the rain. The pocket rocket again worked well. We were able to boil enough extra water for drinking. The rain held off long enough for us to do some relaxing on the beach. We heard loons, and saw Canada Geese and mallards, but missed the pelicans we had seen on prior trips. The final bout of rain drove us back to the tent for the night, By then we were down to a single pair of dry socks.

Sunrise over Heart Lake.

8-14-24, Heart Lake hike out

Heart Lake Sunrise

With just the hike out left to go, we had the luxury of departing late from Heart Lake. The very foggy morning gave us some good photo ops. This gave us time to set the tent out to dry, and to head over to Rustic Geyser for a final chance to watch for an eruption. We resumed our stakeout on the hill above the geyser and waited about 18 minutes. All of a sudden Rustic burbled and launched jets of water. The eruption lasted about 40 seconds, reached a maximum of 6-8’ of water, and was accompanied by significant steam. Our wait times were consistent with the estimated 20-30 minute eruption interval assumed for Rustic.

Rustic geyser erupting.

Returning to camp, the tent body was dry, but we had to fold up a soggy tent fly. My rarely worn boots had blistered my left heal hiking into Heart Lake, and my right heal hiking up Sheridan, so Jean applied some belated blister blockers on me. We chatted up some fisherman on the lakeshore (cutthroats), and saw several other parties and two deer hiking out. It seemed a long way up to Paycheck Pass, where we snacked and enjoyed our last view of the geyser basin. Luckily the flatter west end of the trail went quickly, and the day stayed dry. I did a fair amount limping due to the heel blisters.

Looking down on the Rustic Group.

At the trailhead were we able to donate our white gas to the fishermen we had talked to earlier. We stopped at very quiet Grant Village for gas and ice cream, and the rain caught up to us there. Driving over to Old Faithful Village it turned briefly to slush, just for variety we reckoned. We checked into the Old House (Room 241, 2 doubles, a shared bath, and good view of the upper geyser basin), got dinner at the lodge cafeteria, and watched our first eruption of Old Faithful for the trip. 

On the hike out of Heart Lake.

Yellowstone Canyon Area Hikes, 8-9-24

8-9-24, South Rim Trail

Sunrise over Hayden Valley

The first part of our stay at Yellowstone was in a Lake Village cabin. We’ve stayed there before due to the easy access to the hotel and lodge dining area, and for the surrounding hiking. The cabins are small, but have enough room for just the two of us.

Hayden Valley sunrise with bison.

We were up early to hike the trails on the south rim of Yellowstone canyon, which we expected to be crowded. Before dawn we could hear coyotes howling from the parking area and later we saw one as we left the lot. The morning fog gave us some great pictures as we slalomed around the bison in the Hayden Valley.

The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River.

We stopped at the first parking area (for the Upper Falls) on the south rim road, intending to do a longer loop out to Point Sublime than we had done in our previous visit in 2008. Our first view revealed all of the Upper Falls, and we’d be hooked on photography the rest of the day. The South Rim is a front country trail, much of it paved to protect from the heavy use. I tried to limit myself to one phone picture per overlook. 

Jean at the Upper Falls.

The light was already harsh, and the falls would be partly in the direct light. The grandest overlook was at Artists Point where the entire Lower Falls is visible.

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River from Artists Point.

At least there were plenty of people there to take your picture. 

The Lower Falls from Artist Point.

The colors and the setting continued to astound us. Though there are several named overlooks, the rim trails are really just a long series of overlooks. I couldn’t help looking down to the canyon floor, totally filled by the raging river, and wonder if anyone had ever walked alongside it. 

The canyon of the Yellowstone River.

We reached the end of the overlooks at Point Sublime, where the best view was down river, rather than back toward the falls.

Yellowstone River Canyon.

We got lucky and had Point Sublime all to ourselves. We then looped back to Lily Lake on the Clear Lake Trail, and enjoyed the mud pots and other features close up. We walked the prairie section back to the Wapiti Picnic Area at the start of the South Rim Road, a stretch of trail that reminded us both of the Maah Daah Hey Trail in TRNP. It had been 43F at the start of the day, but we were now down to T-shirts.

View down river from Point Sublime.

We decided to add a brief hike on the North Rim Trail to the brink of the Upper Falls. This took us on an old, paved road over the abandoned Canyon Bridge (I had always assumed that was the highway bridge showing up in pics of the Upper Falls). That side trip gave us a quick view of the brink, without having to immerse ourselves in a frantic crush of tourists. The north rim was busy, but didn’t yet feel crowded. 

Canyon Bridge from the South Rim Trail.

The drive back was slightly less hectic, with a 20 minute bison jam and one other shorter jam. At the cabin, I could not remove the car key from the ignition of our rental Corolla (Enterprise roadside exists only to send a tow truck to you), but finally extracted it after 20 minutes of fiddling with the switch.

8-10-24, Mt Washburn

Elk herd on the way to Mt Washburn.

Mt Washburn was another hike that we had done back in 2008 that was long overdue for a repeat. We left at 8:15, passed a small elk herd near the hotel, and managed to get through the Hayden Valley bison jam with no major delays. Again, we nabbed the first spot in the lot. 

On the Mt Washburn Trail.

Our weather started out clear, but we soon heard rumbles of thunder, and could see clouds moving in quickly. The route from Dunraven Pass is an old road with occasional patches of asphalt still visible. This keeps the grade reasonable, but the hike is still a long steady climb. 

Mt Washburn in the distance.

The summit, and its impressive array of towers, is visible from much of the trail, giving you no illusions about how far it is to the top. We were passed by two solo hikers near the top as the wind and fog began to close in around us.

View from the Washburn Tower

After the junction with the Chittenden Trail from the north, the route is exposed. The wind began howling from the north, the visibility dropped to zero, and it was wintertime cold. One of the other hikers fled the top, driven away by the cold and lack of views. 

Another view from the Washburn Tower.

Jean and I struggled to the summit sign, got our picture, and then headed for the tower. I could not remember if the tower had been open in 2008, but we found an unlocked door that led to a cozy observation room, and even an indoor bathroom!  What a relief! We sat for a well-deserved snack. Not long afterward the skies cleared, the wind dropped, and the air warmed. A full crush of hikers had come up behind us, and now the sunny summit was crowded with visitors. 

Jean at the summit.

We ventured back out for more summit pics and fell into conversation with a Taiwanese couple who had lived for 35+ years in the US. We exchanged hiking and lodging tips, while enjoying the summit sunlight. But it was cool enough that the jackets stayed on all the way back to the trailhead.

At the summit with our friends from Taiwan.

The descent was busy, but we were glad we had gotten such an early start. At one point we were passed by a couple with a loud clanking bell, and as I turned to Jean to say, “We won’t need to do anymore “Hey Bearing”,” a large black bear crossed the trail below us. We later learned that other hikers were especially nervous about bears because a grizzly with two cubs had been seen near the trailhead. Perhaps due to the presence of the bears, we did not see the herd of Bighorn Sheep we remembered from our previous trip.

The flowers in the meadows were just beyond their summer peak, but still very pretty.  On the advice of our Taiwan friends, we stopped at Canyon Village. We confirmed that the new lodges were nicer than we remembered, and watched the park film, until the power went out. The final stop was at Bay Bridge where we picked up our backpacking permit for Heart Lake.

Washburn is known for its flowers.

Our dinner plan was to cook Mac and Cheese outside the cabin. But before firing up the stove I noticed a fuel leak in the pump. I was able to get the valve apart and clean it, but I was not able to stop the leak despite delving deep into the instructions. We hurried over to the store at Fishing Bridge and bought a new MSR Pocket Rocket and two propane cannisters that proved to do the job.

8-11-24, Canyon North Rim

Our original goal for this hike was to walk some of the Mary Mountain Trail in the Hayden Valley. We thought with all the bison along the road there, we would likely have good wildlife viewing along the trail. But as we drove into the pullout for Mary Mountain we could see through the thick fog that the trailhead was surrounded by bison. Once again the herd was agitated, with plenty of grunting and random movements.

Sunrise leaving Lake Village.

We waited 30 minutes in the sub 40F dawn before realizing that the bison were not moving off. The traffic was bothering them, some cars freezing in place, and other drivers jittery to get through the tangle. The lead car facing southbound sat in the road without moving for 30 minutes despite plenty of room in the adjacent pullout that we were using. When other cars began blocking our view we changed plans. 

Which are bison and which are bikers?

We headed off toward to the North Rim trails at Canyon instead, with the reward of spotting a black bear crossing the road. 

Bear crossing the Loop Road. 

We parked off the North Rim Road at the brink of the Upper Falls and walked out to Inspiration Point, stopping at all the overlooks, and taking both side trails down to the brink of the Lower Falls and to Red Rock Point below the Lower Falls. I thought this might seem redundant after seeing many of the same sights from the South Rim only two days before. But the fresh perspective was worth it, we’d never before walked the North Rim, and despite the larger crowds, the views were worth it. Lookout and Grand viewpoints were crowded, but that was to be expected. One new view was at Cascade Falls, where the small creek is captured by the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Cascade Falls.

The brink of the Lower Falls was another unique view. The platform required a short steep hike, but was not as long as the next one climb down to Red Rock Point to see the Lower Falls from below. 

The brink of the Upper Falls.

After Grand View was a longer hike out to Inspiration Point. 

The Lower Falls of the Yellowstone.

There is an overlook at the Iowa Four H Camp also named Inspiration Point by Jean’s Dad, so we took some pictures of Yellowstone’s to send to Jean’s family. We then retraced our way back to the car, knowing we needed the rest of the day to pack for our upcoming backpacking trip to Heart Lake.

Jean at Inspiration Point.

By the time we drove back, the bison herd had left the Mary Mountain Trailhead for greener pastures, and we had no more issues with bison jams. Here’s a shot of our cabin at Lake Village. 

Our cabin at Lake Village.