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.
