Huge Hike

Emily, Alyssa and I did an intense twelve mile hike today up Mount Washburn. Twelve miles may not sound huge, but it involved climbing two mountains, a vicious thirty minute hail storm, and complete wilderness for most of it. We saw not a soul for the entire backcountry portion - about 8 of the 12 miles.

Here's the deal. One of the most popular hikes in the park is called Mount Washburn. You climb a mountain for three miles and then turn around and go back. The climb a mountain part is awesome but the going back part is kind of sucky bc you just retrace your steps. So I came up with an addition: once we climb the Mount, we take a side trail through a "bear management wilderness area," adding another six miles and the additional mountain, then meet up with a third trail called Sevenmile Hole Trail for three miles, which takes us through thermal areas, plains, and along the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone until we hit Inspiration Point. Then my dad picks us up. It was a great hike, but we almost died.

Here are the highlights.



I'm just posting this picture bc it signifies the start of the trail.


Pink flowers!


Yellow flowers!


Blue flowers.





Thumbs up.


Flannel.


See those? Bighorn Sheep!


That is the bull-there were about ten females, four kids, and one Man.


He came to check us out.
AND THEN HE LOOKED RIGHT AT US AND CHARGED!!!


Not really. He actually just peed, pooped, and got an erection. We got really close though!


It's windy! This is Alyssa at the tip-top of Mount Washburn, at 10,243 feet above sea level.


I didn't memorize that stat--there's a sign that says so.


I look much nerdier with my glasses on but I needed them to spot bears! In my youth, I could spot bears even without glasses :-(. Oh also, that path off to the right is the next leg of our trail.


This is the next leg of the trail. Notably, the trail is barely visible.


Emily was always first to the top of mountains! Queen Emily!


Hm those clouds look kind of ominous.


Uh oh...

And then I didn't take any pictures for a while b there was a giant thunder/hail storm. GIANT. We had to hide under a tree for cover but still got wet and freezing. Emily couldn't feel her legs! However, we were about 20 miles from any kind of civilization so we had no choice but to persevere. It sucked though! Biggest hail storm I've ever seen.


Fortunately Yellowstone weather changes on a dime. After the sun came back, the temp went from the low 50s to the mid 70s and we were back to primo hiking weather. Nice shirt, Liss!


Fording a river


This picture is significant. If you look carefully at one of the mountains in the middle, you can see a tiny dot on top. That's the peak of Mount Washburn. We were there about 5 miles ago.


That's the mountain.


Washburn Meadows






Then we got to geysers again out of nowhere! Yellowstone is so cool and random.


This field felt like a graveyard. Possibly ours. We'd hiked about 8 miles at this point.


The last leg! The trail opens up as we hike through some nice forest.


Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.


So close





And we're done. Then we slept for about twelve hours. Good job Gartenbergs!
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Mammoth

Today (friday) was action packed. After rustling everyone out of bed, we headed north to mammoth. Along the way, we saw some grand sites. For example, we stopped at the roaring mountain.

I tries to post a video but it didn't work. The point is, it makes a growling sound. We also saw two bald eagles perched in some trees! They were too far to capture with my camera.

We finally got to mammoth at around 12:30. We had lunch at the mammoth grill, home of the famed huevos rancheros. Unfortunately, they were not in the menu.


Then, we set off on our first hike -- a 5 mile loop to Beaver Ponds. Sadly, it was a little too intense for Dad and Debbie, and they turned back after the first half mile. Alyssa and Emily persevered though! Here are some highlights.


Liberty Cap in the distance


Sisters





See the butterfly?





Beaver Ponds


A bridge


Siblings


Hm this is going to be a long post but I don't think anyone is reading it so that's ok. Then, after the hike, we ate ice cream. I had moose tracks flavor. Duh.

Next, we did a short boardwalk hike around mammoth's lower terrace. It looks like another planet. See?


Multicolored


Father



Liberty Cap





Rain?


Nah.





Purdy


That's me.


That's elk.
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