Just a Small Detour — Adventures With Samson-The-Bear

On 7/29 I did 23.9 miles to Gregg Fork Creek. On 7/30 I did 24 miles to Grassy Lake. On 7/31 I did 31.3 miles to a ravine just south of Red Mountain.

Listen to "Transitions" By ElTenEleven as I switch gears and make my own path and depart the CDT for awhile.

I camped with Relentless and Twig at Summit Lake. We are not technically allowed to camp in Yellowstone without permits but they had a breakfast buffet at Old Faithful Village so we got as close to the Village as we could safely do so without causing any issues. We then woke up at 4am and did a headlamp start to get to the buffet on time (never underestimate what a hiker will do to get to a buffet). As we got closer I could see the hot springs and geysers steaming out of the valley floor. It was a pretty cool walk towards the village. It was super early in the morning and we had the place to ourselves. The hot pools were brilliant colors and the geysers were laid out in such away it was almost like an exhibition hall where you could go from one type and style of geyser to the next just a dozen or so yards away. It was a fantastic way to enter Yellowstone. Once we got to Disneyland, I mean Old Faithful Village, the area turned into a circus. There were people everywhere and they were all in cars and looked out of breath walking from their car to the Old Faithful Geyser 100 yards away. The most unsafe thing I have done this entire trip is walk through the parking lot of OFV, the drivers just didn't expect to see anyone on foot in the national park (I mean who walks anywhere these days?). After playing frogger in the parking lot we made sure to get our moneys worth at the buffet and spent the rest of the time charging our electronics and watching Old Faithful blow a few times (Despite the herds it is pretty cool to see).

I got my permit at the rangers station for my camping inside the park. The rangers are typically very helpful when working with through hikers. They were able to squeeze me into a spot that had been closed down but knew that I would be okay and take all of the proper bear protections. In Yellowstone I started my detour off of the CDT. I took the Bechler Ridge Trail out of OFV which goes Southwest while the official CDT goes Southeast. This detour is going to allow me to see more of Yellowstone and drop me into the Tetons. This is not a very common detour and requires a lot of navigation, bushwacking and some technical skills to pull off. I'm excited and know that it is kind of stupid to do and that's why I'm kind of excited.

I walked the first few miles out of old faithful with Twig and Relentless and said our goodbyes. I've been mostly solo for awhile but their company on and off over the past 2 weeks was a blast. As I started down Bechler Trail, I turned the corner and was about 25 yards from a Grizzly (Ohhh Shit) and right behind it was a tiny cub (Ohhh Fuck). The wind was right and blowing toward me and they somehow didn't hear me so I backed away quickly but quietly. That was wayyyyyyyy closer than I wanted to be to a grizzly and its cub. I waited 10 minutes and then let out a bunch of "Hey Bears" as I walked down the trail.

My campsite was awesome and cozy at Gregg Fork. I had a rushing stream next to camp and a mile down the trail 3 streams came together to form the Bechler River. Backcountry Yellowstone is nothing like the front country. It was peaceful and I only saw 4 other people on the Bechler trail. The next day I got up and followed the trail along the river. There were hot pools all along the trail and I put my hand in every spring that flowed across the trail to see if they were hot springs or normal springs. If you are in the know (and I am not) you can find where the hot springs flow into the river and create a very relaxing pool. While I wasnt sure where these magical pools were I did get a chance to catch a few amazing waterfalls along the way. I had no idea I was going to stumble upon them which made them an even bigger treat.

After leaving Bechler Trail I hit Mountain Ash trail which took me through some huge meadows. I got to the edge of one of the meadows and saw 2 large animals about a quarter mile away. I couldn't figure out what they were and it wasnt until I was about 100 yards away that I could tell they were birds. As I got closer I realized they were about 3 feet tall, brown/tan, and kind of looked like a crane but they didn't have super long feet. When they finally saw me they did not fly away but started to make sounds that sounded like a velociraptor. I have no idea what type of bird they were but it was pretty cool.

After leaving Yellowstone I started to bounce in between Grand Teton National Park and the surrounding National Forests. This is when navigation became a little difficult and my miles per hour definitely slowed down. I had a hard time finding the trail and got lost going over Jackass Pass (Yes, I did feel like a jackass) and then had to bushwhack through a bunch of willow brush and cut up a steep mountain side that would have given a mountain goat some problems. I managed to stay mostly on trail or at least where a trail should have been after Jackass Pass but was constantly checking my maps and GPS. Other times I was going cross country where there wasn't any trail and was just going off the contour lines on my map for the best route. While the going was hard the views were spectacular. This was actually the first time I wish I was hiking with someone. Even though the trail was rough it would have been nice to share some of the sweeping landscapes with someone. I'm excited as I push down the trail because I know that all of this work is going to lead me to some epic mountains.

The geysers and hot pools in the morning

Picture I took during the middle of a ford

Leaving the valley and heading up to the ridges