Yellowstone Recommendations?

I’ve always been amazed at how little backcountry traffic I see in Yellowstone, even in August.  Dealing with traffic sucks that time of year, but I wouldn’t be afraid of crowds 4 miles beyond the roads.

Shoshone Geyser basin and the springs and waterfalls in the upper reaches of the Bechler are amazing.  You could easily dedicate most of a day to each.  If you have two cars. I’d recommend a point to point that ends at Old Faithful and depending on mileage goals starts at either the 9 Mile TH by Yellowstone Lake or the Soda Butte Creek TH in the Lamar.  Especially if you do the later you’ll see a bunch of wildlife and big vistas, as well as forests and thermal features.  Dedicate the penultimate day to a dayhike down to the Bechler.

My recent perfunctory overview was leading me towards a start at the Belcher ranger station (it has to be someplace we can get a shuttle to) and passing through Old Faithful on a traverse of the park.  So, great minds think alike.  But if I could get that thermal feature experience without hitting the tourist-infested areas I’d be for it.  Probably not, though.

I’ll look into your recommended starting trailheads.  Thanks.  Seems like you recommend SOBO (SWBO) for a full traverse?  Any recommendations on the rest of the route?  Clearly I can come up with one, but if you (anyone, not just Dave) have been on the ground there I’d love to hear your thoughts.  I’ve only stopped for one day in Yellowstone to see the touristy things, during a cross-country move.

Using a shuttle service limits options, but is certainly workable, though expensive.

If you want to start at the Bechler station, I’d go up the Bechler, over to Shoshone Lake, along the south and east side of the lake, over to Heart Lake, along Trail Creek, across the Yellowstone and up the east shore, over to Pelican Valley and then either over Mist Creek pass to the Lamar or up Astringent Creek and then over to the Canyon area.  The second route is a little shorter and the shuttle for it is significantly shorter.

A few other things to consider:

This route will pretty much require an early August start, if not later.  The fords of the Bechler and (to a lesser extent) the Yellowstone are no joke, and those rivers take a long time to drop.

A few areas on route do not have backcountry sites for quite a long stretch (e.g. Pelican Valley) due to bear activity primarily.  These will drive campsite selection on either side due to day length.  You can fax or mail in a permit request in advance, and I recommend doing that if possible so you don’t end up with very asymmetric daily mileages.

A few areas on route have a protracted history of bear problems, and you may or may not want to stay there.  For instance, I never intend to camp on the shore of Heart Lake not in winter; I just don’t think I’d be able to sleep.

There’s a lot of really subtle scenery in Yellowstone, which is not always to everyones taste.  Trail Creek and Astringent Creek both have fantastic mixed meadow and forest country which I love, but some might find “boring.”  Wouldn’t want you to further tarnish your reputation as a trip planner.

Ah, you remember my partners’ trip planning requirements, eh?

I’m certainly not set on a Belcher start- I just mentioned that to show that I had considered the thermal features that you had mentioned.  Frankly, a hike from near the northeast entrance to Old Faithful sounds awesome and would fit well with checking my Fenn Treasure solve.  (Heh.)  I’m very early in the planning process, here- step 2- so I’m open to any suggestions at all.

As always, your input thus far is excellent.  Thanks.  I wish I could get out as much as you do.  Hopefully my $1.3 billion PowerBall winnings will free up my schedule a bit in the future.  :)   Come on, Baby!  Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!

Dean, The only reasonable YNP guide book that I know of is Bill Schneider’s Hiking Yellowstone National Park, and it’s a mess. Poorly organized, no elevation graphs, and it doesn’t even have an index. My YNP trips have not been nearly as ambitious as Dave’s, nor your own usual outings, but his suggestions sound great for what you want.

As for crowds, I’ve found that the traffic is very sparse on the trails after just 2 miles from the parking lot. Most of the Park’s visitors seem to be fat Southerners, families with wild kids, or bus loads of unseasoned foreign tourists, none of which do much hiking.

There aren’t thermal features everywhere in the backcountry, so you must do a bit of research to learn where the good ones are. Dave’s suggestion of the Shoshone geyser basin, and the stuff along the upper Bechler R., is a good one. Sure, there are some surprising little minor fumeroles that aren’t usually noted in a book, but the good stuff can be found in a guide book. However, everywhere you hike will offer outstanding wilderness, a certain amount of wildlife, and splendid solitude. Keep in mind that every campsite you score will be all yours–you don’t share campsites in YNP like you do in Glacier or RMNP.

Thanks, Gary.  I guess I’m being reassured about the herds of dayhikers.
Out of curiosity, about what time do the leaves start changing in the fall in Yellowstone?

The leaves likely will start changing on the central plateau (~8000′ elev.) around mid-to late September, whereas in the far north of the Park (~ 6000′ elev.) it will be a week or two later. I should also remind you that you might get a light freeze at night in mid-late August—YNP can have some funky weather at times. I’ve seen a skiff of snow on the 4th of July.

I can only remember a couple of times when I’ve encountered more than 2-3 hikers at a time. Usually it has been on popular easy trails close to Canyon or Old Faithful. Most times I just see 1-3 people with their fishing poles, or 2 Park rangers on patrol (I always like to see those folks, to get updated info on griz activity and weather).

One other thing–if you plan to hike through the Pelican Valley (as Dave suggested), be sure that your timing is rather precise. You can only hike in that open valley from 9 AM-7 PM (bear management area), and it’s a good long hike to get to any of the campsites from the trailhead.

After years of avoiding Yellowstone for similar reasons, we went last September when our first, second, and third choice trips were on fire. Yellowstone was about the only place in the west that wasn’t burning. Ended up having a fantastic trip that included a day that I will certainly never forget.

General route was the entire Lamar Valley then up and over and out the Pelican Valley. From there we hitched to Canyon Village (3 big dudes – very first vehicle picked us up). Stayed at Canyon at a walk-in site (comes with a free shower :), ate some food that didn’t come in a bag, hitched all the way back up to the car at the beginning of the Lamar (took maybe 5 minutes to get picked up), then headed down to the Shoshone Lake geysers. I believe this is the only place you can wander around a ton of geysers without boardwalks, railing, etc. Truly a backcountry setting where you can jump in and boil yourself if you want.

In the multiple days in the Lamar and Pelican we saw one group of backpackers from a distance. That’s it. Bison outnumbered people about 200:1. At the geysers (2 days) we saw zero people.

Greatest part of the trip actually made some 20 year rangers jealous when they heard about it as they’d never experienced anything quite like it. Pelican was closed due to a kill that had wolves and grizz on it. Turning around and going all the way back to the beginning of the Lamar wasn’t really an option, though. The horse ranger that told us the valley was closed relented to our claims of wisdom and experience ;) and told us if we stayed on the right side of the creek – opposite side of the valley from the trail – we could sneak out. Of course, being closed, there was not a soul in the place. We spent the next 4 hours surrounded by at least 9 wolves. Howling. Angry. Very upset that a grizz had stolen their kill. A big, stuffed grizz snoozing at the kill site – pretty obviously gorged. So here we are wandering among the bison down the middle of the valley, wolves on either edge yelling back and forth to each other, and a huge grizz fattening up for the winter. Greatest afternoon ever in the wilds as far as I’m concerned.

Dave’s advice is take-it-to-the-bank perfect. Follow it and you’ll have a great trip.

Curt-

Whoa.  I would have peed myself.  In a good way, not a bad way.  :)

Gary-

So, the Top Trail, Lonely Planet, and Moon guides aren’t up to snuff?  You like the Falcon guide?  Are others in agreement?  (Before I commit on Amazon.)

Dean, I haven’t even seen copies of the Top Trail, Lonely Planet, and Moon guides, so I can’t say and maybe I’m full of crap. I keep using my Schneider book because I’ve scribbled all sorts of notes in it, have certain pages ear-marked, and have all lots of things highlighted. My buddy Jim Williams, who for years was the head backcountry ranger based out of Mammoth, hates the Schneider book as well, even the updated version. But we both keep using it because it does cover nearly every aspect of the park, although it’s damned hard to quickly look something up. Maybe you should just buy Schneider’s book, and also one of the others, and you’d probably be all set.