Backpack and Beer: Thorofare 2023

Title: Yellowstone Lake to Brooks Lake
Subtitle: So many flowers
8/8 - 8/19 (9 night backpack with 1 night hotel on each end)
Enter: 8/9 & Exit: 8/18
2023 Bag nights: 19
Book: Ancient Rome Trilogy by Robert Harris

Caltopo says 87 miles and elevation of +10,000' & -7,700'
Camera was a Sony RX10 III (24 - 600mm equivalent lens) and some cell shots

A lot of rain had passed though the GYE in the previous week, but the next stretch looks awesome. I hope the forecast holds. We don't start until Wed (3rd day below) so fingers crossed.

Day 0: Aug 8 Lexington to Bozeman to Yellowstone Lake

I flew into Bozeman and met up with Dave about an hour later. No problem with the rental car and we were off. A quick stop in town for HEET for my stove and lunch and then down the road to Yellowstone.

We met Hugh and Bob (and Mrs Bob) in West Yellowstone for an early dinner and then drove to the cabins behind the Lake Yellowstone Hotel. Sadly it was raining as we passed through Hayden Valley.

Dave and I wandered down to the lake where we caught a very atmospheric view.

Ominous sky over the cabins, hope the weather is ok in the morning.

Day 1 Aug 9 (Marina to Site 5E6 to Site 5E1)

Woke up, finished last minute packing and loaded up the car for the short drive to the marina. Lots of moisture in the sky, everything was soaked with the fog.

We had a boat shuttle to take us across the lake. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Site 5E6 on the east side of Yellowstone Lake

Going under the bridge as we leave the marina. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride, not too windy, not too cold.

Bye-bye boat, only way out is to walk. We could go about 10 miles north, but that would be boring. Let's go ~90 miles south instead!

Looking south along the lakeshore

Right off the bat there were signs of grizzlies, hopefully I will see an actual bear and not just foot prints and scat.

I wandered down the side trails to a couple of the lake campsites that we were passing by. These guys had been out for a couple days and had gotten soaked. They were very happy for the sunshine.

There were tons of flowers, for some reason I did not use the good camera today for flowers, so I only have this Mariposa Lily.

We made it to Site 5E1 and got set up and enjoyed the view.

View from camp looking south towards the Thorofare.

View west with the lake in the distance.

Day 2 Aug 10 (Site 5E1 to Site 6D2)

As it started to get light, there was a bit of rain, roll over and go back to sleep. Rain stopped before too long and everything was awesome.

No bears, but I have the 35mm equivalent of a 600mm lens on the camera, let's get some wildlife shots.

Yellowstone River

The bears are definitely out there

Yellowstone River in the distance

So many flowers

Campsite 6D2 (not a huge fan of the site, but the surrounding area was gorgeous).

Mountain Creek was right next to the campsite. It was great walking along the sandbars and watching the light change.

River polished petrified wood

The shadows and the lines and the rocks made me think Japanese Zen Garden

Pretty big birds

Day 3 Aug 11 (Site 6D2 to Site 6Y2)

That was a big bear

In the heart of the Thorfare, Bob in the lead (or at least in front of me)

Note: Hugh on the right for scale

Yellowstone River

There was a stretch of trail that looked like a demonstration garden. Here are all of the flowers that grow in the area.

Looking north

Looking west towards Two Ocean Plateau

There was an off trail waterfall that we wanted to check out. Bob wasn't interested so he said he would take a nap and maybe keep the bears away from our packs.

After a little bushwacking and a little side hilling, we heard the waterfall. A little bit of a scramble and there it it.

Check out the sedimentary layers, makes it easy to see the after effects of the volcano.

I hiked a little bit above the falls where there is a little slot canyon. It would be interesting to keep poking around, but I lost Hugh and Dave, probably time to head back down.

I got back to Bob and the packs and Hugh and Dave showed up a couple minutes later and we headed down the trail.

The trail pops out on Thorofare Creek, we spent a little time trying to figure out where to cross since there wasn't a marker on the far side.

Bob fording Thorofare Creek with Hugh and Dave in back.

After a whole bunch of willow bashing, we got to Site 6Y2. Not a huge fan of this site, it burned years ago so there were tons of saplings making it feel very closed in.

Yellowstone River next to camp

After dinner Bob and Hugh had crawled into bed, Dave and I were sitting next to the river hoping to see a bear or a wolf on the other side. I noticed a branch with leaves floating and then realized that there was an animal as well. I pointed it out to Dave and tried to get a photo.

It disappeared the second it noticed us.

We sat there a bit hoping it would come back and what do you know ...

... I had my camera ready (high shutter speed, high ISO) so I got a couple decent photos.

It helped that the beaver seemed curious about what we were doing, so he took a couple different angles as he checked us out.

And then he disappeared. Dave and I watched for a little bit more and then time for bed.

I got up in the middle of the night to check out the stars and saw a line of stars moving across the sky like a train. I immediately recognized that it must be newly launched Starlink satellites since I had read out them. It would be a little spooky if you did not know what it was. Back to bed.

Day 4 Aug 12 (Site 6Y2 to Open Creek/Thorofare Creek)

Yellowstone River sunrise

Dave figured out why the beaver was hanging around the night before. It turned out that the pile of logs on the left of this photo was a beaver den. Dave even managed to get a photo of the beaver under the pile.

Time for some more off-trail hiking to another waterfall. In fact, the only reason we stayed at this site is because of the waterfall nearby. It is supposedly the most remote waterfall in the park (at least 30 miles from the nearest road).

We had to wade across the Yellowstone River, which looked about waist deep, so I left my big camera behind. Only cell photos of this part.

We knew roughly where the waterfall was, so we aimed in the appropriate direction. Over a small ridge and then we were just following a small stream.

Then sounds of falling water getting louder, come around a bend and there's Isolation Falls.

Sedimentary layers are cool

A side trickle and more sedimentary layers

Dave setting up for a shot

Beautiful view downstream

One more look and then ...

... it was time to head back to camp, grab our packs, and try to catch Bob and Hugh

Thorofare Ranger Station (supposedly the most remote structure in the lower 48, it's about 35 miles from the nearest road)

Perfect weather (70 degrees at noon). I wonder how an old thermometer from KY made it to the ranger station?

(A side note, at the bottom it says FDIC insured to $40,000. The deposit limit was $40,000 between 1974 and 1980. So a 40 - 50 year old thermometer from KY in the middle of nowhere Yellowstone. A bit of a mystery.)

The barn

The southern border of Yellowstone and the Teton Wilderness. This is looking north into the park

Open Creek was a lot of fun to wander along with my camera

Camp for the 4th night near the intersection of Open Creek and Thorofare Creek

Day 5 Aug 13 (Open Creek to Woody Creek)

We were now off of Dave's Yellowstone map, but he had printed out our route (I had it on my phone), so we laid out the maps to get an overview of the remaining days (about 50 miles to cover).

The canyon at Hidden Creek. Bob really wanted to check this canyon out, but we decided to save it for another trip.

Not just grizzlies, there are wolves as well

These plants (sort of looks like dandelions) had been catching my eye for the last couple of days when I realized that they might make interesting B&W photos.

Thorofare Creek was down through some willows away from our camp. Hugh spooked a grizzly when he went down to the creek to wash up. None of the rest of us were quick enough to see it.

We sat on the edge of this meadow after dinner hoping another bear would wander by, but no luck, still beautiful.

Big

Camp near the intersection of Woody Creek and Thorofare Creek. This wasn't the best place to set up camp, the next morning we found that there was an outfitter's camp about 5 minutes away.

Day 6 Aug 14 (Woody Creek to Majo Pass)

If the bears won't come out, then I guess there are B&W photos

Dave and Bob were in the lead as we left camp, our destination is behind the ridge on the right. Yellow Mountain is the peak behind the ridge. I was bringing up and looking for morning reflections when Hugh said there was a bear ahead.

Dave had spotted a grizzly around the corner.

He knew we were there, but mostly ignored us for a couple minutes, lots of time for photos.

And then he decided that was enough ...

... and he spun around ...

... and disappeared into the trees. My first grizzly sighting.

Looking towards the headwaters of Thorofare Creek.

As we got to the head of the valley we found another bear. This one did not linger as long, but there was still time for a couple photos.

I'm out of here

We were at the end of the official trail, but Hugh had found evidence of a user trail that would get us to the other side of the ridge. We found and followed an obvious trail for a bit, but it became obvious that it was not going in the right direction. So, we bushwacked towards "Majo Pass" (Hugh's name for the pass based on an outfitter's trip he found online). This one hour bushwack was the worst part of the whole trip.

We eventually made it through and then began climbing towards the pass. We never found a trail, but it was relatively easy hiking.

Our route up the pass

At one point, I paused to catch my breath and I found a hummingbird moth or maybe a sphinx moth

About halfway up and looking back from where we started.

Bob almost to the top

As we caught our breath and celebrated making it over the pass, we noticed a small creek shimmering down below. That looks like an awesome place to set up camp.

View from camp looking up at Majo Pass

Awesome campsite

Last sunlight, great dinner view

Day 7 Aug 15 (Majo Pass to edge of Buffalo Plateau)

We woke to another beautiful day, but it took a while for the sun to hit our tents.

Today was a tremendous flower day, this was just the beginning

Time to go, we followed the creek down to the North Fork of the Yellowstone, it was very easy cross country hiking.

Pano from what I will call Younts Pass with the obvious user trail over the pass. Sadly there were no bears on Younts Peak, but at least we had seen two yesterday.

What's Dave doing?

Clever boy :) He knocked the rocks down when he was done like a good LNT hiker

Huge hunk of petrified wood

Down the other side of the pass

Flower garden below the pass

South Fork of the Yellowstone

Tetons in the distance (this is way zoomed in) ...

... zoomed out a bit ...

... and a little bit more

... and the full scene (the Tetons are dead center on the horizon)

South Fork of the Yellowstone and the Tetons

Marston Pass trail looks strangely appealing

Looking down into the Washakie Wilderness

We found a patch of shade on the side of the trail which made for a nice rest break, the views were pretty nice as well.

I was in front for once and some motion caught my eye, I first thought it was a marmot and then realized it was further away and bigger, another grizzly. All of these photos are at 600mm and some are cropped as well.

This one immediately took off up the mountain. Note the snowfield in the upper left.

It took the bear about 15 seconds to reach the snow field

He paused for a second ...

... and then kept going

In less than a minute the bear probably covered a quarter mile and gained a couple hundred feet of elevation. It was a little ridiculous how easy it moved over this terrain. It also made it obvious that a human would have no chance if a grizzly decided to run at instead of away.

I liked the lines on the side of this hill

More lines

I went down to filter water for the night and saw a nice shallow sandy ramp into the pond. Time for a swim and then air dry in the sun. It felt amazing.

We had to squeeze the tents in a little bit, but the setting was worth it

Day 8 Aug 16 (across Buffalo Plateau to headwaters of South Buffalo Fork)

Camp visitor for breakfast

more lines

And another visitor

Our camp was on the small rise on the left above the pond

Self portrait in snow and shadow

Tetons from the Buffalo Plateau

The Buffalo Plateau was amazing to walk across, but it was not easy. There are a lot of little ups and downs that add up over the day.

I think this is the top of Turner Fork. Hugh wanted to go down here, but we weren't sure about the deadfall potential and were a little scarred from our bushwack a couple days earlier. Bob said the next canyon had a trail he had seen on Google Earth. So we kept going towards Bob's Canyon.

Bob, the Buffalo Plateau and the Tetons in the distance, the only thing missing was a herd of elk :)

At one point I said I was going to have panos coming out my ass, but it was hard to help myself

Let's see how far Bob can carry a 15 pound piece of petrified wood ...

... he made it a couple steps and then decided that this was silly ;)

Looking down Bob's Canyon, I guess the view is ok :)

It did not take long and we found a very obvious user trail that was easy to follow most of the way down. Note Dave in the distance.

We were in Bob's Canyon, so we called this Bob's Waterfall

Sedimentary layers

We got to the South Buffalo Fork and headed towards the pass above the Cub Creek headwaters. There were a couple creek crossings and I was getting tired, so no photos of the last hour of the day (honestly, it looked a little meh after hiking across the plateau).

We set up camp in a large meadow with tons of gopher holes, filtered water, had dinner, and crashed. It felt like it had been a long day.

Day 9 Aug 17 (Pass between Cub Creek and South Fork Buffalo to PCT on Cub Creek)

We said our goodbyes to Bob today. He had planned on making this his last day and set off early for his truck since there were a lot of miles to cover.

There was a lot of haze in the sky in the morning, but we couldn't smell smoke, who knows were it drifted in from. It mostly dissipated by early afternoon.

At the intersection with the Perry N Boday trail was this large split rock. I took a moment to embellish it. Not exactly LNT, but hopefully not too offensive.

Hugh heading down the trail. I did not realize it at this point, but he was not feeling 100%.

At one point, I caught up to Dave and we waited for Hugh to catch up. After a little bit, Dave left his pack with me and backtracked to find Hugh. We had been talking about a cutoff trail that was on the map and Hugh had made a turn a little too early. While I was waiting for the two of them I found this moth ...

... and these flowers (fleabane)

Clear skies, no haze

Really interesting rock

We found the "cutoff trail" but it looked terrible as it dropped to Cub Creek, so we continued on high trail to the PCT. We setup camp near some southbound PCT hikers after what felt like another long day. These hikers and a couple people in a trail crew were the first people we had seen in 5 days (since morning 5 as we left Open Creek).

Day 10 Aug 18

It rained over night, but had stopped by morning, have to pack up a wet tent for the short hike to the trailhead and civilization.

View from camp

Bear Cub Pass, never seen a wilderness sign like this ...

... the "traditional" sign was on the other side of the trail.

Upper Brooks Lake

We passed a couple outfitter groups and some dayhikers along the trail, but they did not ruin the view.

Someone has a sweet cabin tucked into the trees (center on the edge of the treeline)

zoomed in

We made it to the trailhead, Hugh's car was there and it started and we headed to Signal Mountain (GTNP) for food and beer.

Mmm, beer

The "Signal Mountain of Nachos" and I had a craving for a salad as well.

Jackson Lake and the Tetons

We then headed to Yellowstone and the Bridge Bay marina to collect the rental car and then a Snow Lodge cabin near Old Faithful.

Dave and I wandered over to see Old Faithful and the sunset.

We thought we had time to see Grand Geyser and then catch Old Faithful. I ended up walking slow enough that I saw Grand going off in the distance but decided the walk wasn't worth it. And then I turned around and saw Old Faithful going off. Oh well, I've seen them both before.

So, let's wander the boardwalk a bit and enjoy the light.

The Firehole River and a beautiful sky

"Ghost Trees"

Castle Geyser

It was getting dark and I was getting tired, Dave and I grabbed a snack and the bedtime.

Next day, pack up, breakfast and back to Bozeman. The sky got significantly hazier as we got further north. I am so happy we missed all of this smoke (Bozeman airport)