Camping! Finally!
Sore feet, tired brain, and stiff legs: the life of an overworked waitress. I needed a weekend, and I needed one bad.
I had to pay two people to cover my Expo shift on Monday, so that I could leave after breakfast on Monday with Meaghan and Josh to go camping. We had originally planned on hiking into Heart Lake and camping there, but there all of the campsites were already booked up, so we had to change our plans. I had no interest in picking a spot to camp…I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go with the flow.
When I got home from breakfast, I packed up and got ready to go. I was told we were going to Fairy Falls, an area near Old Faithful, in the area with lots of hydrothermal activity. Sweet.
“Knock on my door when you’re ready to go. I have to sleep.”
Three hours later, they were ready to go. On the ride there, we picked up a hitchiker, Shane, who had been an employee at Old Faithful, but recently was fired for being caught with weed in the woods by the rangers. He was fun to talk to, although a bit burned out.
We got to the trail head around 4, and the three of us started hiking. It was hot and extremely dry, and I instantly regretted not buying more water at Old Faithful where we stopped for food. I could barely breathe out of my nose, the dry air hurt so badly. My skin was tight on my body, and I wanted more than anything to be swimming.
We passed this beautiful clear blue pool on the way. It didn’t look hot, and I’m sure that’s what the people who foolishly jump into these pools think.
Well, that pool behind me is probably 200 degrees farenheight. Since water boils at a higher temperature up here, often there aren’t bubbles coming up like the ones you see in the really really hot springs. This one was hot. And the Earth around it is thin. As I got close for a picture, Josh reminded me not to get too close. One slip into this bad boy, and my skin would be melted off in seconds.
Meaghan realized about a half-mile in that she had forgotten something in the car, so she left her pack with Josh and I and turned back. Josh and I walked a bit further up the trail, and then saw a little place where the trail turned up a hill. Josh thought this must be the side trail that we could take to get a birds-eye-view of Grand Prismatic. I told him I would watch the packs if he wanted to go up and see. This is what he saw:
Grand Prismatic, the biggest acid pool hot spring in the park. From ground-level, it just looks like a blue haze, with lots of mist coming off of it. But from up above, this sight was amazing. It occured to me for a minute that it was almost too amazing. Perhaps the National Park Service thought up this idea many years ago to put on a big Disney-like production at a place they called Yellowstone. Put dye in the water, heat it from below, have geysers blow up, release some bison, etc. etc. If it was all man made, I’d say it was done pretty well, bringing over 3 million people here per year. Wouldn’t that be a trip.
When Josh came down the mountain, Meaghan still wasn’t back yet.
“How’s the view?” I asked.
“Nah, there’s nothing to see. I got a shitty picture of nothing. Here take a look.” He showed me the picture he had taken of the pool.
“Stay here with the packs.” I said, and began almost running up the hill.
It was a steep and dusty climb, with really no trail whatsoever. It had been covered in fallen trees, and it was more like an obstacle course than anything.
But getting up there and seeing with my own eyes the amazing view was worth it.
Woohoo!! So cool!
When I got back down the mountain, Meaghan had just gotten back. We started off hiking again, and soon reached the turn-0ff towards Fairy Falls. The hiking was really nice, and super easy. The trail was wide enough to walk side by side with another, and it was very well maintained. Josh hypothesized that it might even be wheelchair accessible.
My legs were still sore, and walking was tough. My fatigue was almost overwhelming. It was very unlike me to not get a burst of energy once I hit the trail, but I really just wanted to get to camp, and curl up with my book, Death in Yellowstone.
I had just started this book that Josh gave me, and I was morbidly hooked on it. The author goes into detailed accounts of all of the deaths that have occurred in this National Park since it’s borders were drawn out. Each chapter is a different category of death: death by hot springs, death by grizzlys, death by falling, etc etc. It is not only terrifying to realize how easy it is to die here, but also quite helpful in teaching what not to do. It explains mostly common sense precautions, like don’t put your child on a bison for a picture (yes, someone did that), but also some other not so obvious ones. For example, this lake that I live on has taken the lives of many many people, and the saying is that Lake Yellowstone never gives up its dead. The majority of people who have died in this lake have never been found. The lake is 450 feet deep, and never gets warmer than 45 degrees Fahrenheit. That gives you about 30 to 40 minutes survival time, should you be cast into the water. Hypothermia would set in around 30 minutes in, and you’d be doomed in 40. They say it’s a catch-22, because if you stay in the water waiting for help, you’ll probably die in 40 minutes; but if you try to swim to shore, depending on how far you are, you are also likely to die because you will expend far too much energy that you would need to keep you warm. For a lake as enormous as this one is, and as remote and lightly trafficked, that means you have to be extremely careful on it. Sudden wind storms happen all the time here (one happened the other day, and we lost internet for 3 days), and the waves on the lake can get up to 5 feet! It was a good lesson for me to learn, just how dangerous the lake really is. I will remember the stories from this book when I take a row boat out in a couple weeks.
Anyways, we finally reached our campsite around 6. We set up our tents, and made some dinner in the designated bear area. As I was eating, I read a little more in my book. On the way in there was a large sign that said “Caution, Grizzly Bears Active in this Area.” Ahh. Just great. I was reading the chapter in the book about people being ripped from their tents in the sleep and eaten by grizzlys. I decided to put the book down for the night. All we could do is hang our food, and hope we wouldn’t have any nighttime visitors. I was comforted by the fact that we had music and speakers, and we were a loud group of three. The most fatal flaw you can make in this backcountry is being alone and quiet. Your chances of a bear encounter are much much lower if there are more than 2 people. Phew.
After dinner, we decided to hike the mile and a half to Fairy Falls. We hung our packs and started off down the trail. Twenty minutes later, this is what we saw as we rounded a curve:
Well, actually, this is what we saw first…
…the typical expensive-camera-toting-tourists.
Luckily there were only a couple, and within 20 minutes, they were gone.
The heat suddenly disappeared as we approached the falls. We were hit with a cool mist, that was refreshing and calming. It was magnificent, and enormous. I had no idea it would be this tall.
The water was clear blue and ice cold. I sat by the shore for almost an hour, drifting off into wonderous thought about how amazing this place was. Yellowstone has over 600 waterfalls. I’ve seen 5. I guess I might just have to come work a couple more seasons if I want to see them all
After almost 2 hours at the falls, we decided to walk back. The sun was setting, and perhaps Jim would be waiting for us. He had to work lunch, so he told us he’d meet us out at our campsite later. I had doubts he would show up, but Jim always has a way of pulling through.
On the walk back, we saw a yellow bellied marmot, that was just the cutest little thing. He scurried up onto a log, and over some rocks. Just as it looked like he was going to run into the rocks to hide, he went on top of one and struck a pose, staring at us, asking for his picture to be taken. Fine. If you insist:
What a gorgeous creature!!
We got back to camp, and Jim wasn’t there. I had one objective in mind: sleep. I went straight to my tent, and without a word to my friends, I passed out. It was 9 pm. When I awoke the next morning at 10, I was suprised to see Jim’s tent. He made it! I had slept like a baby. I was not quite refreshed, though. I felt like I still needed many more hours to catch up on the no-sleep week I had.
We hiked out and headed back to the dorms so that Meaghan could do laundry. I took another nap, and waited. Then, it was back to the car. We drove South towards Jackson, hoping to get some swimming in. We ended up just going car camping by a lake. Meaghan cooked us all some delicious pasta with homemade marinara sauce, and it was to die for.
That night, I slept in the car. I had finished the grizzly bear chapter, and no risks were worth taking after the gruesome horror stories I read.
