Day 90 – The Old Faithful Farewell to Wyoming
Day miles: 23
Trip miles: 1769.4
I managed to get up at 4:20AM. It was cold and therefore difficult to climb out of my quilt in my hiking attire. I had buffet on the brain though, so I made it happen. I could see steam rising off the nearby thermal feature in the darkness. It looked really cool, like a scene from a sci-fi movie. I didn’t need to eat breakfast, so I grabbed my food off the bear pole, packed my tent and other gear away, and got rolling.
It was still dark, so I hiked with my headlamp. I don’t particularly enjoy doing this, which is why I don’t hike into the night very often. I pictured every grizzly bear in the park showing up in the tractor beam of my light, with a big, bloody, toothy smile, just waiting to feast on my innards. I got over this very quickly however, as the more pressing issue of it taking a wrong turn in the dark shifted my focus.
Shortly after leaving Upper Firehole campsite, I walked through another geyser basin area. It was a totally different experience doing this in the dark. I couldn’t see the geysers and mud pools bubbling, but I could hear everything – bubbling and hissing all around me. It was a really cool experience. I felt like I was tiptoeing my way through some post-apocalyptic world.
Soon there was enough light to see without my headlamp. All of the grizzly bears in my head were now gone. The rest of the terrain into Old Faithful Village was fairly mundane and easy. I crossed a road, then another, and I was staring at the Snow Lodge.
Apparently there are several lodges that serve a buffet for $15 in the village. Most hikers go to the Old Faithful Lodge because it is right by the geyser and the visitor center. I wasn’t sure where to go, so I went into Snow Lodge and ate their buffet. According to others, the Old Faithful Lodge buffet is slightly better.
Snow Lodge was almost too nice for a dirty hiker like me! I had my wet tent still strapped to the back of my pack, and my feet were soaked from the morning walk through dew-covered grass. “You can put your things here sir.” By “things” they meant my pack, and they pointed to their coat room. This was perfect, except now people wouldn’t see my pack and would only observe me eating like I had some kind of tapeworm. So be it.
The buffet was pretty good. I’m not sure how much sausage and bacon I ate, but if I have a heart attack in the next 15 years, this meal was the culprit. I also ate a bunch of potatoes with sausage gravy. They had fruit and eggs and yoghurt and granola, etc. etc. I had three heaping plates of food, wondering why I didn’t see other hikers (I didn’t yet know about the other buffet).
After I was done, I charged my power bank in the lobby for a bit and brushed my teeth in the bathroom. I looked up the Old Faithful eruption schedule – there’s a reason they call it old faithful – and headed over to catch the next burst.
The viewing area for the geyser is huge, and it’s a good thing – a crowd of people had already formed. I set my pack down, spread out my tent in the sun on some gravel (not a pedestrian area) to dry, and waited. I chatted briefly with a couple beside me from Minnesota. We were laughing about an incredibly obese chipmunk that was walking around begging from tourists. I have never seen a chipmunk that fat! I wish so badly that I had taken a picture of it, but Old Faithful started to erupt.
I had seen Old Faithful once when I was a kid, but I forgot how big the eruption is. The plume of water and steam was impressive! It was both interesting and unsettling to learn that it was all pressure build up from an underground magma lake. I read about this afterward at the visitor center, where they also had a free movie about the volcanic aspects of Yellowstone. The whole place is like one big explosion waiting to happen. I took a photo of one of the maps showing the expansive ash clouds from three distinct volcanic eruptions. The largest ash cloud, shown in dark red, resulted from a volcanic eruption 640,000 years ago. It covered most of the US…. Yellowstone really was a fascinating place, but also quite sobering!
I walked over to the general store to get some snacks (yes, despite the buffet), then back to the Visitor Center where I finished drying my tent and quilt and charging my electronics. I heard and saw some people whispering about my gear and then looking at me, so I said “what’s up?” They basically thought I was homeless and living in a tent next to the Old Faithful visitor center. I explained to them thatI was hiking and just trying to dry out wet gear. There were nods and smiles and I think I convinced them. It’s funny how people jump to such conclusions even in an expensive national park full of backcountry trails.
I finally headed out, belly full. There is a long boardwalk and paved walk of geysers and thermal features in the way out. My favorites were Castle and Grotto geysers. Though some of the aqua blue pools were beautiful as well. Apparently, the thermal pools get their right colors from bacteria that thrive at those temperatures. Before I learned this, I thought they looked like amazing hot tubs. Mmmmmm, maybe not….
I saw a bunch of southbounders hiking into the park as I headed out. I think I am in a growing northbound bubble (the CDT bubble is still barely noticeable in comparison with other trails), and I was definitely seeing the southbound bubble roll through. I chatted with a few hikers, but I had miles to make. I had to get into Idaho and out of Yellowstone today because I did not have a permit to camp another night in the park.
I climbed and climbed away from the tourists and civilization. A tourist approached me on the geyser boardwalk earlier (next to the village) and asked if she needed to worry about bears in the village. I noticed quite a few tourists in the village carrying bear spray. I told her no, there was no threat of bears in the village and she seemed very relieved. I bet Yellowstone makes a killing on bear spray sales! I, however, was hiking back into grizzly country. So far so good though!
I climbed and climbed until I reached Summit Lake. I stopped there, which is also the western most backcountry campsite at Yellowstone, to have a rest and get some water. I had a strange feeling in my stomach…. Realizing that my buffet meal might soon pull the ripcord and parachute from my body, I hastily moved on.
At the western edge of the lake, I ran into a group of SOBOs. They were relaxing and one of them was floating in the lake on his air mattress. Not wanting to be rude, I made small talk, but all the while the regularity of Old Faithful was permeating my bowels as the magical buffet quickly lost its shine and the metaphorical geyser threatened to blow.
I managed a graceful exit from the conversation and marched off into the woods, focusing on keeping my own geyser vent closed. I ran off trail and dug furiously, chopping roots like Paul Bunyan to at least make a respectable hole. Fortunately, no clothing articles were injured during this scene.
I felt much better afterward and managed to pass into Idaho in good stride. There was a small sign on the ground at the border, which was nice. Border signs are always exciting! While I was entering Idaho, I was, in a way, also entering Montana. For the next 400 miles or so, the CDT would ride the border and pass in and out of both states, before entering Montana for good in the final 568 miles.
I found a nice spot to bed down outside of the park boundary in a dry pine forest. I immediately noticed that there was not a mosquito in sight! It was heavenly! For the first time since I could remember, I sat outside my tent and nary a vampire appeared. I can’t begin to explain how amazing this was. I was so grateful for this, as well as all of the interesting and wonderful things I had seen and learned at Yellowstone. I couldn’t believe I had made it to Idaho! The end was nearing, one day at a time, but I still had so far to go.
Wyoming had been amazing – it would be hard to too the Wind River Range anywhere in the world. From ghost towns to high desert, sweeping vistas, mosquito clouds,and raw mountains, Wyoming had been impressive all around. I climbed into my tent, content, full, and ready to see what tomorrow would bring.
Day 91 – The Island Park Bacchanalia
Day miles: 29.4
Trip miles: 1798.8
I woke up to an almost completely dry tent! Dryness, however, brings its own unique challenges. “Drydaho” has a few fires going on right now and I could smell smoke from them occasionally. The wind can carry the smoke quite far. It was nothing to worry about, but I hoped that fires would not become an issue again later on up the trail.
I had decided to take an alternate route through Island Park, Idaho. I could resupply right on trail that way, rather than needing to hitch into West Yellowstone, which would also be expensive. This ended up working out quite well.
The route was a series of forest roads that were pleasant enough. I bumped into two guys I had met at Twin Lakes – Rob and his friend (blanking on his name, so I’ll just call them “The Dudes”). Rob’s father had met them at Twin Lakes and was doing trail magic. Anyway, The Dudes had caught back up to me, as hikers often leapfrog each other along the way.
Island Park is tiny. It has a post office (cash only!), a hotel called Mack’s Inn, and a river that runs right through it. Mack’s Inn runs float trips down the river. On the other side of the water is a Mexican restaurant called Cafe Sabor, and a little shack that serves coffee, waffles and milkshakes.
I went to the Mexican restaurant and had a burrito and some guacamole dip. The Dudes showed up and joined me. I charged my electronics there, and then went to the shack to get a milkshake. I had the huckleberry flavor and they actually used huckleberries they had picked on their own property! It was very good.
After that I walked down the road to Robin’s Roost, the local convenience store/mini-grocery. Food options were limited, but they had what I needed. I sat outside with The Dudes organizing my purchases and drinking a Gatorade. It was hot out!
We walked down to Subway, where I ordered a veggie sub to go. I figured I would pack out something that was slightly healthy. I asked them if they could fill my water bottle, but their tap water had tested positive for some kind of harmful bacteria, so I had to buy a bottle of water to top mine off.
I only intended to walk another 4 miles or so, but I ended up walking 9. The trail wound its way along a dirt road that progressively climbed to the top of Sawtelle Peak. I kept walking because I was trying to find a place flat enough to comfortably camp. I had to pull out my headlamp, but finally found something around 9:15PM or so.
It had been a great day! Island Park was super convenient, and the weather had been quite nice. The dirt road had very little traffic, and it completely ceased by 9:45. I was beat and fell fast asleep as soon as I finished getting settled.
Day 92 – The First Big Day of Chance Encounters
Day miles: 27
Trip miles: 1825.8
Although I camped just 0.4 miles from the junction where I was to leave the road and join a trail, I blew right by it this morning and got almost all the way to Sawtelle Peak before realizing it. I turned back – at least it was downhill on the return trip.
I quickly repeated this mistake again, following the wrong trail for a while. This is part of a long hike – bonus miles…. When I got back on track, I had to do a bit of trail finding through the weeds. Sometimes there was a trail, but sometimes there wasn’t. The walk was pretty though. I basically followed the crevice of a sharp valley until I reached a creek, and then walked above the creek for most of it.
The end of the alternate was confusing. The trail disappeared, but I figured out that I needed to cross the creek. I did so and gave up on finding the trail, instead just climbing up and over a steep hill in the compass direction of a lake I was aiming for. I found the lake (Lillian Lake), and took a nice break there in the shade.
I saw a black and white duck (or some kind of water fowl) bathing and preening in the lake. It actually rolled over and floated on its back at one point during the process. Then, 6 of its babies (ducklings, I guess) swam out to join it and tried to mimic the preening and bathing. None of them succeeded in the back float, though it was amusing watching them try.
Right after Lillian Lake the alternate route rejoined the CDT. I had some climbing to do, but on the way up I ran into Fat Tony! Fat Tony was a hiker I met on the Appalachian Trail at Lake of the Clouds Hut on Mt. Washington. I have a Mt. Washington summit photo with him and a hiker named Zoom Zoom. I knew he was on the CDT, but did not think I would catch up to him.
It was good to see Fat Tony. The joke back on the AT was that Tony is actually very tall and thin. He decided to get a new trail name in this hike, so in the CDT he is going by Napoleon. I am not yet sure what the story is behind that name. He said he had been struggling for a while, but he was still pushing in to finish. I totally understood – the CDT can be a very rough or a very fun experience, and that can change daily, or completely depend on so many circumstances. It is an incredibly difficult trail for that reason – the mental challenge of finishing it, of taking its abuse to reap its treasures. I am sure Napoleon will finish, but I do hope he is able to enjoy the rest.
Shortly after running into Fat Tony, I saw two southbounders hiking my way. I heard one of them say “Hungry Cat!” It was a guy and a girl, and I stared at the guy who had spoken to me. “Yes….?” I couldn’t recognize him at first, and then it clicked. It was Fluffy, who I had started my CDT thru-hike attempt with in New Mexico in 2019! I had thought that he flipped up to Glacier and hiked south when the San Juans were impassable, and I just assumed he finished his hike. Apparently, he injured himself in Glacier and did not finish. Like me, he was giving it a second shot this year. Sometimes long distance hiking can feel like a small world!
Seeing people I knew really lifted me up and I flew ahead up a big climb. I met Kid and Sauce, as well as two Australian hikers up by a cluster of small ponds. I took a short break, eating a few spoonfuls of peanut butter (I’ve been eating peanut butter for lunch lately), but I pushed ahead as I didn’t want to hike too late into the day. I had already taken more breaks than I usually do, both talking to people and just resting on my own.
I finished the day strong and found a great camp spot partially under a pine tree. I almost stopped at a spot a mile or two before that, but there were comments in my map app about a “problem grizzly” ring captured somewhere else and released there at the end of last month, so yeah – no thanks! I kept moving.
I was able to sit as it got dark and eat my dinner without too many mosquitoes coming around, though I was close to a stream so I did get a few bites. I was grateful to see friendly faces from the past today and happy to meet new ones. I also saw a cool bird today. It was yellow with black wings and a little orange-capped head. I am pretty sure this was a Western Tanager. It’s always a good omen to see a colorful bird!
Day 93 – The Second Big Day of Chance Encounters
Day miles: 30
Trip miles: 1855.8
I awoke to rain around 4 or 5AM, but it was done by 6 or so. That’s the way I like my rain storms! I managed to get moving by 7:30, but I planned to hike about 30 miles so that I would have an easy morning walk to make a 9AM shuttle into Lima, MT. I needed to get moving!
I ran into Pilgrim and Gourmet quite early. I had met them both previously and just caught up with them again. I also ran into a lot of berries on the trail! I found wild raspberries and blueberries, so I stopped to munch for a bit. We all stopped after a steep climb on a sunny peak to dry our tents out. The sage brush made good suspension to allow airflow around the gear, so it didn’t take long.
Pilgrim and I hiked together for a bit, just chatting. While we were talking, two southbounders approached, and one was a hiker who goes by Zach Galifanakis (there is a slight resemblance!). I had been looking forward to meeting him and knew he was hiking SOBO. Zach runs a trail shuttle service in North Carolina called Traveling Lite Shuttle and Resupply. I have mentioned his business in some of my southeastern hike YouTube videos because he runs shuttles for the AT, Benton MacKaye Trail, Art Loeb, and others in that Western North Carolina area. He and I connected when I was looking to help people with some logistical solutions, but had never met. It was great to finally meet him and I suspect I will see him back in North Carolina at some point.
I turned on the speed after that because I needed to make my miles. The scenery was pleasant – rolling hills and mountains in the distance. The trail undulated up and down on both wooded and partially exposed ridge lines along the divide. As I was nearing the top of my last big climb, I again saw an approaching southbounder and heard someone call my name. It was none other than Chef!
As a reminder, Chef started the trail with me at the Mexican border. He was quite fast and I didn’t see him again until Pie Town, and then later in Grants where he was injured. He explained that he had gotten off trail for a month, healed up, and started back at Glacier to hike south and finish up in Grants. I was happy to hear that he was ok and able to finish his hike!
It was another great day of chance encounters! I was also able to hike 30 miles, leaving me with just over 3 to make it to the road I the morning. I pitched my tent under some pines in an old cow bed.
Hitchhiking is illegal in Idaho, but the motel I booked in Lima, MT (Still hiking on the ID-MT border) offered a shuttle service at set times. I would catch the 9AM shuttle, giving me plenty of time to work in 3 solid meals in town! It had been a great, but tiring day. I barely finished my dinner before falling fast asleep!
Day 94 – The Lima Bubble
Day miles: 3.4
Trip miles: 1859.2
My cow bed tent site served me well – I didn’t have a single drop of condensation on my tent in the morning. Sometimes, it’s the little things….
I made the 3 miles to the road in good time, and since I had an hour to kill, I made a cup of coffee by the highway underpass. 6 other hikers arrived, and we all piled into the pickup truck that arrived to drop off others and pick us up.
I had booked a room at the Mountain View Motel and RV Park in Lima. Lima is a tiny town, but it did have the motel and I was really looking forward to a shower and some rest.
I beelined for Jan’s cafe, the breakfast and lunch spot, as soon as I got the key to my room. There were hikers all over the place – NOBOs and SOBOs had converged on the town. I think there were close to 15 or 20 of us in town, though some did not show up until later.
Jan’s was great! I had hot cakes and an omelette. After getting my laundry done, I went back for lunch and had something they called an Indian Taco. It was basically like a taco bowl where the bowl was made from bread. It was ok – maybe not my thing in regular life though. I talked with a hiker from the Czech Republic for a while during lunch. His name was Jingle Bell, presumably because he had bells fixed for his pack (bear bells).
I managed to do a decent resupply at the gas station in Lima. It had everything I needed! I was kind of surprised. Try eating out of an Exxon station for a week and let me know how that goes for you!
Later in the evening I went to Peats Steakhouse, where all the other hikers also went. It took forever to get food because we kind of flooded the system, but it was fantastic. I hardly ever eat steak, and don’t eat much red meat in general, but I figured, when in Rome…. I had a giant steak (medium rare), which came with a baked potato, salad, and garlic bread. It really was delicious, and definitely a protein boost for my diet. Oh, who am I kidding – it was a boost of fat deposits that I actually need!
By the time the food came out and I finished, I just wanted to go to bed, so I made my way back to the motel in a rain shower. I am always glad when it rains when I am in town instead of while I’m hiking!
Tomorrow I will take a shuttle at 9AM back to the trail. My next stop will be a town called Leadore (pronounced “lead ore”), though I plan to just dip in and out to pick up a resupply box I mailed to myself. Today was a great day of rest, food, and connecting with other hikers. Tomorrow, the journey north continues.
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