Wyoming - Forever West

The last few days in Montana and Idaho proved to be one last hurrah by mother nature to make sure we don't forget our time there.  A 32 mile day to get up and over Mt Taylor only to sleep on a tiny saddle with wind howling and driving rain all night.  The next day was cold and wet, Kramers and I bushwhacked through miles of thick willows as I was wearing nearly everything I had with me.  We did, however, see 3 beautiful moose who were also out enjoying the brisk moist weather.  What a treat!

Thru-hikers love state lines.  We tend to mentally break down the monumental task of a thru hike into smaller pieces and state lines are a great goal.  I had been hiking in Montana since June 10th and it was absolutely awesome, but getting to Wyoming was a great feeling of accomplishment.  The MT/WY line is in western Yellowstone National Park and we literally get to walk in the back door of the most visited national park in the country.  The backcountry trails are used very little but when we get closer to a parking lot we can hear the traffic, then the trail suddenly gets 6 feet wide, then we can literally smell the bug spray of the day hikers before we see them.  Some tourists are very happy to say HI and GOOD MORNING but there are many who are not interested in making eye contact with scruffy backpackers.  Kramers, Handstand, MachineGun, and I arrived on the boardwalk smack in the middle of Biscuit Basin and spent 2 hours strolling 2 miles toward Old Faithful, weaving around sapphire blue hot springs and sputtering geisers.  It was incredible.  I had never visited Yellowstone before so it was a perfect opportunity to relax and play tourist for a little while.  Watch Old Faithful erupt. Cruise through the visitor center and read all the exhibits.  See the ranger programs.  And of course explore the super historic Old Faithful Inn.  For a moment I didn't feel like a hiker, sitting in the Old Faithful Inn by the fireplace with a Brandy Alexander while a fiddle player serenaded us from the 2nd floor balcony overlooking the massive central atrium.  Dusk came far too quickly and we had to scurry off to our campsite for the night.

After Old Faithful Village we continued through the park for another 50-ish miles before hiking into the Teton Wilderness.  We got hit with yet another weather system that was even colder than the last.  Isn't it July?!?! There was an entire day that didn't make it past 46 degrees and at night went into the 20s... again, I was wearing everything I had to stay warm.

The sun came out and warmed our faces, dried out tents, and we walked on into the Teton Wilderness.  A beautiful, remote area that was clearly heavily used by horse packers.  Sometimes hikers get frustrated with having to walk on endless uneven dried mud but in reality, we love horse country.  The trails are well maintained and easy to follow. We even get labeled intersections!!! What a treat!! 

A favorite little place was called Two Ocean Pass and the "Parting of the Waters".  There is a creek that literally hits a rock and splits into Atlantic Creek and Pacific Creek.  Yup, we threw in a stick to see which way it would go =-)

The next section from Togwotee Pass down into the Wind River Range will mark 2000 miles for me.  It's exciting.  Then I hitchhike around the Great Basin (I hiked that back in early June) and head into CO.  It's hard to believe I "only" have 800 miles left...

Thanks for reading =-)

Happy Trails!

~beads

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Smile Often :-)