Saturday 25 August

Day 1

We did indeed start early the next day but by the time we'd driven to a backcountry office, stopped for photos of the Yellowstone River, picked up our permit, brought bear spray, drove to the trailhead and packed rucksacks it was midday before we actually hit the trail and started our 6 day, over 60-mile backpack. The hike started with a few miles of walking through a forest before things started to open up. Just as things started to open up we came across some thermal features. These were not as impressive as those in the front country but were special in a different way due to the lack of broad-walks and tourists.

Shortly after seeing the thermal features we caught our first glimpse of heart lake, on the shores of which our campsite for that evening was located. We descended toward the Lake, passing an apparently unoccupied patrol cabin, before reaching the lake shore, a pebbly beach and some nice views of Mount Sheridan. After a brief stop we carried on, walking along the beach for a while before heading inland and uphill a bit. After longer than we were expecting we found the path to our campsite which was by the lake shore and some distance from the main trail.

Arriving at the campsite we took some time deciding where to pitch as we couldn't find anywhere the proscribed distance from the bear pole. In the end we decided to camp where many people obviously had before. Thankfully we found our good water source and we soon had dinner. By some shear fluke we managed to get the rope over the bear pole at the first attempt and so we and, due to our late start, we were soon heading to bed. Breakfast the next morning was enlivened by a squirrel that decided to repeatedly run along a log at the edge of our food prep area as it was going back and forth collecting food. My attempt to get a picture of this was spoiled a little when the squirrel chose an inopportune time to stop briefly meaning he was on the edge of the photo rather than the centre. As we were wanting to get on our way I didn't have time for a second attempt.

Sunday 26 August

Day 2

The next day the plan was to walk twelve miles as opposed to nine the first day. After a bit of a lazy start we were on our way and at some point we must have seen a deer as I have photos of it but I can't remember doing so! We had quite a bit of uphill on this day and I was pleasantly surprised by how easy I found it given my previous walking uphill performances. Toward the end of the day we had a uphill section followed by a repetitive rolling section which we both got fed up with. I got especially fed up with it as I run out of water on the boring bit and I was quite pleased when we fund a decent water source a couple of miles from our campsite for the night as I'd been without water for a while. This perked me up and we were soon getting views of Lake Yellowstone before arriving at our camp which was in the middle of a meadow on the edge of the Lake.

I really liked this campsite, especially the openness and the fact that it had a stream right by the side of it. The openness also meant finding somewhere to pitch so I cooked while Jen pitched so we were soon pitched and fed and ready for bed. The next morning, while we were having a breakfast, a wolf walked across the morning between our campsite and the lake. Definitely a highlight of the trip but unfortunately no photo as neither of us had our cameras particularly handy.

Monday 27 August

Day 3

Our hike that day was a similar length to the day before and also involved quite a bit of uphill. It started on the level however as we walked near Lake Yellowstone for a while getting some pretty nice views of the lake. We started walking gently uphill besides a stream before leaving the stream for a bit and then rejoining it. Shortly after this we headed uphill much more steeply and were rewarded with some really nice views of the surrounding mountains. We then walked across a couple of high up meadows seeing quite a lot of smoke in the distance as we did so. Eventually we headed downhill again to our campsite for the evening. This campsite had a good water source but unfortunately it run around three sides of the site with the path on the fourth. As much of the site had recently been used for a stock party this didn't leave much space for everything else but we managed.

Tuesday 28 August

Day 4

The next day was our long day so we were up early and soon on the moving - forgoing our morning cup of tea to get moving and warm. I had five layers on and was still cold - obviously my time in Kansas had hardened me to the heat but made me a big softie when it came to the cold! However the sun soon got high enough in the sky to warm us up and it wasn't long before I stripped down to one layer, all in one go!

It wasn't long before we were passing another patrol cabin and up to this point we were moving quickly - little did we know what was to come. We crossed the Snake River - taking our boots of or the first time to do so - and then found a note from another hiker describing the fire to the south and which we hoped wouldn't now affect us as were heading pretty much directly away from it. Most of the rest of that day was spent following the Snake River at various distances from it. As were following it downstream we'd naively assumed that it would be largely downhill. How wrong we were as the path went up and over many hills at the side of the river. At one stage we turned round and saw a worryingly large amount of smoke that looked quite close but with hindsight this must have been the same, quite far away fire. Eventually we could see Mount Sheridan again and reached the last, flatter few miles to our camp. Our campsite was just beyond a trail junction - our first for ten and a half miles - and boy was I was rather pleased to see the junction and its sign!

Wednesday 29 August

Day 5

The next day started with a "ford" of a river. Due to the rather low water this was no worse than some of our crossing of the previous day. As I'd got blisters on both my hills - I need new boots - I decided to stay in sandals for the rest of the day as it seemed relatively flat easy walking. After several nice views of Mount Sheridan we enter a forest where we found what we think was a beaver dam on Lake Sheridan. We then reached the shores of Heart Lake again and passed several campsites where their stream was dry. Reaching our campsite we found our stream was also dry so lake water for us!

The plan had been to make an attempt on Mount Sheridan either that evening or the next morning but the day had taken longer than expected and Jen did not feel up for it so I started up by myself. Realistically I was never going to make it before my turn around time but I did make it higher enough to get some really nice, if hazy, views. I will definitely have to get to the top if I'm in Yellowstone again.

Thursday 30 August

Day 6

Our next and final day we walked back to the car which largely involved reversing the first day of the backpack although we stopped for a bit and took some last photos of the lake from the same pebbly beach we'd been on on our first day. After a hard slog back up to the thermal features we were soon heading back through the forest. I think it's safe to say we were both rather pleased to reach the car!