One more on my Bucket List!
Checking off yet another item on my travel and hiking bucket list: climbing up a peak in Yellowstone National Park.
I’m averaging at least 6-8 trips per year. Which means I’m on a plane every six weeks or so going somewhere hiking up a mountain. With the coronavirus situation my typical travel schedule for the year has been impaired, to say the least. I normally would do an international trip at about this time but could not due to the flight and travel and quarantine restrictions. So, instead of that I looked through my written bucket list of dream trips that I have in my journal and at the top of that list was visiting Montana and Wyoming.
A book for travel advice? Not a website or blog?!
Exactly 20 years ago this year I purchased Frommer’s guide to Montana and Wyoming and it has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since staring at me telling me that I need to go visit. So I took it off the shelf, dusted off the jacket and got a good laugh when I started reading detailed descriptions for lodgings and in the profile it would state “send us a self-addressed stamped envelope SASE and we will return to you a brochure in the mail”. What a hoot! Instead of listing their website and email address yes it really is 20 years old this book. Nevertheless the landscape, the nature, the wildlife, the mountains and the parks have all remained pretty much the same since 20 years ago. The only changes are the restaurants, some of the maps, the hotels and contact information. So I read the book in its entirety and decided on a short trip flying into Bozeman staying at the Chico Hot Springs Resort which is just about 45 minutes north of Yellowstone National Park. Chico is a very unique Resort. Google it. Read the history. Loved staying there. The hot springs are perfect after a rough day hike.
Yellowstone is HUGE!
This was my first visit to Yellowstone and it lived up to every bit of its reputation. The enormity is unimaginable. The amount and proximity of wildlife is stunning. It made me want to come back and spend the whole summer here exploring the park.
So, what about this mountain I hiked up?
But let’s get on to the hike. I asked around for advice and just out of coincidence the dining room manager at my resort worked for 12 years as a guide in the national park and he was a literal Encyclopedia of peaks and hikes and climbing. I explained to him the type of hike I wanted. I wanted to do a summit. 2,000 to 4000 feet of elevation gain. No more Than 6 to 12 miles of hiking. And he instantly said I had to do Elevation Peak. He said he’s probably done it 10 to 15 times and he thinks it’s one of the best summit hikes in the park with 360-degree views of the park. So I took his advice and I was not disappointed. There is a parking lot right at the trailhead. The trailhead is well marked. And, yes you can see in the video, there is a warning at the trailhead for grizzly bears. Everyone I talked to who had experience with this hike or the park said bring bear spray. So, for the first time in my life I purchased bear spray and carried it on me.
Snow at the end of June?!
I did the hike on June 23rd and was surprised at the amount of snow still on the ground. Many parts of the trail were like a creek running down the mountain. Definitely got muddy. Wishing that I had my high top hiking boots and not my low top boots which I prefer. I think I passed a total of 17 people the whole day going up and down. And it was a real mix: one guy had a very young family; lots of people in their twenties and thirties and up to a guy a few years older than me. I’ll say 56 in and he was definitely out of shape but he did make it to the summit.
It took me about 2 hours and 40 minutes to make it to the summit. The elevation at the peak is 10,568 and I did at least 2,000 ft of elevation gain. It was extremely windy on top so you’ll notice in the video the audio quality is poor at that point. But I was incredibly lucky that day was total blue sky, bright sunshine, hardly any clouds and views that extended miles and miles into the park. I only stayed at the summit a short while maybe 10 minutes at the most because it was quite cold. And I’m glad I brought an outer layer shell that helped tremendously with the wind. And then I just descended down the mountain. Overall the trail is really quite well marked and where it is not marked it is clear where people have hiked going up or down. Just near the top where there was a lot of snow so you lose the trail but follow people’s footsteps and you’ll get to the summit. I was told that the snow really doesn’t clear until end of July is when you can count on no snow being on Avalanche Peak.
I would recommend this hike to most age levels. But, I’d recommend for any hike, bring a lot of water, start early, don’t hit the trail late, take your time and carry bear spray!
Enjoy!
Liam