BONUS DAY

Thursday was a mellow day. We only had to drive a couple of miles to reach the trailhead for our hike. Our goal was Bonneville Pass and the cliffs above Dundee Meadows. We found the trailhead parking area empty. I was surprised. Like many of the destinations in the immediate area, the scenery is spectacular. Yet, it seems like very few people are aware of it. I guess most folks are in too big of a hurry to get to Yellowstone or the Tetons and drive right by.

A few minutes of walking brought us to Bonneville Creek. The water was low enough that Christy was able to rock hop. I decided against trying to do that while carrying Jackson, so I did an easy wade in my water shoes. I changed into my boots on the far side and left my shoes there for the crossing on the way back.

The hike up to Bonneville Pass was muddy in places, but there were great views and fantastic wildflowers. The best views were of Jules Bowl – a rugged cirque on the north side of the Pinnacle Buttes.

After a couple of miles and a couple of hours we rock hopped the creek and entered a huge meadow. That meadow extends all the way to Bonneville Pass. That final half mile has very gentle terrain, but lots of mud in early summer. When I had passed through here in late July of 2022 there had been a wildflower super bloom. There was no super bloom on this visit, but the flowers were still really impressive.

We stopped for lunch and contemplated our options. The hike from there to the top of the cliffs is pretty tough. Clouds were building to our west, and the weather forecast was iffy. I was leery about trying to go up there in the afternoon. The views are incredible, but we could save them for another trip.

We decided to skip it. I did hike out to the northeast end of the pass to see if I could get a better view of Dundee Meadows. That eluded me, but the view back to the southwest was fantastic from there.

On the hike out we noticed two different trails heading up the slope on the west side of the meadow. Those trails probably head up towards the summit of Austin Peak, which forms the escarpment south of Cub Creek and east of Brooks Lake. That one is high on my to-do list.

We hiked back by the same route. Storms threatened, but all of them missed us. We returned to the campground for one more pleasant evening before heading to bed.