DEATH
GULCH
We
did the first real hike of the trip on Tuesday.
Our plan was a 10 mile hike to Death Gulch and Wahb Springs. Wahb Springs is a thermal area on Cache Creek, a tributary
of the Lamar River, in the northeast corner of the park. We were a little nervous about the hike. A couple of weeks before the trip, Christy
began experiencing foot pain. It was
caused by a neuroma? A couple of visits
to a foot specialist helped, but we were still concerned about her ability to
do long hikes. Then, a few days before
the trip, Christy slipped a disk in her back.
A lot of drugs helped her survive the long hours in the car, but her back
still wasn’t 100%. This hike would be a
true test, as we were planning to start a 6-day backpacking trip on Thursday.
We
got up before first light that morning.
From the campground, we made the short drive over to the shore of
Yellowstone Lake for sunrise.
Unfortunately, clouds on the eastern horizon but a damper on
sunrise. This would be something of a
recurring theme throughout the trip. We
still caught some nice color on the mountains on the far side of the lake
before we started the long drive to Lamar Valley.
We
drove north through Hayden Valley and over Dunraven Pass. Originally, I’d planned to hike to Mount
Washburn on this trip, but the trails to the summit were closed due to
construction on the lookout tower. Maybe
next time. We continued on to Lamar
Valley. To this point, our early start
had gotten us ahead of traffic. Lamar
Valley was a different story. The valley
is a prime destination for wildlife viewing in the park. Morning and evening are the prime times for
wildlife viewing, and the last few miles of our drive along the Northeast
Entrance Road were tedious. Traffic was
heavy, and bison were everywhere. They
were in the road in several places, which created total gridlock. They don’t mention this in Drivers Ed, but
bison ALWAYS have right of way. We
eventually made it to the Lamar River Trailhead. There are no picnic facilities, but I cooked
our breakfast on the ground on our camp stove.
This had been my plan from the beginning, as the trailhead offers a fine
view of the lower Lamar River Valley and the Soda Butte Creek Valley. We were hoping to spot wolves, as the largest
wolfpack in the park has their den nearby.
I didn’t have high hopes, but it was worth a shot. Over the next hour we saw hundreds, if not
thousands, of bison; but no wolves. If
we ever hope to see wolves, we will probably need to dedicate more time and /
or money to the effort. Many people
spend all day in one of the roadside viewpoints in the Lamar Valley, looking
through binoculars or telescopes. Others
pay for guided tours, as the professionals have the equipment to track the
various wolfpacks. I don’t find either
of those approaches particularly appealing though. Maybe in the future we’ll do an extended
backpacking trip in the Lamar Valley.
The extended time would give us more opportunities to spot wolves or
other wildlife.
After
breakfast we drove back down the road a short distance to the equestrian
trailhead to use the outhouse. Then we
drove back to the trailhead to start our hike.
Our main goal for the day was the 10 mile round
trip hike up the Lamar River Valley and the Cache Creek Valley to Wahb Springs. Wahb Springs is an isolated thermal area at the base of
Death Gulch. Death Gulch was named for a
settler that lived nearby. Apparently,
years of exposure to the poisonous gases from the springs ultimately killed
him. That’s a little alarming, but we
only planned to spend a couple of hours there.
We
started the hike by descending to a sturdy bridge over Soda Butte Creek. From here there are fine views downstream
across the vast open meadows of the Lamar Valley and upstream to the rugged
Absaroka Mountains in the distance.
After the bridge we enjoyed a long, gentle stroll through the meadows. We joined the horse trail and continued up
the valley on a bench well above the river.
Early on we encountered a large herd of bison on both sides of the
trail. Some of them were crossing the
trail, so we yielded right of way. Some
of the bison were making fascinating grunting noises that were a bit
alarming. The real highlight though was
the many young bison scattered throughout the herd.
Early
on we passed a few other hikers, and we roughly paralleled another couple to
the top of a substantial hill. From here
we had a great view back to the north across the Lamar Valley to Druid Peak to
the north and Specimen Ridge to the west.
The other couple turned back here, and we didn’t see anyone else until
the very end of the hike. Yellowstone
can be horribly crowded, particularly in the popular areas like Old Faithful,
Yellowstone Falls, and Mammoth Hot Springs.
However, it is still easy to find solitude simply by walking a couple of
miles from the road.
We
descended through more meadows and passed high above a thermal area before
reaching a vague junction. We left the
beaten path there and headed up a faint trail on a bench above Cache
Creek. After a mile or so we got our
first view of Death Gulch in the distance.
From that vantage, we could see bare white rocks in the middle of an
otherwise wooded hillside. We continued
on until we reached another meadow adjacent to where Wahb
Springs is shown on the map. There
wasn’t an obvious route, but there were several faint paths heading towards
Cache Creek. We followed one to a
clearing that was almost completely devoid of vegetation. We were cautious here, as the lack of
vegetation indicated that we were approaching the thermal area. Thermal areas often have thin crust that a
person could fall through. We skirted
around this, staying along the edge of the trees. We worked our way down to the creek just
downstream from where Death Gulch enters it.
The hillside above is mostly barren due to the steam and gasses emitted
by the springs. Death Gulch was
interesting, but not particularly scenic.
We headed downstream to check out Wahb
Springs. The springs are in the creek,
at the base of a large, white outcropping of rock. We thought about looking for possible
swimming holes, but ultimately bailed on that idea. Instead we explored around the springs before
having lunch.
The
hike back was pleasant, quiet, and scenic.
Puffy white clouds made for great photos of the valley and surrounding
mountains. The bison herd had moved on,
but we did spot a single pronghorn antelope just off the trail. Towards the end of the hike we encountered a
few other hikers. We returned to the car
and started the long drive back to our campground. Christy’s back held up throughout the hike,
though she did have some foot pain. That
would be a theme throughout the trip.
Fortunately she was able to push through it.
It
was only late afternoon, and I wanted to do another short hike. I considered the Narrows of the Yellowstone
River, but ultimately decided to stop at Tower Falls. Virtually everyone stops there, and the
parking lot was overflowing with cars and people. The trail to the base of the falls has been
closed for reconstruction since the 1990’s.
At this point, I think it is safe to say that it will never be
re-opened. Apparently one of the rock
towers at the top of falls collapsed and fell into the canyon some years ago,
and the Park Service considers the area too dangerous for visitors. I decided to hike the trail from the parking
lot down to the Yellowstone River anyway.
I’ll admit that I was thinking about creek walking from the river up to
the base of Tower Falls. It’s only a
quarter mile or so, and the view from the base is probably far superior from
the official overlook above. However,
the mouth of Tower Creek is heavily posted with signs stating that the area is
closed and off limits. There were a lot
of people down by the river, and there was no way I’d make it up the creek
without being seen. I decided not to
risk it. Instead, I took a few photos of
the river before rejoining Christy at the car.
The
drive from there to our campsite should’ve taken an hour. However, traffic came to a complete stop in
Hayden Valley. The road was backed up as
far as we could see, and there weren’t any cars moving in either
direction. Eventually some folks turned
around, but that wasn’t really an option for us. The only other possible route would’ve
required driving back to Canyon and through Madison Junction, Old Faithful, and
West Thumb. That would taken a couple of
hours, at least. We decided to wait it
out.
Eventually
traffic began flowing from the other direction.
Someone going the other way was driving slowly and letting everyone know
what was going on. Apparently
there was a herd of bison in the road.
After an hour or so they finally moved on, and so did we. We returned to our campsite after dark and
fired up the charcoal. We had a really late
dinner that night, thanks to the bison jam.
Then we went straight to bed, as we had another early start planned on
Wednesday.
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