HOW TO SPEND $300 IN UNDER 2 HOURS IN COOKE CITY, MONTANA

We returned to the Heart Lake Trailhead early on Thursday afternoon. We had to pick up Boone from the Happy Tails Pet Resort before 1pm on Saturday. That meant we had a little less than 48 hours to enjoy the rest of Yellowstone National Park.

We visited Yellowstone back in July of 2003. On that trip we spent several days doing short hikes, visiting the geyser basins, and hitting the other prime tourist spots. On this occasion I wanted to visit some of the places we’d missed on that earlier trip. I also hoped to stop at some of the places we’d particularly enjoyed.

First though, we had to figure out what we were going to do for the evening. When we switched from a 5-day backpacking trip to a 3-day event it left us without a plan for overnight accommodations for the last 2 nights. I probably should’ve tried to reserve a campground after we changed plans, but chances are the campgrounds that accept reservations would’ve already been booked at that point. So, we were winging it.

The one major part of Yellowstone (accessible by road) that we didn’t visit in 2003 was the Lamar valley and the rest of the northeast corner of the Park. That was my top priority this time, so I suggested that we start driving that way. We’d pass several campgrounds en-route, including 3 or 4 that don’t accept reservations. Hopefully we’d find a spot at one of them. If not, we’d look for one in the national forest beyond Cooke City, Montana.

First though we had some basic needs to attend to. The first of those was lunch. We drove over to Grant Village and found the campground full. Since we were there, we stopped at one of the restaurants. Balki served me a cheeseburger that was actually pretty good. Christy was thrilled that the menu included veggie burgers. After eating, we drove back to the campground to use the coin-operated showers ($2 for six minutes). As luck would have it, they were closed for cleaning, so we waited 15 minutes. The wait was worth it though, after 3 days in the wilderness.

Afterwards, it was time to get serious about finding a campground. We weaved our way through some elk that were occupying the parking lot and hit the road. We drove up along Yellowstone Lake and then through Hayden Valley. Hayden Valley was crowded with bison looking at tourists and tourists looking at bison, but eventually we found our way through. Our next stop was at Canyon, but the campground there was also full. From there we continued north over Dunraven Pass where we negotiated a bear-jam (a traffic jam caused by a bear sighting). Tower Campground was full, so we turned northeast towards the Lamar Valley.

The drive through the Lamar Valley was beautiful, with pastoral scenery featuring rolling hills, a lovely river, a handful of pronghorn antelope, and thousands of bison. The Slough Creek and Pebble Creek campgrounds were also full, so we continued on to the park’s northeast entrance. A couple of miles farther on we arrived in Cooke City.

Cooke City is one of those cities that isn’t. It’s really just a dusty strip of hotels, restaurants, and gift shops. We stopped anyway, since we needed gas and groceries. We chose poorly on both counts. Gas in Cooke City was $4.27 / gallon, which was about 18 cents higher than the gas stations in the park. It was the most expensive gas of the trip, more than a dollar more than the cheapest (in Laramie, Wyoming). The only grocery store was more of a general store, and it had a very limited selection at extremely expensive prices. We got a few things for breakfast for about $30, which would’ve gone a long way at an IHOP. We didn’t find anything there to cook for dinner, so we decided to try a local restaurant before continuing our campground search.

We walked across the street to the Beartooth Café. The good news is that the Beartooth Café is a nice restaurant with good food and friendly service. I had Rainbow Trout, and Christy enjoyed a seafood pasta dish. Even better, they had Moose Drool on draft!

While eating, we overheard someone mention that THE road (there is only one) connecting northeast Yellowstone with Red Lodge, Montana would be closed between 8pm and 8am for road construction. I checked my watch. It was 7:30. Oops. Apparently we’d need to find a campground in the immediate area.

After our meal we asked our waitress about camping options in the area. She asked us if we had a camper or if we were tenting. When we told her we were tenting, she told us that the campgrounds in the area didn’t allow tenting due to aggressive bears. That wasn’t what I’d wanted to hear, but it got worse. A guy at the next table overheard our conversation and piled on, telling us that just last year a husband and wife were tent camping nearby. That night, while they slept, a grizzly pulled both of them out of their tent and ATE them, and as he was regaling us all with this tale, all I could think about was how much money this was going to cost me, because Christy certainly wouldn’t be spending the night in a tent after hearing this, and might not be for the rest of the trip, if ever again, and of course that meant getting a hotel in a gateway town just outside one of the most popular National Parks in the country in July, and boy you know that would be expensive. So I ordered another Moose Drool.

It occurred to me later that the helpful gentleman at the next table with the entertaining bear story was probably the head of the Cooke City Chamber of Commerce. What a great way to drum up some extra business for area hotels!

Since we weren’t going anywhere anyway, one Moose Drool soon turned into another, as they often do. Appropriately, “Cold Beverages” by G. Love & Special Sauce (http://youtu.be/pk9-28HgxfE) came on the radio, and I attempted to sing along until Christy reminded me that we were still in public. So we got some beer to go and staggered across the street to the hotel that the waitress and the troubadour of bear tales had recommended.

It now occurs to me that maybe that guy wasn’t affiliated with the chamber of commerce after all. I’ll bet he owned the hotel.

They had exactly one room left, and luckily the clerk didn’t stick it to us even though we clearly didn’t have a lot of other options (though sleeping in the car had crossed my mind). The room was actually pretty decent, and only about $90. We turned a TV on for the first time in a couple of weeks and quickly realized we hadn’t missed anything. Christy took her second shower of the day (since it was there) and I opened another Moose Drool. Although Moose Drool is clearly superior on draft (like most beer), Moose Drool in bottles does have one charming feature. Each bottle cap has an amusing, or in some cases, puzzling, phrase written on it. The best I’d ever seen was on the first beer I had after finishing the John Muir Trail in California. That cap suggested that I “always drink upstream from the herd”. That’s good advice anywhere, but particularly on the John Muir Trail. Today’s cap simply said, “Discard in nearest truck bed”.

I rounded out the evening with a Dead Guy Ale, which I’d purchased because it is my all-time favorite beer (just a half-step above Moose Drool). Also, it seemed like an appropriate choice in memory of that poor guy who’d been pulled from his tent in the middle of the night by a deranged grizzly and devoured. He may be bear shit now, but that isn’t any reason not to have one last beer in his honor.

BETRAYAL

We got up at 6am on Friday despite the previous night’s over-indulgence. Since we had to pick up Boone in Jackson before 1pm on Saturday, we basically had only one day to tour Yellowstone. My plan was to visit some of our favorite places from our 2003 trip as well as some places we’d missed on that vacation.

We left Cooke City just after first light and drove back into the park. At that hour, we only had to share the road with the occasional bison. A few of them appeared to be on their way into Cooke City for breakfast and coffee. Since we’d already spent a small fortune there, our plan was to cook breakfast at one of the picnic areas along the road.

We drove back through lovely Lamar Valley, passing a few thousand bison en route. The wildlife watchers and photographers were out in full force, and they had all of the hardware, from telescopes to giant telephoto lenses. We stopped at one pull off for a few minutes, where a bear was visible roaming along the river bank in the distance. Unfortunately we just didn’t have much time to dedicate to wildlife spotting, so we hit the road again.

We stopped for road construction a few minutes later. The flag lady asked us if we’d seen the wolves. Wolves?!? What had we missed? Apparently there had been some wolf sightings recently in the Lamar Valley, but we weren’t that lucky.

We resumed the drive, and suddenly Christy broke down in tears. At first I had trouble understanding what the problem was. She gestured down at her knee. I glanced down and saw what looked like a cantaloupe hidden under her pants. Her knee had swollen overnight, but she’d kept it to herself. Unfortunately, this wasn’t unprecedented. The last time her knee had betrayed her like this had ultimately resulted in knee surgery.

She was distraught, but I tried to remain positive. I suggested that it might return to normal with a couple of days of rest. We would be taking it relatively easy over the next few days anyway – all I had planned was some sightseeing and a few short hikes, along with one significant dayhike in the Tetons. After that, we had one more major backpacking trip planned. Perhaps her knee would recover in time for that? Christy didn’t seem too hopeful, but we vowed to make the best of it.

Later, we concluded that the difficult hiking through snow, ice, mud, and water on our first backpacking trip probably agitated her knee enough to cause it to swell. Our second trip, to Heart Lake, had been quite easy since Christy had skipped the climb to the summit of Mount Sheridan. Apparently there had been something of a delayed reaction between that first backpacking trip and the swelling. At least that is our theory, since we’ll never know for sure.

We made our first significant stop at Tower Falls. Christy accompanied me as far as the official overlook, which is just a short walk. In 2003 I’d been disappointed to find the trail to the base of the falls closed. Surely, after eight years, it would be open. Wrong. The trail from the Tower Falls overlook to the Yellowstone River is now open, but the final stretch to the base of the falls is still closed. From the look of things, that’s unlikely to change soon, if ever. I did make the short hike down to the river, but unfortunately there were no views of Tower Falls along the way. I had to settle for the view from the overlook, which is ok but a little disappointing. Also, the photographic conditions weren’t very good. Although it was early in the morning, the waterfall faces east, and the rising sun was already shining on it.

From Tower we followed the park road west towards Mammoth Hot Springs. A few miles down the road we spotted a bear close to the road and stopped for a few minutes to watch. One of the best things about being out in the park early is that there wasn’t much traffic. We were able to watch the bear for a bit without getting caught up in a giant wildlife traffic jam.

A few miles farther on we stopped at Undine Falls for a photo. Then we doubled back to the Lava Creek Picnic Area for our much anticipated breakfast. We hauled all of the cooking gear and food over to a picnic table, and I started working on coffee, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. I was elbows-deep cooking all of this when a bear came wandering down the hillside above the picnic area. Woops. Apparently bears are attracted to the smell of cooking bacon (and eggs and hashbrowns and coffee). I retrieved the bear spray from the car, prepared to defend our $30 breakfast to the death.

Fortunately the bear didn’t really seem that interested in our food. He wandered around on the hillside above us, but didn’t come any closer. Unfortunately he did draw a crowd of onlookers. Eventually he wandered off, and the gathering of tourists turned their attention to our breakfast. Fortunately I was still armed with the bear spray.

Breakfast was almost as good as anticipated. After eating, we cleaned up and resumed the drive to Mammoth Hot Springs. Along the way we drove over a high bridge above the Gardner River. I had to stop on the other side of that bridge, because the Gardner River must be one of the prettiest in the entire park.

We got gas and picked up some supplies in Mammoth Hot Springs. Then we took a scenic drive past some of the colorful hot springs At this point it was late morning, and the tourists were out in full force. We eventually managed to improvise a parking place so I could get some photos of the hot springs. We didn’t linger long though. From there, we headed south towards Norris Junction. We made a couple of brief stops along the way, including some wildlife sightings and a roadside overlook of the Gallatin Range.

From Madison Junction we headed back east on the road that bisects the park. This is the only other major road in the park that we hadn’t driven. It turns out we weren’t missing much. There wasn’t a lot to see until we reached the Canyon area. Although it was noon and overrun with people, I still wanted to spend some time there enjoying the scenery and getting photos.

The most exciting wildlife encounter of the trip occurred while we were driving into the Canyon area. When we reached the bridge over the Yellowstone River traffic stopped. Christy immediately spotted a young moose swimming across the river just upstream. This was alarming - 109’ Upper Yellowstone Falls is immediately downstream from the bridge, and 308’ Yellowstone Falls is just beyond. The river was flooding from snow melt, and the moose was struggling. He was being washed downstream, with certain death only a couple hundred yards away. We both held our breath until he fought his way through the current to the far bank. Finally he leaped up onto dry land and disappeared into woods.

After the bridge we passed a trailhead parking area that was heavily posted with trail closure signs. A hiker had been killed by a mama grizzly protecting her cubs on that same trail just a few days before. It had been the first fatal bear attack in the park in quite a few years. Later that summer there was another one on a different trail in the central part of the park.

We drove to the end of the road and the parking area for Artist’s Point. There was a throng of people here – unfortunately, even with an early start, you can only beat the crowds for a short while. Christy joined me for the short walk to the overlook, which is one of the most famous viewpoints in the park, if not the entire country. From there, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone unfolded below us. Mighty Yellowstone Falls leaped over the cliffs and into the canyon several miles upstream. Even at that distance, the roar was audible.

On our way back we stopped briefly at the overlook of the Upper Falls, which was raging. Then we drove around to the canyon’s west rim. There we enjoyed another, closer view of Yellowstone Falls. I also made the short hike down to the brink of Yellowstone Falls. The ground was literally shaking there from the power of the water.

After that, I took another short hike to 129’ Crystal Falls while Christy waited in the car. She didn’t want to risk agitating her knee further, even on a short, easy walk. A few minutes of hiking brought me to Cascade Creek. From there I doubled-back a short distance and walked out a spur trail to a viewpoint of the falls. From that point I had a good view of the waterfall, which is lovely. It’s funny how close Crystal Falls is to the west rim, but most visitors have no idea it is there. Anywhere else, it would be the prime attraction. I only saw one other couple on this short jaunt, which was a nice break from the chaos surrounding the canyon’s major overlooks.

I liberated the cooler from the back of the car and we made sandwiches for lunch before doubling-back to Norris Junction. There we continued south. After a brief stop at Gibbon Falls we drove along the Firehole River to the end of Fountain Flats Drive. Christy dropped me off there for my only significant hike of the day. My plan was to hike to Imperial and Sentinel Geysers and Fairy Falls. Christy would drive over to Old Faithful to see the sights there. After 3 hours or so, she’d pick me up at the end of my hike at the parking area for the Grand Prismatic Spring.

There were a bunch of people swimming in the Firehole River adjacent to the trailhead, enjoying the thermally heated water from the numerous geysers and hot springs upstream. I left the crowds behind quickly though and walked along a now-gated stretch of Fountain Flats Road. There was still quite a bit of traffic along the old road, with hikers and bikers passing by heading the other way. I made a brief stop at Ojo Caliente Spring, which is colorful and pretty. I then resumed my hike, but turned off the old road when I reached the signed junction with the trail to Imperial Geyser.

This part of the hike was surreal as it passed numerous hot springs and other thermal areas. Springs and fumaroles were steaming around me on all sides. At one point I had to traverse the outflow from a spring, and I kicked myself for wearing running shoes instead of waterproof boots. Luckily I was able to hop across the muddy, wet area on an assortment of limbs and branches.

A bit later I reached a junction. My route went left, but I decided I had enough time for a quick side trip to Imperial and Sentinel Geysers. A few minutes of hiking brought me to the first of the geysers. I think this one is Sentinel, but I’m not certain because my guidebook mentions them together but doesn’t specify which is which, and my map only labels one of them. This geyser is fairly small (a few feet high) and some distance from the trail. However, it makes up for its lack of stature by erupting every couple of minutes. I watched it go off a couple of times before continuing up the trail.

Imperial Geyser (I presume) is fantastic. It’s still fairly small, but considerably larger than its neighbor. Its best feature is the large, beautiful blue pool adjacent to it. It erupts almost constantly, too, so I was instantly rewarded for my efforts. Even better, I had both geysers entirely to myself. That’s pretty funny considering I was only a few miles from the throngs surrounding Old Faithful.

I loitered there for awhile before realizing that I needed to get moving to finish my hike on schedule. I hurried back down the trail bound for Fairy Falls. As I hiked, the cliff that Fairy Creek tumbles over came into view. I looked towards the falls, and noticed that while it was in the shade, the late afternoon sun was creeping towards it. The light for photography was about to go from ideal to crap! I ran the last ½ mile, desperate to get there before the sun. Shortly before reaching the falls I caught up to another group of hikers. I must’ve put quite a scare into them from the way they reacted. I guess they thought the creature huffing and puffing behind them was a bear?

The sun was moving slower than I thought, and I was able to get my photos. Fairy Falls is elegant. The stream is fairly small, but it falls about 200’ from the cliff above into a lovely dark grotto. Between the falls, the two geysers, and all of the other thermal features, I’d made an excellent choice for my afternoon hike.

I followed the Fairy Falls Trail back to the old Fountain Flats Road. At that point I should’ve been 0.2 miles from the trailhead, according to my guidebook. I headed that way, but quickly realized that the distance was a bit off. I passed behind the Grand Prismatic Spring, but the road just kept going. My previously mentioned guidebook states that the trailhead is just south of Grand Prismatic Spring. It turns out it is 1.4 miles south – I know because I measured it later.

This was bad for a couple of reasons. First, I’d timed my hike based on the mileage in the book. The hike proved to be a good bit longer than advertised. Even worse, I’d instructed Christy to pick me up at Grand Prismatic Spring since it was so close to the trailhead and it was a place she wouldn’t have any trouble finding. Well, it turns out I was wrong on both counts. As noted, the trailhead I eventually arrived at was 1.4 miles down the road from Grand Prismatic Spring, which made for an annoying road walk. Also, the sign at the turn for Grand Prismatic Spring doesn’t actually say anything about Grand Prismatic Spring, so Christy had trouble finding it after all.

I was on the southern end of Fountain Flats Road at 6pm when I was supposed to meet Christy. The funny thing is that I was only about 200 yards from her as the crow flies. Unfortunately, in this case, the crow flies over the Midway Geyser Basin and the Firehole River. Taking a cross country short cut simply wasn’t an option.

I had no cell signal, so I couldn’t call Christy. By the time I started down the road I was already 15 minutes late. 30 minutes later I reached Grand Prismatic Spring and eventually found Christy waiting in the crowded parking lot. I was tired from a long day, but I decided to take a quick tour of Grand Prismatic Spring. After all, it’s one of the most spectacular features in the park.

I strolled the boardwalk and dodged tourists. At least the tourists were beginning to thin out due to the late hour. Then I rejoined Christy and we headed up the road in search of dinner. Christy had already been to Old Faithful earlier, but suggested heading back that way to get something to eat. We ended up at Snow Lodge, which was a poor choice. I had a mediocre burger and overpriced salad while Christy suffered through some sort of fried fish-like substance. After a long, hot hike, most any food would’ve been satisfying – except this. It’s funny how much better the burger at Grant Village was.

It was almost dark when we left Old Faithful, but I wasn’t quite done. First, we enjoyed some lovely twilight over Yellowstone Lake from a pull off on the road. Then we hurried south to Lewis Falls, where there was still enough light for photos. Since I’m not one to quit while I’m ahead, I decided to try to squeeze one more in before dark. It was long past sunset when we arrived at the trailhead for Moose Falls, but the waterfall is just a short walk. I hurried down to the creek, and managed one final photo with my tripod and a 25 second exposure. The hike back to the car was in total darkness, but I made it without hurting myself.

It was now 9:30 on a Friday night and once again we had nowhere to stay. This time though, I had a plan. We left Yellowstone and drove south into Grand Teton National Park. At the northern end of the park we stopped at the Lizard Creek Campground. I was hopeful that this one would have some vacant sites, since Lizard Creek is kind of in no-man’s land between major attractions. I was barely right. There were a couple of walk-in sites available, and we took one. The site was only a short walk, but it was pretty annoying hauling our camping gear in there in the dark. We eventually got camp set up and finally retired about 11:30.

Before drifting off to sleep, I looked at my map of the Tetons and planned out our next couple of days. We had a campsite reserved in the Teton National Forest just west of the park for the next couple of nights. I was looking forward to hiking to the summit of Table Mountain on Sunday. I knew Christy wouldn’t be up for that, but I was hopeful that her knee would improve with two more days of rest.

Continue reading about our trip as we camp in the Teton National Forest, on the west side of the Grand Tetons, and I hike to the summit of Table Mountain.

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