2017 Appalachian Hike

September 4, 2018

Ryan and I both got a very good nights sleep last night. It had been seven nights since we’d slept in a bed. That includes the nights at the hostel because all we had were wooden bunks. So even there we were on our sleeping pads in a bag.

We ate the breakfast buffet this morning before we drove to our trailhead. It was a two and a half hour drive. We had to go north from Old Faithful and then west until we were in Montana, then south to Idaho before going back east to Yellowstone. We were in the southeast part of the park. Very remote.

Our hike was very flat and pretty uneventful until the end of the day.

We hiked into our campsite and arrived at 5:30. We quickly set up camp and then set out on another trail for a while. We knew about a couple of sights we wanted to see. The first was Union Falls. It was spectacular and worth the hike.

There are no roads to this part of Yellowstone, so the only people that get to see this waterfall are people that hike in. To do it in a day would be about a 30 mile round trip hike. Most people can’t do that in a day.

A park ranger told us that only 6% of Yellowstone visitors get more than 150 feet from their car. That means less than 1% have seen Union Falls.

The other place Ryan and I hiked to was a pool in a stream that is one of the thermal features in the park. The water temperature is like a lukewarm bath. Ryan and I went skinny dipping here.

Yes if you look close you can see Ryan in the water.

Then we hiked back to camp, filtered some water, cooked supper and went to bed.

18 miles for the day.

September 5, 2018.

We got up today about 6:30 ate Clif bar and pop tarts before heading out at 7:30.

The hike to our next campsite was pretty uneventful except for me falling in a stream.

We have had to ford several streams and rivers. When we do Ryan and I stop and change into our water shoes and change back after we cross. Today crossing a stream I lost my balance on a log and fell into waist deep water. So much for dry shoes. I’m thankful Ryan didn’t laugh and everything in my pack stayed dry.

After we set up camp and had some lunch we went on another trail with a couple of waterfalls. First was Dunanda Falls.

Then Silver Falls.

After 24 miles of hiking we were hungry and tired. The mosquitoes encouraged us to get in our tents at 8:00