[Day 83] Flats, Heat, & Bugs

The day started later. I only had 25 flat miles to my next designated campsite. My itinerary through Yellowstone is set by the permitted campsites that I was able to reserve before I left Dubois. Some days require longer mileage (my exit from Dubois to my first campsite in Yellowstone) and some days are more lenient.

Fresh grizzly signs were readily apparent. Firstly, this morning, I noticed the tree directly next to my tent was likely used as back scratcher for some bear. Along trail north towards Heart Lake, I was chasing fresh scat droppings — steaming fresh. By mile seven on the day, I came upon some hikers heading south, and the droppings didn’t continue north after that. We must have sandwiched the grizzly off the trail.

I walked the shoreline of Heart Lake for a mile with Mount Sheridan towering above. At the inlet to Heart Lake near the base of the mountain, a steam cloud was visible. Soon enough, I was climb along the 90°F warm Witch Creek with sky-blue geothermal pools right beside trail.

I climbed up into some dry warm forests north of Heart Lake. I wonder if the geothermal activity of Yellowstone results in warmer ground surface temperatures, because it felt like there was radiant heat off the ground contributing to the sun’s heat load. The armada of mosquitos came for me. I suited up in full attire — gloves, head net, and all. I soon got to Wyoming Highway 89, which heads towards Grant Village. With the warm weather, terrible mosquitos, and 15 of 25 miles done by noon, why not head into Grant Village for a break?

The hitch to Grant Village took a bit, but a Tundra let me hop in the bed. My travel into Grant Village was delayed an hour by repavement of Highway 89, but I got there. A burger, cola, and free ice cream fixed my itch. I wasted a few hours in the cafeteria recharging. Eventually, I packed out a sandwich for dinner and started my attempt at hitching back to trail around 4pm. It was a struggle to say the least.

Unfortunately, our national parks are in many ways enjoyed similar to Disneyland. Park attendees pay a ticket to enter the park. They view the attractions from the comfort of a drive or short walk. You will find most people nice and pleasant outside of their vehicular cages. They converse and engage with hikers like myself, almost as if I am a dressed up character at an amusement park. Once they are in the shelled comfort of their motor vehicle, I am no longer a point of interest — merely some scummy leach. I’d estimate some 500 or more cars drove by me over two hours. Nobody was interested in helping. Minutes before I’d start walking to the trailhead, a couple of people who appreciate hiking — not in the amusement-park sense of half a mile around Old Faithful — offered me a spot in the bed of their truck. They had never picked up a hitch hiker, but I certainly put a smile on their face when they realized they picked up a CDT hiker.

I powered out 10 miles to camp with an additional mile of hiking the wrong way — yet another sly junction got me. I do not exaggerate. There was easily 200 mosquitos chasing me the whole way. At many points, there was 20 or so bloodsuckers questing on each arm. I got to camped, downed my packed out sandwich, hung my food bag, and climbed in my tent with a few mosquito friends for the night.

Signing off,

Zeppelin / fReaK (ON a leash)