Silver Gate, Montana, United States
With Yellowstone National Park less than two hours away, I
usually make it there a couple times each season, either for a group backpacking
trip, some hiking on my own, or playing tour guide to visitors. Having seen almost all the park’s famous
features, unless I’m showing them off to someone I now usually try to get into
the backcountry. My friend David is
working in the park as a bus driver this season, so I had someone with whom to
hike on his two consecutive days off and also a place to stay.
I got to the employee dorm where he’s staying in the Old
Faithful area shortly before noon on the first day, so we decided on a relatively
short nearby hike after lunch. The trail
to Mystic Falls leaves from the Biscuit Basin boardwalk. However, there was a significant explosion of
a geyser and Biscuit Basin earlier this summer which destroyed some boardwalk
and closed the area. Luckily, there is an alternative trail from the park road
to Mystic Falls that skirts the basin.
Altogether, this is a short loop hike of about 3.
5 miles that passes the
falls and then continues up the ridge to an impressive overlook of Biscuit
Basin and all the way to Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin about 700
vertical feet about the Firehole River Valley.
It was what I consider a nice little afternoon stroll with a view. But
it was enough to provoke strong thirst, so we followed it up with some beers at
the bar of the Old Faithful Inn, the magnificent log structure that is one of
the national park system’s grandest guest lodges. Time flies when you’re drinking, and before
we realized it, it was dinner time.
With two cars between us, I suggested we try a long
point-to-point hike rather than an in-and-out or loop to a destination. The Pebble Creek hike in the far northeast
part of the park is one I’ve wanted to do for a while, 12.1 miles from just
inside the northeast entrance station to the point where Pebble Creek flows
into the Lamar River.
The Pebble Creek hike begins fairly high in the upper part
of the Lamar Valley. It rises rapidly
over 1,000 vertical feet to cross the ridge that extends north from 10,354-
foot high Baronette Peak, the most prominent mountain in this part of the
Absaroka Range.
What’s nice about it is
that you get the hard work done first and it’s a very long gradual downhill
hike the rest of the way, ending up considerably lower than the hike began.
Once over the ridge, the trail descended a bit into broad
meadows between the two prominent ridges, the left side one including Baronette
Peak. This part was my kind of hike –
relatively flat and easy and open enough for spectacular scenery in all
directions. It didn’t last for too long,
though. As we descended, we were in trees most of the rest of the way, and our
bright sunshine gave way to overcast skies, some rumbles of thunder, and a mostly
light rain. Pebble Creek gradually
became wider and deeper as it collected the water of more tributary streams,
each crossing getting harder to do without getting our feet wet. I ended up
just giving up and walking through the ankle to calve-deep water rather than
trying to rock hop or balance on a log.
Pebble Creek apparently descends through a canyon before it
ends near where we parked. While our trail stayed fairly level, we found
ourselves hundreds of feet about the valley floor with a long descent over the
last mile or so. We had more or less
dried out from the first rain of the day when the next mini-storm came in to
lash us with a few minutes of cold driving rain and painful small hail just
before we got to the parking lot. I was
lucky to have a change of clothes in the car.
The day turned out to be quite good for wildlife spotting. On our long drive to the trailhead we passed
hundreds of cars stopped along the road, their occupants watching a black bear
in a tree. Once on the trail in the upper Pebble Creek meadows we spied a
mother moose with her youngster.
Meanwhile, the Lamar Valley was filled with more bison than I have ever
seen in one spot in the park. August is
apparently the rut, and they were far more frisky than usual. What is it with animals doing their mating
rituals right along the road? Do they
enjoy putting on a show for humans? The numerous
bison jams along the road back made for slow going, and it was pretty late by
the time I got back home.
2025-05-22