The day started with a huge breakfast at the lodge - I didn’t think I’d be able to eat it all but, surprise surprise, I did. During breakfast, we started talking to a delightful group about our hike and they thought it was pretty cool. They were very nice and buoyed my spirits - we had to hitch back to the trail and I wasn’t looking forward to it. I would have asked the group, but there were 6 of them (4 adults and 2 kids) and I figured there wouldn’t be room in their vehicle.
As we were leaving the restaurant, two guys at the next table, who had overheard our conversation with the group, asked me, “did you really hike here from Mexico?!?” They, too, thought it was pretty cool, which made me smile. I would have asked them for a ride but they were on motorcycles.
We made our way to the road in front of the restaurant, choosing a spot far enough down that people would have room to pull over but not too far away from the lodge in case we saw some people leaving who we could ask for a ride. We stood by the road for a while and didn’t have much luck (hitching in National Parks really is tough), so I mustered up some courage and asked a few people in the parking lot for a ride. Sadly, one couple was leaving the park, not going in, and the other seemed uncomfortable with giving us a ride. No worries. I went back to stand next to Nick, holding out our parks pass. Surely someone would want to get in the park for free, right?
After a while, the nice group of people we had talked to at breakfast walked out and asked where we were going and if we wanted a ride. I was pleasantly surprised. It turns out they drove two cars into the park and so had plenty of room. They were so amazing and so nice and just … well, let’s just say they made my day.
Nick and I rode with Dan and Dawn, from Wisconsin (we sure do seem to get a lot of help from Midwesterners). It was a fabulous ride back to the trail and I enjoyed talking with them immensely. Kevin and Amy and their two kids, Kelsey and Logan, followed in their car. When we were back at the trailhead, we all got out and I made sure each one of them got a figure because they were all so wonderful.
Kevin, Amy, Kelsey, Logan, Dawn, and Dan, who started our day with kindness
Let the hiking commence. We walked ~8 miles on East Entrance Road to Fishing Bridge. The walk wasn’t terrible, but since my Patrick Duffy leg really hates road walks I had to take it slow and easy. Also, the blister on my pinky toe was annoyingly painful. Since leuko tape just ends up rubbing off (there is that much friction going on), I tore some strips off a plastic bag to keep my troublesome baby toe sliding nicely against her neighbor (the blister needed more than just Squirrels Nut Butter). It actually helped!
At Fishing Bridge, there was a large general store, which we were not expecting. The store even had fuel, so we got another can just in case there aren’t any in the next few resupply stops). I also snagged myself a kombucha to drink with lunch; Nick bought a bubbly and an Oreo ice cream sandwich, which he enjoyed immensely.
the way he’s looking at this ice Oreo cream sandwich!!
The trail we hiked after lunch started out great - it was well cared for and very defined. That didn’t last too long, though, and for most of the day we were hiking on rolling hills of tall grass, sometimes sagebrush. The trail was very uneven and my ankle hated the lumpy terrain. Worse, sometimes there was no trail at all - I guess there aren’t too many people hiking on it.
With only about 2 miles to go until we got to the falls, we came upon a river we had to ford. Sigh. I wasn’t in the mood for such a thing - my toe had finally stopped feeling painful and I knew that getting it wet would make it hurt again. I took off my shoes and socks to cross, thinking that would help, but when I put them back on again it took about 15 minutes for my brain to ignore the blister pain.
After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the falls. The sound of the water roaring over the edge was impressive- I could feel its power in my bones - and also beautiful. It was strange being in the main part of the park and around a lot of people, though. It made me feel like I, too, am on a vacation, even though we still have to work to get to hike a lot of miles.
the Upper Falls
After the falls, we hit the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, which was so colorful that it didn’t look real.
After playing tourist for a bit and checking out all the overlooks to the falls, we made our way to the campground. On the way, a guy we had talked to while eating lunch in front of the Fishing Bridge general store called out to us. It turns out he works at the park (we didn’t realize that earlier), so we asked him which campground to go to since there were two on the map. He told us to come here, to Canyon Village Campground, and I’m so glad he did because we got to shower!!!
While we were checking in, Nick asked the receptionist if she could give us a closer site since we had already walked over 25 miles and didn’t want to walk much further. She was floored that we had walked that far and, because she’s awesome, she gave us two free shower passes. We only had about 40 minutes before the showers closed, so we found our site, set up the tent, and got those showers in. Never pass up a shower!!
Heather gave us two free shower passes so she is also a Trail Angel
With all the stopping to play tourist and the silly aches and pains I was dealing with, the day felt very long. It also didn’t help that we started later, which made us finish later. After showering, we didn’t get around to making dinner until 10pm. I felt bad for the two guys in our shared site who were already fast asleep, but the drunk people across the road were much louder than Nick and I were making and eating dinner.
While I’d love to sleep in tomorrow (it’s after midnight and the drunk people just now passed out) we have ~25 miles to hike (Nick thought it was only 20 and I was excited about that until he decided to double-check the math). Let’s hope the trails are in better shape now that we are in the middle of the park.
Along the trail:
this pond I saw while walking the road is definitely too hot to soak in, you can see the boiling, bubbling water
Camp:
(taken in the morning because we got in so late)