Anthony Asplund: Bears

Heart Lake and the valley from Sheridan Peak

We saw none. That might be a good thing, but it's not a good thing, because I wanted to see one. Not a violent encounter, but a normal one where I see a bear and it sees me, then we go on our way. Anyways, I was pretty ticked when I saw no yellow stones either, but the trip was still one I won't forget.

Heart Lake Valley

Day 1 - We hiked in late, so it was dark and cold for half of our 8 mile hike. By cold I mean it was something like 25 or 30 degrees, and hiking in the dark is not fun, because you can't see any of the stuff you came to see. As we strolled into camp, we were greeted by some crazy old dudes from the camp over that decided they liked our fire pit more than their own. They were all smart, affluent old men from Texas. Among their posse were doctors, dentists, engineers, and one very successful bank owner. They called their group the BOOTS, an acronym i don't remember. They were fun, full of life, and we didn't mind sharing our site with them. We hiked the Heart lake Trail to Heart Lake.

Trevor, Stan, and me at Sheridan Peak. That little clump of trees just over my right shoulder is our camp, 3000 feet below us.

Ladies and Gentlemen... Mt. Sheridan

Day 2 - Mt. Sheridan didn't stand a chance against us. We conquered Sheridan, took a nap on her, and then ran all the way back down her 4 mile trail back to camp. Some people may say that running 4 miles downhill is bad for your joints, and I am hesitant to disagree, but that's the only way to go down a mountain. There was no other option. It was the only way. There was snow at the top of her 10,300 ft peak. Not a lot, but enough to make snow angels. Those angels were painful. The snow was old and hard, and felt like sandpaper. The half-hour nap we took at her peak was much deserved as the trail was 4 miles, with a 3000 foot elevation gain... so we basically climbed a wall. mhmmm, git some. All of us took a beating though. my left LCL is not in good shape, and our knees and feet were sore after, but it was totally worth it.

Us... leaving Yellowstone behind.

Day 3 - A bear visited the camp we were originally going to stay at. It tore up the fire pit, threw some trees around, and made a mess. It could have at least cleaned up its footprints or something. The hike out was bitter sweet, and we crossed paths with a tiny garter snake, hot pools, hell's river, a few geysers, elk, and a couple deer. The hot pools were HOT. Stan knows... he touched one. I mean, the steam wasn't enough for him, he just had to know. I say hell's river because it flowed from a hot pool, and at dusk there was a steam trail from where it started in the pass all the way into the valley. As far as geysers go, we may have stepped off the trail a little bit... a quarter mile little bit... to see them up close. It was like the earth had something caught in it's throat and was hacking it up. Really a spectacular sight. I'd encourage anybody to go see it, except that if you happen to fall through the marshy ground that surrounds a geyser, you may just find yourself neck deep in literally boiling water.

Stan and a hot pool.

Overall, the trip was a blast. We were camped just over 100 feet from a lake, and there were no bugs bothering us. There was a cool stream that passed by our camp as well. The total distance we hiked was about 25 miles, 8 of those miles were on a ridiculous incline. If you are at school here in Idaho, i say take advantage of your proximity to Yellowstone. GO THERE. It's really an incredible experience, and the scenery is beautiful. There you have it, and I have posted more pics below. Enjoy.