Adventures of a Math Geek: Backpacking the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone River

Alex and Ellie, circa summer 2014

During the weekend before the 4th of July, we took a family trip to Yellowstone Park for a few days, followed by a night at Chico Hot Springs.

We spent three days and two nights in Yellowstone hiking the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone River. This hike is around 22 miles, starting at Hellroaring Creek trailhead and ending in the town of Gardiner. In Bill Schneider's book 'Hiking Yellowstone' he describes it as 'one of the premier backpacking trips in the Northern Rockies'. Given this recommendation and its relatively short distance, I thought it would be good for a family backpacking trip.

DAY 1:

The first day was long, with the drive to Mammoth from Butte, waiting around in Mammoth to get the permit, driving to the trailhead and finally hitting the trail for the longest (9 miles) day of the trip.

The first day was unique, with a quick drop into sage prairie of the type you don't typically associate with a backpacking trip, a long excursion up to the bridge over Hellroaring Creek, which was too high to ford and which added three miles, and finally a healthy climb followed by a drop into camp (1R2 in the map below) at 7pm. We were all exhausted.

Here are a few phots from Day 1 (more on Days 2 & 3 below):

Black Canyon of the Yellowstone Map

Jen in the first mile of the first day.

Alex, bridge over the Yellowstone River (I think).

Walking through sage prairie.

wild flowers were abundant.

Some green amidst the high desert.

Dropping into camp on night 1

Prickly Pear was blooming

Having dinner near the river, night 1.

DAY 2:

The second day was the easiest of the three, though it was still 6.5 miles, and given our late start, was hot, and we took our time, so we were tired when we pulled into camp late in the afternoon (1Y1 on the map above). The sections of gnarly whitewater made the trail side viewing of the river pretty awesome. Pictures from Day 2 are below, followed by Day 3.

bear spray

Bitterroot Flowers. State flower of Montana.

Walkin' along the river.

Jen

Cool shot.

Fam.

Fam again.

We had a long relaxing stop here.

Jen and I.

Jen at the beach camp site, 1Y1.

A nasty rapid

kids

Black Canyon of the Yellowstone rapids.

The beach at 1Y1.

evening light

Horse shoes with elk horns.

Alex and I slept out.

DAY 3:

The last day's hike is five or six miles, but is challenging due to the increasingly desert-like conditions and then a 1000+ foot climb out of the canyon to the end of the trail. It used to be that the trail ended in downtown Gardiner, but nowadays, you've got to climb up to a campground a few miles out of town. This is rattlesnake country. I saw one and came across a couple of hikers that saw another. If you wait until late morning, the snakes will most likely have taken themselves off the trail, where they like to lie in the sun in the cool mornings.

I set out a couple of hours before the family and then biked the 25 miles back to the car. It was a challenging ride with a lot of climbing, but was also beautiful. In fact, it made me want to ride more in Yellowstone.