Crossed Paths

Our camp in Gardiner

Saturday was a lazy day. We woke up late and made some breakfast then headed back into the town of Gardiner. In Gardiner, I did some laundry while Jon and Andrew skyped in a café for Rose's wedding! I also enjoyed some internet in the laundry mat, which is actually where I am typing now, and facetimed with a dear friend of mine back in Maine. On the way back to camp we stopped at a gas station and some people struck up a conversation with Andrew about our trip. A moment later somebody heard us talking about Maine and goes "I'm from Maine!"...turns out she is from Waterville and graduated with my brother....After spending most of the day in town perusing shops we went back to camp and enjoyed the starlit evening.

Sunday we went back into the park with Slough Creek Trail in our sights. We arrived at the trailhead after driving about 17 miles through the park and geared up. On the trail we ran into some wildlife. First we saw a grouse right in the middle of the trail. The bird let us get within a few feet of it and wouldn't fly off...we thought it was bizarre but, as we continued up the trail and looked back about a dozen baby grouse ran out of the grass to catch up with their mom. About 2 miles into the slightly inclined trail we came across the creek. We could see trout surfacing to eat bugs but it turned out they were pretty picky. After a few minutes Jon caught a 7-8 inch brown trout. In this particular region of yellowstone there is no limit on brown trout and rainbow and brook trout, which are considered treasure in Maine. Here, rainbow and brook trout must be killed or eaten by law... They are a non-native fish in that region of the park so they are not tolerated...all the better for us though! Knowing that information, we let the brown go, figuring there would be plenty bigger ones to be had....we didn't catch another fish that day...

We decided to move further down the trail. We spotted some bison and then after about another mile we came across the creek again and decided to bushwhack down to it. We found a beautiful little spot with a sandy beach and pristine rushing water as well as calm spots for fishing. It was apparent that nobody had even touched this area for a while if ever because it was a couple hundred yards off the trail...that is, except for the grizzly bear tracks in the sand. We stayed in this spot for a couple hours. Jon fished to no avail even though we could see the trout in the water. Andrew and I swam and searched for cool rocks....we found some, and also quite a bit of petrified wood.

Around 6:30 we decided to start heading back to the van. As we started making our way back up the hill to the trail I spotted what was possibly the culprit of the tracks in the sand. I got Jon and Andrews attention, after a few seconds of them being like "yea right", Andrew captured a few seconds of the grizzly walking down the hiking trail...grant it, at this point we were 150 yards away from the trail but still...It was pretty cool. Don't worry though we all carry bear mace and know how to use it: while fishing upstream alone (with a walkie talkie), Jon heard a crack behind him and quick-drawed the mace and disengaged the safety...all I can say is...that was one lucky squirrel.

We got back to van, exhausted and went back to Gardiner. We picked up a pizza and went back to camp. We gorged ourselves, like a bear preparing for hibernation, and then appropriately fell asleep. Today we plan to take another hike in the Northeast region of the park. Currently we are doing some laundry and making breakfast in Gardiner. We just ran into our friend from Waterville again at the laundry mat and she let us know about a remote camping spot near Jackson Hole where we will be spending the fourth! We also ran into a very nice woman named Genie who had a 2000 VW Eurovan... she gave us a little tour of her newer and more luxurious version of our van, then gave me a book...which is good because I have been reading at least 3 a week. Now we are headed off for another adventurous day in Yellowstone!

-Adam

GRIZZ

A Yellowstone Tour