Mount Washburn Trail
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Day 2 in Yellowstone, we hiked the Mount Washburn Trail, a 7 mile in and out with about 1,400 feet of elevation gain. We got up bright and early and were greeted by the resident elk hanging out in the bushes right outside our camper, looking glorious as always.
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On the way to the trailhead, the bison were right by the road. One was getting a really satisfying head scratch on a post. I’d have gladly given him a freebie head scratch myself, but apparently, you're not supposed to pet the fluffy cows, so I didn’t.
The geese in Hayden Valley were out in full force, cruising the streams, and the cool morning temps made it look like Yellowstone was on fire with all the steam rising from the geothermal spots.
The trail up Washburn was lined with wildflowers, and the marmots were out and about, and not particularly shy. We literally watched one munching on some vegetation from 5 feet away on the trail. At the summit, we reached the lookout tower, which is surrounded by giant microwave antennas (luckily we did not glow as we passed by). The building was open, and we took a break from the cold wind to eat our lunch inside. At 10,219 feet, it was pretty chilly up there.
As we were leaving, we saw a female Bighorn sheep down below, basking in the sun with two little ones. Soon after that, we passed a bison not far from the summit, which was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t expect one that high up. Another hiker told us he’d followed it as it made its way up the trail, perhaps looking for some peace, quiet, and high-elevation air conditioning.
About halfway down, we ran into a ground squirrel who clearly thought it was hot stuff. It struck a pose so bold it could’ve graced the cover of Rodent Vogue. Confidence level, 10 out of 10.
As we headed back toward camp, we hit a good ol’ Yellowstone traffic jam with people pulled over and standing at the roadside. We all know what that means - wildlife. But from the car, we couldn’t see what it was, and there was nowhere to pull off, so I hopped out and told Danny to keep going and circle back to pick me up.
As I jumped out, I told him, "This better not be for a bison or an elk." Love them, but after all we’ve seen, they’re not worth the effort of dodging traffic. I wasn’t disappointed. Out in the field was a beautiful fox on the hunt. I watched it for a few minutes as it stalked in the grass, but then it disappeared into the woods empty-pawed.
After the show I walked the road a bit until Danny came by to pick me up. Get this, just a quarter mile up, there was another fox, also hunting. On the super short drive, we saw mule deer hanging out roadside. This spot had parking, so we got out and watched Round Two. A park ranger was there making sure folks didn’t get too close. He told us it’s not common to see two foxes this close together.
This second fox was successful and nabbed what looked like a ground mole, and then trotted off clearly proud of himself. Two foxes and one mule deer in a few minute span, yep, Yellowstone delivered big time.
Back at camp, we caught wind of a Frenchman getting too close to a bison in the campground, and he got tossed! Thankfully, he walked away. Danny had a chat with him, and in broken English, he said he hurt his wrist and marveled at the speed of the bison. This probably was the same bison I accidentally had a close encounter with the day before, so I'm glad I didn't tick him off!
The geese in Hayden Valley were out in full force, cruising the streams, and the cool morning temps made it look like Yellowstone was on fire with all the steam rising from the geothermal spots.
The trail up Washburn was lined with wildflowers, and the marmots were out and about, and not particularly shy. We literally watched one munching on some vegetation from 5 feet away on the trail. At the summit, we reached the lookout tower, which is surrounded by giant microwave antennas (luckily we did not glow as we passed by). The building was open, and we took a break from the cold wind to eat our lunch inside. At 10,219 feet, it was pretty chilly up there.
As we were leaving, we saw a female Bighorn sheep down below, basking in the sun with two little ones. Soon after that, we passed a bison not far from the summit, which was a bit of a surprise. I didn’t expect one that high up. Another hiker told us he’d followed it as it made its way up the trail, perhaps looking for some peace, quiet, and high-elevation air conditioning.
About halfway down, we ran into a ground squirrel who clearly thought it was hot stuff. It struck a pose so bold it could’ve graced the cover of Rodent Vogue. Confidence level, 10 out of 10.
As we headed back toward camp, we hit a good ol’ Yellowstone traffic jam with people pulled over and standing at the roadside. We all know what that means - wildlife. But from the car, we couldn’t see what it was, and there was nowhere to pull off, so I hopped out and told Danny to keep going and circle back to pick me up.
As I jumped out, I told him, "This better not be for a bison or an elk." Love them, but after all we’ve seen, they’re not worth the effort of dodging traffic. I wasn’t disappointed. Out in the field was a beautiful fox on the hunt. I watched it for a few minutes as it stalked in the grass, but then it disappeared into the woods empty-pawed.
After the show I walked the road a bit until Danny came by to pick me up. Get this, just a quarter mile up, there was another fox, also hunting. On the super short drive, we saw mule deer hanging out roadside. This spot had parking, so we got out and watched Round Two. A park ranger was there making sure folks didn’t get too close. He told us it’s not common to see two foxes this close together.
This second fox was successful and nabbed what looked like a ground mole, and then trotted off clearly proud of himself. Two foxes and one mule deer in a few minute span, yep, Yellowstone delivered big time.
Back at camp, we caught wind of a Frenchman getting too close to a bison in the campground, and he got tossed! Thankfully, he walked away. Danny had a chat with him, and in broken English, he said he hurt his wrist and marveled at the speed of the bison. This probably was the same bison I accidentally had a close encounter with the day before, so I'm glad I didn't tick him off!