TR: Yellowstone Lake to Brooks Lake Aug 2023

[wsp_scott]

I met up with some internet friends for approximately 100 miles in Yellowstone and Teton Wilderness last August (2023).

There had been tons of rain in the week leading up to the trip, but the forecast looked like lots of sunshine for our trip.

Day 0: After lots of travel, we crashed in a couple cabins at the Lake Lodge.

Still lots of moisture in the sky


Day 1: We took a boat ride from the Bridge Bay Marina across to the east side of Yellowstone Lake and then headed south to Site 5E1


Day 2: Site 5E1 to Site 6D2

Yellowstone River




Day 3: Site 6D2 to Site 6Y2

South into the Thorofare


Yellowstone River


Day 4: Site 6Y2 to Open Creek/Thorofare Creek

Thorofare Ranger Station


Thorofare Creek


Day 5: Open Creek to Woody Creek


Meadow near camp


Day 6: Woody Creek to Majo Pass

Looking towards the headwaters of Thorofare Creek


2nd Grizzly of the trip


Day 7: Majo Pass to edge of Buffalo Plateau

The start of a tremendous flower day


South Fork of the Yellowstone


3rd grizzly of the trip


Day 8: across Buffalo Plateau to headwaters of South Buffalo Fork

Buffalo Plateau


Down a side canyon off the plateau


Day 9: Pass between Cub Creek and South Fork Buffalo to PCT on Cub Creek


Day 10: to Brooks Lake trailhead

Upper Brooks Lake




We got to the trailhead and drove back to Yellowstone to collect the other car and then to a Snow Lodge Cabin near Old Faithful

Dusk on the Firehole River


Next day back to Bozeman and then fly to KY

Tons more details/photos here (no ads) - https://backpackandbeer.blogspot.com/20 ... -2023.html

[Wandering Daisy]

Great trip. Your photos look almost like paintings. How much of the route was on trails vs off-trail? Did you have to get permits and if so was that hard to do? Was any of your route on the CDT? Did you do any fishing? Not sure I would appreciate the grizzly bears. Not the place to go solo. A lot of places up in Canada require 4 people minimum in grizzly country. I liked that little beaver. Any pika? And what wonderful flowers.

I was stuck in rain from 8/1 to 8/7. I bailed out from Green River Lakes after sitting at the campground in rain and went to Driggs Idaho to visit friends. It rained solid and hard in Driggs for three days! You timed your trip right. I did three more trips when the rain stopped. I did not notice any smoke in the mid Wind Rivers. I got dumped on again 8/19 and 8/27 but these were typical storms- not like the early august drenching rains.

[grampy]

Thank you - this (especially the long version) was a great report. I’ve never been to Yellowstone or the surrounding area, but hope to someday (maybe minus the grizzly closeups on a backcountry trip, though).
I’ll second Daisy’s question about whether your route included the CDT, but noticed you mentioned the PCT a couple times … perhaps an unwitting substitution/typo ?

[Harlen]

Fantastic wsp_scott! Such a different feel to that range. Thanks for all the fine photos, and for the longer version. You're a lucky guy to see all of those real bears! I hope you possess a 500mm lens?! Congratulations on such a fine long trip. Ian.

[Fly Guy Dave]

What an epic trip! Thank you for the extensive photos and more explanation on your blog. I have always been curious about how that stretch of the Yellowstone River fishes for cutts. Did anyone in your group wet a line, or did you talk to anyone that had, or saw some nice trout finning in the water? Just curious. That beer must have tasted wonderful, as well as that mountain of nachos. Cheers!

[LMBSGV]

I loved reading and appreciating the wonderful photos of the long version. I was quite envious of your getting to backpack in Yellowstone. When my wife and I went in 2013, she said no way was she going to backpack in grizzly country so we car camped Yellowstone Lake and Norris or stayed at the Canyon and Roosevelt cabins. So the one grizzly we saw was way off in the distance, essentially a speck on the horizon we only knew was a grizzly due to binoculars and his movements.

We did meet someone on the trail to Fairy Falls who was solo backpacking and worked in bear management who enlightened us to some extent. At that time your were supposed to eat in one location and camp at another.

[wsp_scott]

Great trip. Your photos look almost like paintings. How much of the route was on trails vs off-trail? Did you have to get permits and if so was that hard to do? Was any of your route on the CDT? Did you do any fishing? Not sure I would appreciate the grizzly bears. Not the place to go solo. A lot of places up in Canada require 4 people minimum in grizzly country. I liked that little beaver. Any pika? And what wonderful flowers.

I was stuck in rain from 8/1 to 8/7. I bailed out from Green River Lakes after sitting at the campground in rain and went to Driggs Idaho to visit friends. It rained solid and hard in Driggs for three days! You timed your trip right. I did three more trips when the rain stopped. I did not notice any smoke in the mid Wind Rivers. I got dumped on again 8/19 and 8/27 but these were typical storms- not like the early august drenching rains.

Most was on trail, about 10ish miles was off trail, both waterfalls and over "Majo Pass" were the only off trail parts. One of my partners pulled an early slot in the Yellowstone lottery so permits weren't too much of an issue. We had hoped for the first night to be on the lake but that was already gone. The other two sites are remote enough that I don't think there is a huge demand. Only the 1st three nights in Yellowstone needed a permit, so the trip was mostly easy to plan.
The only CDT part was the last day to Brooks Lake.
No Fishing. There were 4 of us and the bears gave us lots of room. It would have felt a lot different solo.
No pika, but all the other animals and flowers (and the bears) were awesome.

We totally lucked out with weather. We had been watching in the week leading up to the trip and trying to figure out if the trip was going to happen. One of the guys lives in Island Park and he got creamed the beginning of Aug. So glad the weather gods smiled on us. Especially after getting hit with the monsoon in SEKI in 2022.

[wsp_scott]

I should have made it clear that the grizzlies were pretty far away. I had a Sony RX10 III which has a 24 - 600mm equivalent lens. The bear photos were way zoomed in and then cropped some. Since there were 4 of us and only one lingered for a moment, it never made me nervous, just very cool to see grizzly after all of the blacks I've seen in the southeast. And we all had bear spray if one had decided to come at us, but that would have been a little more nerve wracking

As far as fishing, none of us were fishing but even if we wanted to if would have been difficult in a lot of places. the way the rivers and creeks spread out leads to tons of willows along the banks and makes access problematic. Other stretches would have been feasible, but I never saw one fish jump the way the do in Sierra lakes. Maybe fish act different in rivers vs lakes?

glad everyone liked the report, it was an amazing trip

[Wandering Daisy]

In 1974 I did a 3 day canoe trip in Yellowstone (cannot remember what river exactly but it was pretty big, but calm). Fishing was good. We had my daughter who was only about 5 months old so I did not fish, but others did. There were no grizzlies back then.