{"id":2008,"date":"2023-08-14T14:27:47","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T14:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/?p=2008"},"modified":"2023-08-14T14:27:51","modified_gmt":"2023-08-14T14:27:51","slug":"arent-bison-herd-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/?p=2008","title":{"rendered":"Aren\u2019t bison herd animals?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On Friday, we awoke at 4 a.m. in the hope of seeing wolves. Ryan whipped up some coffee and drove us to Slough Creek in Lamar Valley, a supposed wolf destination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We got there around 5:30 and weren\u2019t seeing much. It was quite calm and serene, watching the sun slowly rise over the valley. Just when we thought we were out of luck, we spotted a bison wandering along the ridge. \u201cAren\u2019t bison herd animals?\u201d Ryan asked. I wasn\u2019t sure. I was just happy that we hadn\u2019t gotten up so early for nothing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We started driving back the way we came and saw cars stopped ahead \u2014 a clear sign of wildlife. But it wasn\u2019t just a single creature. It was a hoard<\/em> of bison. There were bison within feet of the car! Bison babies, following their moms. Bison teenagers, nuzzling and head butting each other. I have never witnessed anything like it. We sat in bison traffic for a solid 20 minutes, laughing and taking photos and videos. What an epic start to the day!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Out the car window! <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was only 7:15 now and we were hoping to get a backcountry permit for the following night (there are always some sites available for walk-ins, but you need to reserve them early in the day). I fell asleep in the car outside the ranger station, until 8 a.m. when it opened up. Ryan had already begun chatting with Fred, a kind old ranger who helped us out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fred brought out several maps and helped us identify sites that were open. I had a few places that Evyn recommended, but ultimately, we settled on Blacktail Deer Creek, where we could hike 4.5 miles to Crevice Lake and camp along the Yellowstone River. Fred got us all squared away with the paperwork, then directed us to the obligatory backcountry guidelines video. As all these instructional videos tend to be, it was cheesy, long, dated, but practicable. I actually learned a thing or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We thanked Fred then headed on to hike, first stopping at Tower Falls to reset a bit (I don\u2019t do well without food in the morning). Then onto our trailhead, Wapiti Falls. Ryan elected to take his catnap then, while I spent time writing for you lovely readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bottom of Tower Falls hike <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Catching up on sleep <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The trail we did combined several viewpoints: Upper Yellowstone Falls, Lower Yellowstone Falls, Artist\u2019s Point, and Point Sublime. All of these spots were positively picturesque, and the trail had a good roll to it. There\u2019s a reason this area is called \u201cThe Grand Canyon of Yellowstone.\u201d We then took a couple different trails back, through geysers and meadows. It was a fantastic hike, since it gave you a little of everything in 6.5 miles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist\u2019s Point <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Back at the trailhead, we had our picnic lunch, digested, then prepped for our next stop. We had found a bouldering area on Mountain Project, not too far from the north entrance of the park. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Typical lunch veggie wrap <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hoodoos\u201d area was a massive and impressive boulder field, full of broken trees and debris. It took us a solid 30 minutes just to locate the climbs, but once we did, we were able to put in a solid effort on all of them. I felt irritated by the lack of information on the project, but I shouldn\u2019t be surprised. Climbers are notoriously cheeky that way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, it was 7 p.m. We made our way back to camp. Ryan turned on Starlink so we could call and text some folks, and I cooked a pasta dish. Once again, we passed out quickly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Saturday, we woke up at 4:30, determined to see wolves. I could not for the life of me keep my eyes open. Once we got to the valley, I could pay more attention. There were folks with scopes all around us, and eventually, we found a group led by a wolf expert who had spotted some. The wolves were much smaller than expected through Ryan\u2019s binoculars, but dammit, we saw them. It was definitely a \u201chuzzah!\u201d moment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was still exhausted and so was Ryan, so he pulled over and we proceeded to sleep in the car for 2 hours. We woke up at a quarter to 10, disoriented. I proposed we make some coffee then find a hike. Ryan, as always, was down with the plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We initially planned on doing a hike by the \u201cpetrified tree,\u201d an ancient redwood that was preserved in the park, indicating a much different climate many years ago. Unfortunately the trail had been converted to an out-and-back and had lots of horseback riders on it, so we bailed. We opted for Hellroaring Creek, one of Evyn\u2019s backpacking suggestions. This was a great call. The trail led us to a sick suspension bridge and of course, Ryan soaked his feet in the creek. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hellroaring View <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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He loves a foot soak <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After our hike, it was time to eat lunch and prep for the next stage: backpacking. We pulled over, finished a bunch of snacks, picked up ice, then hit the trailhead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hadn\u2019t backpacked since 2019, so I carefully packed up, making sure I wasn\u2019t missing anything essential \u2014 sleeping bag, tent, water purification, etc. We were both jazzed to finally backpack together, and the trail was fantastic. Meandering hills through a valley and into the forest made us feel like Merry and Pippin. There were so many wildflowers, and another suspension bridge to boot! When we made it to Crevice Lake, we got more stoked. Our campsite was right along the river and totally quiet; we even had our own beach. We set up the tent, hung up our food, then went for a short hike up to Knowles Falls, a huge feature on the river. When we returned, we promptly ate food, brushed our teeth, then settled in. Two 4 a.m. starts in a row plus all the activities will do that to you! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bridge over Yellowstone River <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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On the way to Knowles Falls <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We slept till 8:15, then leisurely packed up our things and made coffee. The hike out was magical, sunlight playing on Crevice Lake and the Yellowstone River. As I walked back across the suspension bridge, I couldn\u2019t help but think, \u201cthis really is the life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our personal beach <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Back over the bridge <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Once we made it back to the car, we quickly unpacked and organized, then hit the road to Bozeman. Ryan called many of his family members from the car (Happy Birthday, Grandma Geri!), which always touches me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had reached out to Cassidy, founder of \u201cGirl, Get After It,\u201d a women\u2019s wellness community she formed in Bozeman. A good friend of mine, Kelli, and I lead a Colorado Springs chapter of GGAI. I naturally wanted to reach out to Cass to 1) meet her in person finally, and 2) get her Bozeman recommendations. She had already flooded me with some great tips, so we first stopped at Jam!, a brunch spot she sent. What a great decision. We started with a cinnamon pecan roll as our \u201cappetizer\u201d and devoured some breakfast sandwiches with biscuits. It was so delicious after all the hiking we\u2019d done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To digest the huge meal, we then bopped around main street, checking out different shops. Eventually we headed to another recommendation from Cass, MAP Brewing. The beers here were truly high quality and the brewery overlooked a local lake. People were swimming and paddle boarding, and we thought, \u201chey, we could get a lake shower while we\u2019re here.\u201d We looked absolutely ridiculous, jumping into the water, getting out, lathering in Dr. Bronner\u2019s, then jumping in again. But we finally felt clean. \ud83d\ude42 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We headed south out of town to camp, another spot Cass identified, and set up along Hyalite Creek. It was very peaceful, sleeping near the sound of rushing water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now to spend the next few days in Bozeman, exploring and eating good food! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Friday, we awoke at 4 a.m. in the hope of seeing wolves. Ryan whipped up some coffee and drove us to Slough Creek in Lamar Valley, a supposed wolf destination. We got there around […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ultimate-road-trip"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2008"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2025,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2008\/revisions\/2025"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/excrcl.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}