Where: Continental Divide Trail leading to Heart Lake located in Yellowstone National Park
Mileage: ~21 miles Out and Back
Difficulty: Moderate
Sites: Bear Scat, LOTS of mosquitos, Grouse
Jesse and I were looking for an overnight backpacking trip while in Yellowstone National Park that wouldn't be too difficult and would also have scenic views. Heart Lake sounded intriguing to me because of it's name and the trail is also on the CDT. It's 7.4 miles to get to the lake and then an additional 1-4 miles depending on which campsite you choose. The campsites must be reserved in advance. We chose campsite 8J1, which I'll go into more detail about below.
This was my first overnight in the backcountry. I've never experienced anything like it before. Jesse has more experience than me and has backpacked many times before both solo and with others so I trusted him for my first time in bear country. Bears are still a scary thing in my mind, a thought deposited in my mind perhaps by anxious parents who forewarn me anytime I go out hiking and tell me about every new story they hear about bear attacks. It is important to know the rules of the backcountry before entering the territory of the wild and free animals that roam. No matter how careful we are, nature always has the last word, but we can do our best to avoid anything that is preventable.
To prepare for bear country, the extra gear needed that I typically wouldn't use on trails closest to where I live are bear spray, bear bells and a bear canister. We used a Bear Vault 450 Canister which should be good for 4 days and weighs just over 2 pounds. We stuffed it pretty good with lots of snacks and it was to capacity for just our 2 day hike. But if you prepare and dehydrate food beforehand you can probably fit a lot more in there. Jesse carried the canister for us which I was grateful for. Two pounds is quite heavy! I wore the bear bells the entire trip. You'd think the noise would become annoying, but it becomes unnoticeable after awhile.
We've got some oatmeal, oreos, fig bars, canned fish and mac n cheese in there. Yum!
The gear I carried included a GoLite 50L backpack. This was a whim purchase from the GoLite store in Colorado so it was a first test run with it. It is a lighter backpack than my 46L Granite Gear one, but about the same capacity. I also carried my sleeping bag, half of the tent, water filtration, clothes, and easily accessible snacks. We used a LL Bean tent that was quite monstrous and heavy. I have a very lightweight LightHeart Gear tent and packs smaller. It's not quite as spacious as the LL Bean one and Jesse was adamant about using the more comfy tent so I buckled up and carried the heavier and bulkier tent. Jesse still very much carried the bulk of the weight overall. I could barely lift his pack and still don't know how he carried it!
To try and keep weight down as much as possible I didn't bring along my DSLR so the majority of the photos for this hike are taken with my iPhone or a point and shoot camera, please bare with blurriness.
Ok and let's start the hike! Here is the Trail Info board at the trail head.
We are going to be trekking to 8J1. It doesn't look too far....
And here we start! Can't believe we are in Yellowstone!!
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| Let's Start! |
The trail is flat through a single track of forest until you reach distant views of Heart Lake when you start the descent to the lake.
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| Sharing some rest time with my sweetie. |
There was one section of trail that was well monitored by a mother grouse protecting her offspring. She would dart and jump at us warning us to back off. A very protective mother and understandably so.
Below are some beautiful Paintbrush flowers.
Heart Lake is starting to peek through.
As we travel farther, we meet sections of the trail that are swarming with mosquitos. Oh MY!
This is also my first experience hiking in mosquito land. Luckily, I packed a mosquito head net with me. We had been experiencing mosquitos at our campsite at Lewis Lake as well and I thought it would be good to bring the net along just in case. I was extremely glad I did. Unfortunately, the skeeters do bite through clothing I also found out.
Removed the net for a quick photo op!
We hadn't seen too many people out on this hike yet. The first people we came about on our way in were a young pair of day hikers deterred by the mosquitoes. While we rested on a log above, three middle aged guys came up the trail and said their hellos briefly. The guide online said this is a popular hike so I had expected more people on it and not the remoteness we were experiencing.
We kept trekking and eventually started our descent to the lake. It's always easier going down for me.
We came across these beautiful hot springs below. I didn't know these were features on this trail. The steam could be seen rolling off the top of the water and the heat felt from a far. The water gives off a strong sulfur smell. It is a really amazing geothermal feature to see and it's beauty can only be grasped when experienced in person. What was really great is that we could go and check these springs out without any crowds as compared to the popular geysers right off the road that are easily accessible with short boardwalk trails in the park. The further you must venture, the more solitude you will find.
The effects of the 1988
Wildfires in Yellowstone are still very evident as you can see in these photos. The lake isn't obscured with trees blocking it's view and there are wide open spaces between trees.
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| View from the Ranger Station, just beyond the trees is Heart Lake |
We eventually reach the ranger station that is just in front of Heart Lake. Behind the station there is also an outhouse. We took a break outside of the station, although it was locked and there was no one there.
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| The sign for Heart Lake |
We made it to Heart Lake! It is beautiful, no?
After hiking along the lake the trail goes back towards the woods and leads slightly away. It seemed like quite awhile that we had been hiking and wondered if we missed the turn for our campsite. We decided to hike a little further before deciding if we should backtrack and luckily we came to the sign for our site shortly thereafter. The site was over 2 miles from the lake.
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| Ah campsite! |
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| Time to set up |
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| Pretty Flowers at the campsite |
I really loved this campsite. There was ample space and remoteness. I've never camped anywhere, where the whole place was designated to ourselves. It's better than any hotel room you'd find.
Time to get some food in our bellies.
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| Trying out some Forever Young Mac n Cheese |
This mac n cheese was pretty good. I'd recommend it. The Japanese noodles in the background weren't as good. I wouldn't recommend, but we also didn't follow the instructions for frying them.
A beautiful view below from our tent.
Eek! The skeeters are attacking below! To get a clear view like above I had to swat them away at the door.
Do you see those skeeters out there? Time to hide in the tent!
I took this time to recharge while Jesse hung our food bags and other gear up. I bought a battery charger to take along on backpacking trips so I'd be able to track the hike and continue taking photos on long trips. The New Trent battery worked really well for the entirety of the trip. Unfortunately once I got home, I was unable to get it to recharge again. I'm not sure if it's a glitch in the one I have or not. I'm still investigating on the best charger for trips.
I also unfortunately developed some gnarly blisters in the same spot (bottom of foot next to big toe) on each foot. I'll spare you pictures of course. I was grateful for the time to rest my feet. I'm not sure what caused the blisters, but I was wearing hiking boots, rather than my usual trail runners.
We encountered this bear scat on the trail leading down to the lake where we refilled our water. The trail is closed until July 1 each year for bear management purposes. I really thought I was going to see my first bear out here, but alas I did not. They hid from us.
One of the most amazing parts of this campsite is the toilet. I never saw anything like it before. A short trail leading from our site led to this site below. I was expecting an outhouse, but hey a view from your toilet seat can't get much better than this.
The only problem with this set up, and a major problem it was, was the incessant mosquitoes and flies all around. It was impossible to take a peaceful dump here and it was a hurried affair.
After we set up for the night we huddled in our tent and had a quiet night's sleep in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park. It was a remote feeling, being so far away from everyone and civilization. It was also a bit scary to think that if there was an emergency it would be a long hike to get help. But time passed without any worrisome events and overall it was an experience I'd repeat again in a heartbeat, mosquitoes and pit toilets and all.
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| Sweet Dreams Heart Lake |
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| Oatmeal Breakfast the next morning |
Hiking out the next day.
It is important to have the character trait of patience when hiking with others. On the many times I asked Jesse for a break he happily rested with me and would embrace me holding the heavy weight of the pack off my back for a minute or few. It was greatly appreciated and not something I asked him to do. He just did it for me. I know Jesse could hike much faster and further than me, but he has the patience and care and compromise ability that makes a partner compatible in a venture such as this.
On our way out the next day we came across what looked like a boy scout troop using pack horses.
The last group of hikers we saw on our way out was another group of 3 middle aged men. They inquired about the skeeter situation at the lake and what to expect. Sorry no good news guys. Skeeters are a bitin'. The views are beautiful though. All you need is a slight breeze to keep the skeeters away and the next day out wasn't as bad as there was a slight breeze here and there.
“A man on foot, on horseback or on a bicycle will see more, feel more, enjoy more in one mile than the motorized tourists can in a hundred miles.” - Edward Abbey
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| One Way Track |
Trip Planning:
Trail Guide
Movie Recommendation:
Grizzly Man
This a documentary on Timothy Treadmill, a man from where I'm from, Long Island, who goes and lives with the grizzlies of Alaska. Forewarning: it is more a document of his life and the unfortunate circumstances and mistakes that led to his death, rather than a natural informational video on the grizzly bears of Alaska.
Recommended Book:
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
"They work hard, these people. They roll up incredible mileages on their odometers, rack up state after state in two-week transcontinental motor marathons, knock off one national park after another, take millions of square yards of photographs, and endure patiently the most prolonged discomforts: the tedious traffic jams, the awful food of park cafeterias and roadside eateries, the nocturnal search for a place to sleep or camp, the dreary routine of One-Stop Service, the endless lines of creeping traffic, the smell of exhaust fumes, the ever-proliferating Rules & Regulations, the fees and the bills and the service charges, the boiling radiator and the flat tire and the vapor lock, the surly retorts of room clerks and traffic cops, the incessant jostling of the anxious crowds, the irritation and restlessness of their children, the worry of their wives, and the long drive home at night in a stream of racing cars against the lights of another stream racing in the opposite direction, passing now and then the obscure tangle, the shattered glass, the patrolman’s lurid blinker light, of one more wreck.
Hard work. And risky. Too much for some, who have given up the struggle on the highways in exchange for an entirely different kind of vacation out in the open, on their own feet, following the quiet trail through forest and mountains, bedding down at evening under the stars, when and where they feel like it, at a time when the Industrial Tourists are still hunting for a place to park their automobiles.
Industrial Tourism is a threat to the national parks. But the chief victims of the system are the motorized tourists. They are being robbed and robbing themselves. So long as they are unwilling to crawl out of their cars they will not discover the treasures of the national parks and will never escape the stress and turmoil of the urban-suburban complexes which they had hoped, presumably, to leave behind for a while." pg 63-64
- Edward Abbey
