Yellowstone - 9/1 - 9/3/18

There is a road that leads to an oft-ignored corner of Yellowstone National Park.

At the park boundary is a gate and a little ranger outpost mostly built by soldiers in 1911.

The road dead ends here and no cars may pass beyond this gate. If you want to continue, you must do so on foot or on horseback.

There is no gift shop, no place to buy a sandwich and a smoothie. No lodging except for a smattering of designated campsites you can hike or ride to, miles from where you leave your safe, air-conditioned steel capsule.

For all of the above reasons, few visitors to YNP ever go here. Most don't even know it exists as an alternate entrance. You could walk from this place all the way to the more popular, inundated parts of the park if you had a mind to. Or, on one of the busiest long weekends of the season, you could relish that there are still places in the park where you can stay well clear of all that...

 

Great trip-thanks for sharing !!

 

Great pictures! Looks like a good time.

 

Awesome. Been to Yellowstone 3 times over the years. It's like another world there. Should be on everyone's bucket list.

 

Great pics! Looks like an awesome trip

 

A little 'top heat' makes all the difference in backcountry baking.

 

I have to say, that was the best pizza I've had in a long time. Credit goes to my trip mates, who carried in the raw ingredients and made a yeast dough for the crust on the spot.

 

Fantastic trip and pics. Beautiful place.

 

Awesome!

 

Ha - that would have been impressive! It's actually a Banks "Fry-Bake" pan. Significantly lighter than cast iron, but way better for baking than a thin aluminum pan. We used them a lot at the outdoor school I used to teach for. They're awesome.

 

Awesome trip. Did you end up avoiding people the whole time? If it's not a secret, would you post the route you took?

 

We saw some folks on the way in and the way out, closer to the entrance and at the hot spring, but it was minimal. We didn't see anyone all day long on Day 2.

 

Is some of the water there unsafe to drink, and how does one determine that?

 

While in general, the water quality in Yellowstone is some of the best in the country, I don't think there's really a totally safe way to determine that water is 'drinking safe' in the field. Deer, beavers, coyotes, rodents and horses for example, all exist in the park and can carry Giardia. Even water affected by geothermal sources can carry things you don't want to ingest. I'd say the chances of getting sick from drinking directly from water sources in YNP is likely lower than a lot of other places, but if you've ever had Giardia, you'd probably never want to have it again. I err on the side of caution and treat all my water.