Thursday 13 August 2015

Day 107: From Mammoth to my first night in Montana

Mileage: 26 miles (1951.7-1977.7)


We woke up around 6:30am but didn't get going until 7:15am. A nice IT Lady in the park gave me a ride back to trailhead where I got off and roadwalked into Mammoth, which was a bit of a demoralizing way to start the day. I got it over with and returned to pack rest of my stuff, worried the campground hosts might enforce a Draconian checkout time.


I got a general store lunch including a chicken sandwich, a package of bolgna, and lovely Huckleberry Ice Cream sandwiches I found everywhere in the park - these ice cream sandwiches were maybe the highlight of Yellowstone.


I started hiking on the hot, clear day baking in the sun past the Mammoth Terraces and was underwhelmed by the hot springs - they were interesting, but you couldn't have spent more than an hour or two there as there wasn't a whole lot to see. 


Mammoth the town was almost more interesting with its history as an Army base back before the establishment of the Park Service in 1916. Back then, they were tasked with keeping the poachers at bay and built a lot of the infrastructure (including backcountry patrol cabins) that are still around today.


There was a lot of uphill on the Sportsman Lake trail. I met two young hippy women at the Cache Lake junction and was tempted just to camp at the lake with them on the hot day when I was already so tired, but needed to keep pushing. I pushed nearly ten more miles to Sportsman Lake and asked a horse party if I could camp with them.


They not only obliged but offered me their leftovers too. And I'm not talking nasty leftovers either - I basically had a whole steak dinner, complete with salad, green beans, and cookies for dessert. I couldn't have imagined the night working out better. We hung out by the campfire and I helped with a couple camp tasks because I wanted to do something for them. I then headed to my tent by 9pm, realizing I'd made it to Montana and was staying there for good. My last state of the trail, wow, it feels good!


No comments:

Post a Comment