I didn’t need to wake up early today, but I did. I just love hiking between 6 and 10 am. The sun isn’t too strong and the temperature is perfect for hiking. You also have a good chance to see some animals!
I think this makes my 8th and 9th moose so far. Even though they went down off the trail, I gave them a wide berth. Luckily, the mom didn’t seem very concerned with me.
Since I’ve been hiking alone, I try and make as much noise as possible since I don’t want to startle anything that might react the wrong way. This usually means singing or talking to myself. In the last section I found my internal monologue just became external and I must have looked a little crazy the few times I saw someone.
The hike today was relatively easy with just one big climb. It started by going up Two Ocean Pass, then climbing higher up on a ridge to traverse over and go down towards the park.
Two Ocean Pass is the flat green area in the center of the photo. On the map it’s basically marked as a big swamp and I think it must get that name because the swamp drains to both oceans. That means it’s directly on the divide!
I only saw 4 people today, two southbound thru hikers and 2 guys with alpacas that seemed to be getting a late start. I figured I would catch up to at least a few people when I got to the park entrance but when I got there it was empty.
Other people must be more on the ball than me because you need a permit to camp anywhere in the park. It took me 31 miles to get here today, so I don’t really need to go any further, but I was here just before 6 pm. I had plenty of daylight left.
I set up my tent literally inches from the park boundary and then used my extra time to explore a little.
Just inside the park is an unoccupied ranger cabin. After setting up my tent out of the park, I walked over and cooked dinner on the cabin’s porch.
I guess it’s good to cook away from your camp and the steps to the porch made a great seat to cook and watch the sunset. I got an InReach message from Feel Good saying where they camped last night and that they would try and make the park boundary, but might just see me tomorrow in Grant Village.
I’m excited for tomorrow. There’s always a cool energy inside a National Park and I’m going to see parts of Yellowstone I haven’t before. Plus I should be able to get some real food!