I set my alarm for 5:30 am to make sure I got to the Grant Village breakfast buffet right when it opened. I woke up at 5:28 because I was so excited about all you can eat food. When I arrived at the restaurant there were about 4 other hikers already there. We got the first table and started eating.
The next stop for the day was Old Faithful Village, about 25 miles away. I wanted to get there early enough for some food and drinks, so as soon as I was done with breakfast I started hitching back to the trail.
I got a ride with two other hikers in a van from Washington. At first they only took us part way but then they realized they could go a different way and take us all the way to the trailhead!
The trail today was pretty easy and we passed by some lakes. It was hot so I decided to go for a quick dip.
Thankfully I was totally alone so nobody could see my crazy tan lines. When I’m naked it kinda looks like I’m wearing an old timey bathing suit.
The trail also took us through a part of the park called Geyser Basin. It’s a backcountry area with a bunch of geysers and no signs or boardwalks. If you’ve ever been to Yellowstone, you probably walked around Upper Geyser Basin, which is where Old Faithful is.
When I walked up on this geyser I heard some bubbling and saw a large cloud of steam. I had just missed it! About two minutes later I heard more bubbling and it went off again! I thought I was really lucky, but it turns out that’s the minuteman geyser and it goes off every few minutes. Either way it was cool to see.
My next goal was to make it to Old Faithful and get some dinner. I was strongly considering getting a hotel room, even though they were extremely expensive, and getting the fancy dinner buffet. I didn’t get the hotel room, but I did get the dinner buffet and it was totally worth it.
After stuffing myself at dinner I went outside to wait for Old Faithful to erupt. That’s when I saw Gump and Juniper, the hikers I had gotten a ride with. We hung out behind the “amphitheater” and drank some beers while we waited for the eruption.
The only thing left to do was find somewhere to sleep. Unfortunately there is no campground here and the closest northbound backcountry site is 10 miles away.
I won’t tell you where we camped, but I will tell you that I’m gonna be first in line for that breakfast buffet tomorrow.