Backpack to Shoshone Lake and Geyser Basin

On June 22-24, we set out on another backpack.  This time we explored the portion of Yellowstone around the north shore of Shoshone Lake.  Ranger Roy at Grant Village suggested we spend two nights on the shore of the lake, and take the intervening day to hike to the Shoshone Geyser Basin and back.  This proved to be an excellent suggestion, and we had a very enjoyable trip.

The hike into Shoshone Lake is 3 miles from the trailhead on the road to Old Faithful.  To get to it, we had to cross the Continental Divide - not once - but twice.  We parked the truck and started down along DeLacy Creek.  Once we got in about half a mile, the creek flowed out into a gigantic stream valley.  We weren't sure whether it was formed by glacier, or by the stream, or by Shoshone Lake having covered it - or all three - but the meadow spread out before us almost down to the Lake itself:

The day was a bit chilly and cloudy, as you can see from Kathy's dress at lunchtime on the lakeshore:

However, the cloudy weather didn't prevent us from seeing some inspiring views of the Red Mountains southeast of and across the lake:

Our campsite was another 5 miles from our first contact with the lakeshore.  Because of the threat of rain, we put up a tarp over our cooking site immediately:

Our campsite rested on a bluff over the lake, with great panoramic views.  We even had our own private beach.  Here's a photo looking down from the campsite at Kathy as she pumps and filters water on the beach:

All set up and cooking dinner, we relaxed with cups of hot soup and our feet in comfy crocs, looking out over our domain:

The next morning dawned so foggy that we initially couldn't see the lake below our campsite.  Gradually, the fog cleared and we could begin to see the near shore through the mist:

As the mist lifted further, it provided some beautiful effects on the lake:

Here again is a photo of our private beach in the morning light as the mist slowly departed:

The far shore finally came into view, as the purplish haze lifted, and one friendly loon (a male, who we saw throughout our stay, sometimes with his mate) that was taking wing as this photo was snapped:

After breakfast this second day, we headed the four miles to Shoshone Geyser Basin.  It didn't disappoint!  This geyser basin has all of the types of geothermal features that are available to tourists along the road in Yellowstone and at the Upper Geyser Basin where Old Faithful is located; but we had this huge geothermal valley all to ourselves!  We weren't kept away from the features, and in some cases our trail marched right alongside a mudpot, hot spring, fumarole or geyser.  Here's Kathy trying not to fall into a super-heated hot spring:

This is a view of the valley, with the beautiful, meandering Shoshone Creek winding through the geothermal maze.  Some of the hot springs fumed up and emptied into the creek:

This was a most striking purple-and-orange hot spring, the water as clear as could be.  Its colors contrasted beautifully with the greens of the grass and trees around it:

This was our favorite geyser in the basin.  We're not sure of its name, but we called it, "Old Reliable," because it would spout about every 5-10 minutes.

After lingering an hour or two and having lunch at the geyser basin, we hiked the 4 miles back to our campsite in time for dinner and a beautiful sunset.  We woke to a crisp, clear morning.  As we packed up our camp and set off through the forest back to the trailhead, the sun through the trees made the grass glow like phosphorescent lime:

The hike home was amply rewarding with beautiful blues in the Shoshone Lake waters and the skies above it.  We ran into numerous day-hikers coming in for lunch at the lake, and spoke briefly with a ranger and two trail crew members who were in to clear fallen timber from the trail because it hadn't yet been cleared this year.  Although the ranger mentioned that a black bear had been frequenting the eastern shores of the lake, we hadn't been on that side and we reported to the ranger that we saw no evidence of bear other than some paw prints and possible grubbing sites along the northern shore.

The rest of our hike was an easy walk in the woods back to the truck.