Mt. Washburn, We Have Climbed You

We decided we wanted to do one big hike in Yellowstone but it would have be something that motivated the kids or we'd never get them to hike 5-6 miles.  They hiked up Cadallic Mountain in Acadia last summer so we thought another summit might be the way to go.  I bought a book of easy day hikes in Yellowstone and one of the hikes was up an old service road to the highest summit in Yellowstone, Mt. Washburn.  It ranked the hike as moderate and said it was a great hike for views of the park since it was all open almost the whole way up.  It also helped to tell them it was to the top of the Yellowstone caldera, or what is left of the volcano that erupted so long ago.  The final bit of motivation came in the form of doughnuts.  It happened to be Sunday, Happy Doughnut Day in the Urban house, so we bought 2 packs of mini doughnuts at the store and told the kids we would open them at the summit.

We gathered all our gear: packs, poles, rain coats, jackets, lots of water (you can never have too much water), cameras, binoculars, and drove up the Dunraven Pass from Canyon to the start of the service road.  You had to drive up the  mountain about a mile on dirt and rock to get to the parking lot.  The Sunstar handled it like a champ!  There seems to be nothing this little RV can't handle!! 

Once there we put on our packs, and headed up the path.  It was a pretty strenous up hill walk from the start.  We have water packs in our backpacks that have a tube that allows you to get water without having to pull out a bottle.  The kids absolutley LOVED getting water this way.  Greg says it's the closest thing to nursing a child he's ever experienced ;-). Next year they are definitely getting their own water packs!

We had to stop quite a bit for rest breaks, you could definitely feel the altitude.  We chatted for a bit in the beginning with this very fit older couple.  The woman had on an Ironman fanny pack.  Greg asked her if she had done one and she had, Kona.  For those of you that don't know, it's the original and like the super bowl of triathlons. 
It takes place in Hawaii.  So you swim in the ocean, and bike and run through volcanic lava fields.  Hard Core.  They soon left us in the dust but we didn't want to turn the hike into a forced death march so we we let the kids stop as much as they wanted (Greg too!). 

We stopped for lunch in a patch of trees.  We found a nice long downed tree to sit on.  Everyone was hungry at that point so we had a leisurly lunch and enjoyed the views and saying hi to the other hikers that passed by us.  The weather was cool and sunny but there was a pretty strong breeze.  Most of the time we kept on our outer layers.  In other words, a perfect day for a hike!

The kids were getting pretty tired as we got closer.  Because it was so open we could keep our eyes on the prize of the building at the summit.  That and the promise of doughnuts kept them going.  When we got close to the summit, we saw a patch of ice and snow.  That was very exciting for Bella who had wanted to get to the snow she saw in the Tetons.  We had hoped to see some big horn sheep on the mountain, but unfortuntely all we saw was their scat. 

At last we made it to the summit!  Pictures were taken, doughnuts were eaten and we learned about more about the fire observation building and fires at Yellowstone.  It's very interesting how important fire is to the ecosystem of the pine forest that covers most of the park. There was also a fat little either chipmunk or ground squirrel(there was debate on which it was) in the building that was living large off all the snacks that hikers dropped.  The views were pretty spectacular.  You could see the Tetons, the Grand Canyon, the lake, and some of the other geo-thermal areas of the park.

After awhile, Bella was ready to hike down the mountain.  We could see rain in the distance and thought it best to start the hike down.  It was a much easier hike although at one point I rolled my ankle pretty badly.  My Presidential hiking buddies might remember that I did the same thing on that hike, weak ankles.  I used the poles to ease the weight on my foot and continued down.  The wind was really picking up and the rain was moving closer.  There was also some thunder in the distance and since I learned how to handle that on my white mountain hike, I knew it would be better if we could get down the mountain before it moved in.  The weather in Yellowstone is amazing. You can have every type of weather occurring at some part of the park at the same time. That is lesson #2 of Yellowstone.  If you are going to be outside, and who isn't, come prepared for any type of weather.   

We managed to make it almost to the parking lot before it started raining, it never really rained that much, again the weather in the park is ever changing.  Tired and happy with our accomplishment we decided to head down to our next campground on the shores of Yellowstone Lake.  We wanted to have an early dinner and maybe get out to the lake front, which is just what we did. The new campground in Grant was very flat.  Kellen was able to spend the evening exploring the area by bike, he discovered a crater by our campsite, and made some campground friends. Yes, I have to say it, another amazing day in Yellowstone.