So for the third year in a row we traveled to Yellowstone near the summer’s end for a back-country trip: In 2024 we kayaked Yellowstone Lake and in 2025 Shoshone Lake. For 2026 we backpacked to Heart Lake. This year was extra special: our 25th wedding anniversary. As should be obvious, we love Yellowstone backpacking. Don’t believe all those media stories about how overcrowded it is. If you get into the backcountry you often find yourself alone. Oddly enough, all our Yellowstone adventures begin and end in the Grand Tetons, just to the south, in the Colter Bay cabins. The cabins have charm and glorious views of the mountains, exemplified by this sunset photo taken at the marina.
Our destination for this five-day backpacking trip was Heart Lake, a few miles south of Yellowstone Lake. As per its name, it’s heart-shaped, kind of. It looks more like a heart from the mountain pass a few miles north of it, when you see it in the distance.
We were there in 2017, got snowed on in July, and loved it so much we tried to get back several times. One thing or another always foiled the trip. It almost happened again: We tried to switch our final night campsite several times and visited the backcountry office to speak with the rangers, to no avail. But on our last unsuccessful try another ranger gal showed up and both she and the ranger guy we’d been dealing with were all up in arms about the firesmoke from Utah. They warned of air-quality alerts, that you shouldn’t be “exercising” outside: I think carrying a 35-pound pack 10 miles counts as exercise. They kept fiddling around with forecasts on their fancy computer screen and trying to dissuade us. I wasn’t having it. I’m not dying to hike in choking smoke conditions but then again it wasn’t that bad and we had planned the trip for months. I wasn’t about to cancel it on a whim. (Now that all is said and done, that would have been a foolish decision.) Here’s what the lake looked like on the first day, soon after we passed over the saddle:
Turns out the smoke wasn’t . . . horrible. It was bad enough. A few times I was coughing. Our mouths were really dry and parched on the trail and we had to keep sipping water. Which leads to the most memorable and difficult moment on the hike . . . .The last few miles of our 9.5-mile hike to the Beaver Creek campsite on Heart Lake were the hardest.
To reach the Beaver Creek site, which is on the East side of Heart Lake, you have to hike along the sandy/gravelly shore of Heart Lake the first half mile. It’s like walking or running on a beach with soft sand. Then when we reached the end of the lake shore the trail headed uphill on a series of ridges until curving around to the Beaver Creek site, situated nicely on a rise above the lake, with a great view. (I think the total elevation gain for the day was around 1,400 feet.) Here’s our view:
That’s Mt. Sheridan across the lake, at 10,308 feet the tallest mountain in the area. As you can see it’s clear early, haze comes later. We were there by 4:30 and immediately set about getting camp in order. We were out of water and I discovered my filter was clogged. Backup plan was a one-liter Katadyn BeFree squeeze filter and a JetBoil. Both worked okay but the boiled water was hot and the squeeze filter (hereafter known as the Squeezer) was hard to force the water through the filter. (It got better as time went on.)
Then strangers showed up: Around dusk I’m outside the tent putting everything in order for bear policy and in case of rain or wind. I hear voices. Our camp is a half-mile off the main trail so that’s odd. Suddenly a group of about six people, teenagers led by a thirtysomething tattoeed guy, walk into our camp, calming to be “exploring.” They seemed to want to camp there. It was the strangest encounter I’ve ever had in a national park: Usually people are respectful of the campsite protocol, the permits and policies. “In full disclosure” said the leader, implying he had not been honest with us to begin with, that they were looking for some place to camp. I advised them to head back down the trail, find a flat spot, and camp there. It was almost dark, the sensible thing to do. They did. The next morning we found their campsite about 50 yards away. But they had been quiet and did not disturb us, so all’s well that ends well. Still . . . it was weird.
Day 2 we hiked to the Heart River campsite, about 4.5 miles. Despite the warm temperatures and no rain while we were there, the wildflowers were gorgeous.
The Heart River is a mild, shallow river with its headwaters on the southeastern side of Heart Lake. It feeds into the Snake River a few miles southwest of the lake. We set up our kitchen in the trees beneath the bear pole and found it lovely and cozy, here:
One of the odd things at this site was the location and height of the bear poles. There were two: I used the lower pole, which was still quite high, but on which my bear-bag ropes reached, each of them being about 35 feet. But in the trees there was an older and even higher bear pole, maybe 5-10 feet higher it seemed. My rope wouldn’t have reached! Here’s a pic:
Heart River turned out to be my favorite campsite. The river was pretty and shallow, with good birding. Ospreys and bald eagles flew by. Mergansers and grebes were in the lake. Kingfishers kept swooping over the river, and bright red dragonflies buzzed the marshy banks. One of the best aspects of the site was the kitchen, beneath the bear pole. The water was right there. The area was flat, shaded, good for cooking and hanging out: We put our packs against the trees and then our seatpads on the ground to make comfy backwoods chaise lounges.
We tried hiking south along the Heart River trail. Then gave up: After coming upon the second river crossing in a span of minutes we decided not to bother. We’d already decided we didn’t want to hike all the way to the hot springs marked on the map because it would be another 6 mile hike and we’d already done 4.5 at least.
Throughout the hike and nights spent in our cozy tent we were listening for Great Gray Owls and never heard one. Or any other owl for that matter. E said she heard coyotes.
Day 3 was our Layover Day. We had aches and pains in knees and legs and wanted to rest and recuperate. But that didn’t stop us from having fun. After lunch we hiked northeast from camp and came upon the East Shore campsite (8J6). It’s a gorgeous site right off the lake shore. E found a knife.
I set up the MSR water filter and was happy to discover that it worked again. We had boiled water the night before and that morning but if we kept that up we might have run out of fuel for our JetBoil. It felt empty by the time we were finished using it Saturday morning but the scale says it still has 20%.
Keeping us supplied with purified water was a chore, as was charging our multiple electronic devices. I had bought a new (smaller) solar charger and it worked like a charm . . . as long as the sun was high in the sky. I charged my watch, E’s phone, the camera, the power bank, and the NightBuddy with it. But the sun keeps moving across the sky and it’s a bother to keep repositioning the charger and devices to make sure they keep getting power. I kept trying to get a good photo of the red dragonflies. Here’s my best:
While Yellowstone is famous for being “overcrowded” we had the Heart River all to ourselves, went swimming. It felt great to be relaxing in the middle of a wilderness known for grizzly bears, bison, elk, and moose. The water was relatively warm for Yellowstone, which even during this hot, smoky period got down into the 30s in the morning. We had to bundle up with all our warm clothes to get out of the tent of a morning. But by afternoon the temps would be in the 80s and the sky would turn hazy from firesmoke, like the image below from the East Shore site.
Day 4 we hiked about six miles to the Witch Creek area when we noticed a trail splitting off the main trail and heading into the forest nearby. I did a quick recon hike and discovered we had struck gold.
At the end of the trail we found Witch Creek, in cool forest shadows.
Day 5 began with an ankle injury: Before breakfast when I went to get our food cache and hopped off a log, sprained my ankle when I landed badly. It hurt but I walked it off, made breakfast and saddled up to hike out. At first I didn’t notice it much but by the time we reached the saddle that marks the divide between Heart Lake and the approach trail it was starting to get stiff and painful whenever I stopped, even for a few minutes. We kept hiking. We made it to the car before 2:30. No sooner had I dropped my pack and opened the car than the ankle went from achy to severely painful/can’t walk on it.
The funniest moment was at the Colter Bay cabin rental office: I could barely walk, even with the help of a trekking pole. I open the office door and a clerk (Allie) is all eager and polite there to help me, but it takes a few minutes for me to shuffle and hop on one leg over to the counter. She was patient. E got a bag full of ice. We made it to the cabin and I iced my ankle, settled down to rest. E was planning to order takeout but after icing the ankle for a while I said No, I didn’t want to stay in the room. Instead we went to the John Colter Ranch House, had margaritas and good burgers, and finished the day on a high note.
Now that’s the way you celebrate a 25th Anniversary.
