Fairyland Basin, Part 1

Steve, our son Eric, and Chris (a friend from Denmark) spent 5 days in Yellowstone National Park last week.

Their first night was at Canyon in the central part of the park, where their nearest neighbor was this old buffalo bull. Although every tourist entering Yellowstone is warned to stay a hundred yards away from buffaloes because they occasionally charge and kill people who get too close, we've seen the old bulls hanging out around the lodges on other trips with no mishaps. As long as humans don't get in the way of their grazing, they don't seem to mind the company.
Steve had reserved a two night backcountry campsite by mail, but he and the boys had to go to the backcountry office to obtain the actual overnight permit. The rangers didn't admit to knowing about Fairyland Basin, our hikers' proposed destination. Strangely enough, the place isn't on any maps. Steve only heard of it through a book on Yellowstone waterfalls, which made vague mention of the exceptional and unique thermal features.

Chris said it sounded like the Area 51 of the national park system. (Area 51 is a U.S. military base in Nevada that is so top secret that the government won't say what it does and will barely admit it exists.) The ranger tried to talk my boys out of the trip, issuing warnings about the many hazards.
Here's the list.

1. Deep snow in the forests:
(This tiny patch is the only snow they encountered on the 3 day hike.)

2. Steep cliffs:
(The cliffs looked like this. For those who have hiked extensively in the Grand Canyon, this isn't scary. We've seen worse.)

3. Dangerous thermals:

(Okay, these really are dangerous if you get too close and fall in. The crust around them can be fragile, so watch your step!)
4. Extreme blowdown that would make hiking to the requested campsite area difficult if not impossible.
(We've seen much worse.)

5. The likelihood of getting lost hiking to the off-trail campsite.

(Both Steve and Eric know how to use a compass and GPS and have hiked off trail successfully all over the West. They weren't worried. Maybe Chris was a LITTLE worried, but he didn't admit it.)
6. Bears.
(They saw this one from the road on the way to the trailhead.)

They were well-aware of the bear dangers. They brought rope to hang their food so bears aren't encouraged to come into their campsite. They had whistles to blow when coming to a bend in the trail or to the crest of a hill, so the bears would be forewarned. They each had an industrial sized bottle of pepper spray recommended as a grizzly deterrent in case they ran into one on the trail. They were packing in a small battery powered electric fence to put around their tent. This may seem overkill, but if you've ever seen pictures of someone mauled by a grizzly, you'd know it's not a healthy experience.

The ranger, of course, was just doing her job, making sure hikers are aware of all possible dangers. Many people do get in trouble in the backcountry. Warnings are a reasonable safety precaution.

After explaining their preparations and abilities, our hikers obtained their permit.

So, loaded for bear, so to speak, they were ready for an early morning start from their trailhead at artist's point, located on Yellowstone Canyon rim overlooking Yellowstone Falls.

To be continued...

For views from other worlds, click here.