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RARE THERMAL AREAS
Yellowstone contains over 10,000 thermal features. These numbers change all the time. Many of these areas are small or located in remote narrow canyons. Below is a list of some areas that I have personally visited.
1) FAIRYLAND BASIN
This is the best of the best. Located at the confluence of Broad and Shallow creeks it is one of the most unique thermals areas in the entire world. Imagine Liberty Cap at Mammoth. Now picture cones about a third that size, but over 45 of them all spread around an area the size of half a football field and you've got Fairyland. It has been seen by less than 25 people. See the following links for Trip Reports into Fairyland Basin:
| Fairyland Basin by Jim Strope | My Fairyland Adventure by Wendy Busch | Fairyland Basin by Geyser Gary |
2) HEADWATERS OF ASTRINGENT CREEK
The area in and around the headwaters of Astringent Creek are filled with mudpots, hissing springs, fumaroles, huge sour lakes, and possibly geysers. This is the newest area of thermal activity in the park. Some of these springs and lakes are not even 3 years old. The total area of thermal activity is extensive (tens of square miles) and many discoveries are just waiting to be found. I was very impressed with the variety of thermal activity here.
3) AREA NORTH OF VIOLET SPRINGS
Less than .5 mile north of Violet Springs is an extensive area of violent thermal activity. Large mudpots and yellowish sulfur pools can be found in this non-mapped section of the Hayden Valley.
4) AREA NORTH OF UNION FALLS
About 2-4 miles north of Union Falls is vast area of thermals, cascades, river, creeks, and waterfalls, all seeping from the western edge of the Pitchstone Plateau. It is an area that I have surveyed on a limited basis, but I hope to explore more extensively in 1998. I believe it contains some remarkable thermals and falls.
5) BROAD CREEK
The canyon of Broad Creek for about a 3-mile stretch from Joseph Coat Springs to Shallow Creek is lined almost continuously with small thermal areas. What make these intriguing are their brilliant colors. They can be found in deep forest, which is also unusual. Many tiny springs and pools must be hiding in this dense forest.
6) AN UNMAPPED TRIBUTARY OF JUNIPER CREEK
This is one of the strangest things I have discovered in all my backcountry travels. Flowing into Juniper Creek from the southwest is a large creek (very good water in late August) that by all accounts doesn't exist. I have been unable to find any map or reference even showing a dry river bed in this area. The most interesting thing about this phantom river is that the water is downright hot (over 100 degrees). I saw no evidence of thermal activity along the 1mile section that I surveyed. It does appear however to flow from some very rugged country on the northeast side of the Mallard Lake Dome. It is possible that a previously unknown thermal area is the source of this water. It is also within reason that a hot waterfall may exist on the upper reaches of this mysterious stream. I plan to survey the entire area in 1997.
UNMAPPED WATERFALLS
For the upcoming book "The Ultimate Guide to Yellowstone's Waterfalls", Lee Whittlesey and I have discovered over 70 unnamed waterfalls in the Yellowstone backcountry. They range in height from 15 to 600 feet. We feel that this is only a fraction of what is truly out there. No one can ever find them all. Based on what we know so far though, I can give you a few tidbits:
--Several of the largest are on the Mirror Plateau.
--No less than 15 of them are over 100 feet. Most surprisingly is that 6 of them are in the Old Faithful area (within 5 miles), yet I can find no one who has ever seen any of them.
--There are superb falls and cascades all along the length of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone; particularly in its middle stretches. A good example is Moss creek; which tumbles 1,000 feet over the canyon rim much like Silver Cord Cascade.
--Many of these new falls are in the Bechler region. The area seems to have as many unknown falls as known ones. I hope to locate at least 10 more in the area of Boundary Creek in 1997.
--I hope for e-mail from anyone who has stumbled across what they believe to be an undocumented backcountry waterfall. Our research depends on those few adventurers who travel off of the parks maintained trails. This information is invaluable to us and you with receive full credit for your discovery.
HISTORIC ROADS AND TRAILS
There are numerous old trails located throughout the backcountry. Most are shown on old park maps. I have found several though that not even the park research library can nail down the source of. Listed below are some of the more interesting trails (man-made and animal) and wagon roads that I have found from the parks early days.
UNMAINTAINED TRAILS
As recently as three years ago, most of the available trail maps of Yellowstone still showed the unmaintained trail system in the park. (Those trails that had been officially constructed and had some sort of tree markings as navigation) However more interesting are those trails that do not show on any maps, are at least 50 years old, and are still navigable today. So far I have, or know of groups that have, re-traced the following trails:
BEACH LAKE TO MARY LAKE
Although most maps show an old trail from the West Thumb-Fishing Bridge road to Beach Lake; and from Mary Lake north to the Canyon-Norris road; there is a connecting trail from Beach Lake to Mary Lake thus completing a north-south route across the Central Plateau. (I haven't confirmed it, but I have been told of a very good man-made trail linking Beach Lake to Dryad Lake, complete with trail markers.)
STORM PEAK TRAIL
This old trail appears on a gas station map I have from the 1940's. It starts at the top of Observation Peak, and goes north across the Washburn Range until meeting the Tower Creek trail, thus linking Tower Fall to Canyon Village. It still exists today complete with several hand-written signs nailed to the trunks of trees. It was hiked as recently as 1995.
DRYAD LAKE TO THE HAYDEN VALLEY
I discovered this amazing trail several years ago. Its origins are completely unknown to me. I began the well worn trail on the north side of Dryad Lake and headed almost due north until reaching the finger meadow of Trout Creek. Here I left the trail. It continued north towards the southwest corner of the Hayden Valley. Therefore it seems that I only hiked a portion of what must be a much longer trail. It is my contention that the entire 5-mile stretch that I walked has been created by hundreds of bison during their seasonal migrations. I should say that this is one of the best trails I have seen in Yellowstone. Maintained or not. It is never steep, follows the ridges perfectly, and is always easy to see with little deadfall. Apparently the bison construct a better trail than most people. I searched meticulously for any sign of man on this trail and found none. If anyone else has hiked in this section of the park, I would very much like to know.
WAPITI LAKE TO THE SUMMIT OF AMETHYST MOUNTAIN
Where the last trail is probably a buffalo trail; this one is a certainty. It links the Wapiti Lake Trail to the Specimen Ridge Trail. This 10+ mile thoroughfare is probably the best example of large scale bison migration still left in North America. Literally an 8-lane "buffalo highway"; it is impossible to miss with its multi-lane paths. It provides the animals' major route of travel between the Pelican and Lamar Valleys.
SOUTH TWIN BUTTE
This trail has probably been hiked by many of you out there. I discovered it while scrambling up the west side of South Twin Butte. Much to my surprise here was a very new and very maintained trail from the Little Firehole Meadows trail all the way to the summit. It had no trail markers but was well laid in. It does not show in any hiking trail books or maps. I have no information about who put it in or why.
DUNANDA FALLS TO THE WEST BOUNDARY TRAIL
Another of the old unmapped trails; this 5 mile east-west trail follows the southern edge of the Madison Plateau and links the Boundary Creek trail to the West Boundary trail in the park's Bechler Region. My understanding is that sections of this trail are very difficult to follow. Good orienteering skills here are a must.
THOROFARE RANGER STATION TO THE SUMMIT OF THE TRIDENT
Having a job where you are over 30 miles from the nearest road for over 5 months and very little human contact can cause one to get quite creative. Apparently that is exactly what happened in the case of this trail. It seems that the Thorofare Ranger decided to build his own trail without any official permission. Although he spends the entire summer in just about the most distant section of wilderness in the lower 48; the ranger received quite a reprimand from the park service. Nevertheless it is my understanding that the trail is still there. (it was only put in two years ago) Unfortunately it takes about three days of hiking just to get to the beginning of this remotest of Yellowstone trails.
THE BANNOCK TRAIL
In my opinion this is the most fascinating of the historic park trails. The Bannock tribe used the trail for centuries as a route by which members of the tribe could reach certain areas where necessary foods existed. Today it is still navigable for an expert only. It enters the park north of West Yellowstone near Duck creek. It then travels northeast up the Maple Creek drainage and then climbs over the Gallatins near Mt. Holmes. Once over the pass it follows Indian Creek, crosses Gardner's Hole and continues into the area near Lava Creek. It then parallels the highway until reaching the Lamar River, where it follows the watercourse until breaking to the east along a ridge between Cache and Calfee creeks. It then heads east and out of the park high in the Absarokas. The western portion of this trail was severely burned in 1988. I don't know if this part of the trail is still navigable at all.
WAGON ROADS
In the days before the automobile the only way to see the sights of Yellowstone was by horseback or stagecoach. Most of those original roads closely followed today's Grand Loop. Several however did not, and are still navigable today.
THE OLD FOUNTAIN PACK TRAIL
This 12 mile stretch of "road" leaves the highway about 3 miles inside the west entrance and travels southeast up onto the Madison Plateau, crossing it and ending at the banks of the Firehole River across from the Fountain Flats Drive entrance. It is shown on many Yellowstone hiking maps. This trail is very tough to follow in spots. It will take a good tracker to follow its entire length. The other problem is terrible deadfall in certain spots. Some of the highlights for me included superb views from the roads high point; artifacts found along the way (We found the remains of cans and bottles that were at least 100 years old); and a lovely meadow at the halfway point called Marshall's Park where the stagecoaches used to stop for lunch on the all day trip from West Yellowstone to the Marshall Hotel. One note: this trail is severely burned for much of its length. If you don't like fire burn this one isn't for you.
LOOKOUT TERRACE
This 6 mile stretch of wagon roads starts near the service road 2 miles north of the Fountain Flats Drive and travels northeast until merging with Mesa Road about 1 mile south of Gibbon Falls. Most old maps will show this trail as part of the Howard Eaton trail, but I can assure you this is wagon road all the way. I would not recommend this trail for anyone. It is very forested; hard to follow; and travels through one of the more dangerous areas of Yellowstone. It seems that when automobiles accidentally kill large mammals; the remains are dumped in an area where the grizzlies and other large carnivores can feed on them, rather than just carting them away. Needless to say no one in their right mind would ever walk into the middle of a grizzly feeding area. Well that's exactly what I did on this trail. Not intentionally I assure you. There was no warning; all of a sudden I was in the middle of a sea of bones, torsos, and hindquarters. And did it ever stink!! The old road goes right through the middle of this secret feeding area. The park service has done a poor job of warning hikers of this extremely hazardous area (There are no signs at all) because they don't like to publicize the fact that they do indeed still feed the bears. Please stay out of this area! NOTE: This is not the only area where the park service does this practice of carcass dumping. There are at least two more. One near West Thumb and another off of the Stephens Creek road near Gardiner, MT.
WEST OF LONE STAR GEYSER
This is a very short section that appears to be a wagon road. I found it while searching for a 100 foot waterfall in the area. It is about 1 mile west of Lone Star geyser running from NW to SE. Judging by the size of the trees growing through its middle it must have been used around the turn of century. Perhaps an old army road.
THE MARY MOUNTAIN TRAIL
Just a mention; much of the current Mary Mountain trail was originally a wagon road. It started at the Nez Perce trailhead in the Fountain Flats area and continued east for about 14 miles. The old road leaves the Mary Mountain trail near Highland Hot Springs and becomes the old Trout Creek Service road. It continues an additional 9 miles until reaching the highway on the eastern edge of the Hayden Valley; thus connecting both side of the lower loop.
INDIANS AND EXPLORERS
Needless to say the following locations are most precious. They contain the ruins and remnants of the parks earliest history. Every year fewer and fewer of these sites remain because of thoughtlessness in the backcountry by souvenir hunters and reckless hikers. If you do stumble upon one of these remarkable places; make detailed notes of your exact location and TAKE ONLY PICTURES!!! These are among the most interesting sites in the backcountry, let's keep them that way! They give us a glimpse into mans brief history in Yellowstone. It also is amazing to find these hidden treasures that lay undisturbed for a century or more at a time. This list is a few of the more interesting I have been to or know of: (Due to the sensitive nature of these sites, only general location descriptions will be given)
EXPLORER CAMPS
1. There is a point along the lake shore between Breeze Point and the mouth of Solution Creek that is thought to be one of the camps of the Washburn-Langford-Doane in September 1870. It is suspected that this was where they camped while trying to find Truman Everts. The only evidence left today is old blazes on the trees and an old woodpile.
2. On the south side of the Flat Mountain Arm of Yellowstone Lake, near the west end were found two old stone fireplaces, many very old blazes, some trees which had been cut out long ago and other evidence of an ancient camp. The occupants of the camp remain a mystery.
POACHER CABINS
There have been many illegal structures built in the backcountry throughout the parks colorful history. Usually they were built by illegal hunters or trappers as temporary shelters for the warmer months of the year, or they belonged to the army in the days before backcountry patrol cabins. Many of these buildings have remained secret until very recently. As of now I know of 5 such dwellings although I'm sure there are many more.
THE WEST BOUNDARY
There is a cabin along the parks west boundary, less than 2 miles from U.S. highway 191 that has remained a secret until 1974. Its roof was collapsed but items were still inside dated in the late 1800's. Two stoves were inside as well. As far as I know these ruins are still there.
BLACKTAIL DEER PLATEAU
In the vicinity of the Blacktail Deer loop drive near the area known as the cut are the ruins of another poacher cabin. I don't know much about this one except that is supposed to be in pretty good shape. I plan to visit it this summer and will update its condition once I have seen it for myself.
MIRROR PLATEAU
One of the more interesting relics of the backcountry, this cabin is over 15 miles from the nearest road. Here is how park historian, Lee Whittlesey described it, in 1979. "The roof had fallen in but the door was still attached by means of leather hinges. We discovered an old rusty shovel in the cabin. Stamped on the metal part of the shovel was the name 'X Beidler', which I instantly recognized as a character very important in the vigilante history of 1860's and 1870's Montana Territory. Whether the shovel belonged to Beidler personally I cannot say.
HAYDEN VALLEY
While reading old ranger logs in the park archives, I came across an entry by a ranger in the late 40's. He came across a rather large poacher cabin deep in the woods somewhere between Cygnet Lakes and the Hayden Valley. This covers a fairly large area. I myself have searched in this area with no success. I suspect this cabin may have been a casualty to the fires of '88. Or perhaps it continues to hide in the deep wilderness of the central plateau. If anyone has seen this cabin, I would certainly be interested in knowing its condition.
UPPER COUGAR CREEK
Awhile ago I remember reading of an old abandoned cabin in deep forest along the now unmaintained Cougar Creek trail. It was located somewhere near the halfway point. A 15 mile trail of solid woods, this trail connects the Mt. Holmes trail to the Gneiss Creek trail. The fires of '88 burned their hottest in this area so I am relatively sure that this relic is lost forever.
INDIAN BURIAL SITES
These are among the most sacred locales in Yellowstone. I know of 3 such sights. No exact locations will be given.
1. Fishing Bridge area (surprisingly close to human development)
2. A remote meadow high in the Absarokas.
3. In 1996 a fisherman was looking for a good spot to cast along the shores of one of the parks major lakes when he stumbled across a human skeleton. He reported it to the nearest ranger station and an investigation was begun immediately. Treating it as a possible homicide the park service began tests on the remains. Much to their surprise, the bones turned out to be over 1,000 years old. Several local tribes were contacted and the theory was reached that it was probably Crow. They surmised this by the direction the body lay and the way it looked. The most interesting part of the story is that in the end the body was re-buried on the spot where it was found with members of the Crow tribe presiding over the ceremony. (This incident was kept completely quiet by the park service for obvious reasons)
INDIAN ARTIFACTS
Plain and simple; the park today is still strewn with Native American artifacts. It is illegal to remove any of these artifacts or even to move them from the spot they are discovered. The fines are heavy for anyone who does so. Please take all the pictures of artifacts you would like and leave them for future generations to come, to both see and enjoy. If you do find an artifact that seems noteworthy, note the exact location and report it to a park ranger.
Here is a short list of some past discoveries in the park:
1) - Arrowheads have been found on Sulphur Mountain in the Crater Hills area of the Hayden Valley
2) - The lakeshore south of Rocky and Sandy Molly islands contains Indian artifacts. 4 arrowheads, one scraper, one knife, and a number of chips were found in only hours by a past research team. This area was used extensively by Indians.
3) - A hydrothermal area above Lone Star Geyser near the Firehole River yielded 17 different Indian artifacts during a past survey.
4) - A spearpoint was found at Norris.
5) - A jasper knife was found along the horseshoe turn near Little America Flats.
6) - The north slopes of Mount Everts do contain some Native American archeological sites. There are definite ruins attributed to the Shoshone. They appear to possibly be old abandoned corrals and/or traps.
7) - At the waters edge on the banks of Lava Creek there exists a very interesting stone with peculiar inscriptions carved on it. The rock is very large of basaltic lava, which has very smooth faced section on which the letters have been made. Because the inscriptions are not in english and have not been translated as far as I know, I suspect the writings are an Indian language of some kind.
WICKIUPS
These amazing dwellings were used as temporary shelters as the natives made seasonal migrations to summer hunting and fishing areas east of the park. Several still stand in Yellowstone.
1) - THE MAMMOTH AREA
This is the most publicized. Its location is available at the Horace Albright Visitor Center at Mammoth. Its condition is not very good due to souvenir hunters over the year.
2) - WICKIUP CREEK
This one is located in NW Yellowstone and is the reason for the creeks name.
3) - THE NORTH BOUNDARY
A ranger on poacher patrol made a significant discovery near the parks North boundary and passed the story along to me. He found several wickiups still standing side-by-side; almost like a "little camp". This sight does not appear to be in any record I can find.
4) - WIGWAM CREEK
These are not in Yellowstone but are far to the northeast near the town of Emigrant, Montana. Again the creek has been named for the dwellings along its banks.
UNUSUAL TREES AND TREE CARVINGS
It was not unusual for early expeditions to carve their initials or names into a prominent tree. The park service has several of these historic find in its archives including one with many of the members of the 1st Hayden survey. I know of the existence of three trees with old dates near canyon and one near the Natural Bridge. I myself discovered a tree with an authentic carving from the Arnold Hague survey of 1888 on the Mirror Plateau in 1994. But unfortunately the park service helicoptered it out upon my mention of it. They considered it an important archeological find that should be preserved in a museum. A word to the wise! DON'T FREELY GIVE OUT EXACT LOCATIONS OF ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES UNLESS IT IS SOMEONE YOU CAN ABSOLUTELY TRUST! These unique sites are disappearing.
THE WEDDED TREE
One of the most bizarre quirks of nature exists near Yellowstone Lake. About .25 mile east of the old Bridge Bay Camp and 50 feet up over a rather steep bank are two mature trees joined 3 feet off the ground by a limb 5 inches in diameter. I have not been able to find this tree myself. But records of its existence can be found in the park archives at Mammoth. Apparently mature Lodgepole Pines can share branches even though they are separate trees.
THE KNOTTY FOREST
If you have ever been to the lower Hamilton store at Old Faithful, perhaps you have wondered how they got that wood to be all twisted and curly like that. It seems that a certain disease attacks the tree causing it to grow in that strangely curved fashion. A few years ago, I stumbled into a wide area of trees that had apparently been attacked by this disease. It was amazing to see an entire forest of these mangled and deformed pines. The area was located southwest of De Lacy Lakes in heavy timber. Anyone hiking in the area should be sure to look for this very creepy part of Yellowstone.
AIRPLANE WRECKAGE
There are two notable airplane wrecks in the park. Unfortunately most of the debris has been recovered on each so that all one will find now is small scatterings of pieces.
1) B-17 (1943)
This plane went down after the icing of its carburetors in mid-air and crashed 5 miles southeast of West Yellowstone, MT. In the aftermath the bodies and live ammunition was removed but not the debris. Then after the fires of '88 it was determined that due to the "uncovering" of the wreckage by the fire, its contents would be removed. In the summer of '96 a gentleman came to me for information on the wreck. He had just spent two days in the area looking for any signs of the crash. Having found none, he was looking for a more detailed description of the crash site. It seems that what little evidence of the crash is left is small at best.
2) B-47 (1963)
This plane collided with another small aircraft over Ashton, Idaho and crashed in deep snow near Douglas Knob, southwest of Old Faithful. Like the B-17, only the bodies were removed at the time. This wreck had been a popular day hike among employees at Old Faithful. I know of several groups having visited the site. What made this site unusual is that the wreckage was in very good shape. The plane remained relatively intact; thus items such as radios, the co-pilots chair, and control panels were all in good shape. In late 1993, the army finally hauled away most of the large pieces of the wreck. I know of no one who has been to the site since, but I would assume that only the smallest pieces of debris remain.
Two other wrecks may remain in the backcountry. One is near Mount Hancock and the other is on Top Notch Peak. I will try to find out if these wrecks have been removed.
OTHER UNUSUAL SITES
1) THE BUFFALO FENCE
This one is quite unusual indeed. Running up the slopes of Amethyst Mountain along the banks of Chalcedony Creek is a gigantic wooden fence nailed directly to the trees. It stands at least 5 feet high, has three rows, and runs many hundreds of yards. It appears to be at least 50 years old. The park archivist believes it is probably the original fence used to corral the parks bison during the years that they were kept in Lamar valley.
2) GRAVESITES
a) A gravesite is located near the north boundary along the Hellroaring Creek trail.
b) Another legendary grave is that of Jack Crandall. His grave is somewhere in the Absarokas near the Miller Creek trail.
3) GARBAGE DUMPS
Today all trash is trucked out of the park. But until just a few decades ago all trash was dumped at two notable sites. One near Rabbit Creek and the other near Trout Creek. Both sites are easily found in 1997. They contain many old bottles and cans of a day gone by.
4) CAVES
The park is loaded with caves. Most are small. Some contain noxious fumes. No cave exploration should be done unless an expert is present. The park service forbids exploration of most of the caves in the Mammoth area. I've listed 3 areas below.
1. Western Hayden Valley - numerous caves can be found in the canyon sections of the western Hayden Valley.
2. Otter Creek - there is a superb cave near the source of Otter Creek.
3. Terrace Mountain Mammoth - the finest caves are probably part of an extensive cave system inside Terrace Mountain above Mammoth. These caves are known to most employees in the area
5) BEAR DENS
As with the caves, the park is filled with black and grizzly bear dens. Obviously one should never go charging into a den of any kind without checking to see if it is occupied. I have listed three dens below.
a) A black bear den is located near Rainy Lake. It is characterized by a hole two feet in diameter; 10 feet long; 4 feet wide; and 4 feet high.
b) A fine grizzly den can be found up the service road southwest of Canyon Village. Until recently, the Park service was giving ranger walks to this den. I am not sure if they still offer this activity.
c) A superb grizzly den can be found on the high slopes of the Washburn range, west of Dunraven Pass. This site was described extensively in Doug Peacock's book "Grizzly Years."
d) Not a den but almost as good. One of the original Craighead research sites can still be found on a hilltop about 4 miles down the old Trout Creek service road in the central Hayden Valley. They used this fine view to observe their radio-collared grizzlies. Today there are still some items of their equipment on that spot.
6) YELLOWSTONE'S SECRET WORD GOLD!!
This is the one that the park service REALLY won't talk about. Yes there probably are significant gold deposits within the boundaries of Yellowstone. What few rangers I have approached on the subject will only talk off the record if at all. Suffice to say one could get rich if they knew what to do. But of course any removal of a valuable mineral from the park would meet with the heaviest of fines and probably imprisonment as well. Still its fun to dream!
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