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We started Wednesday morning from Hellroaring Creek Trailhead with a final destination of Gardiner, Montana and a couple of campsites along the way. The 1st mile was a steep down to a suspension bridge, all was fine and we were thankful (as the guide book said we would be, [the only truth in it]) that we didn't have to hike back up. Then came the fording at mile 2, we had to decide if and where to ford the Hellroaring Creek. We walked an extra � mile or so to a safe spot to ford. There was no way I was going to go across these rapids with a 30-35 lb pack on my back, so I went across packless with Mike. I almost made it across without incident but, at the very end, I slipped off a rock and started to fall but had a great save, as Cathy called it, except I smashed my toes into a rock but I didn't fall in. Then Mike went back to get my pack and then Cathy and Annette's (Cathy had a broken foot). He too went across without incident not once but four times. Everyone was safe on the other side of this wide rushing creek and we were drying our feet and when Mike stood up he scraped his leg on the log (he was attacked by a bear, that's our story and we are going to stick to it). Fording took us about an hour; we probably could have walked the extra mile up the river to the stock bridge in the same amount of time. But now we can all say, "yes, of course I have forded a river before".

All was fine and we were all in the hiking groove, moving right along taking in the views (which there were plenty of), and at one point we were sure we smelt a bear, when we had to hike up this steep skree mountain, nothing to the left (nothing but down, straight down) and nothing to the right to grab on to. Every step we took we slid back, one wrong step and we were broken (maybe not dead, just broken). I have never been so scared in my life. Unfortunately, I had to stop to breathe, bad mistake, because we couldn't get going again, Mike wiggled out of his pack and Cathy threw him a line that he tied to his pack and he crawled up the mountain, while I just held my ground. With him safe at the top he threw me a line and I pulled myself up. We made it up, it took a while but we made it up!

Later on we were in the meadows (the only place where you could look around) and I'm doing just that looking around and I trip on a twig (a little twig at that) and I fall, smash my right arm, knee and leg.

Shortly after my graceful fall we had another scary up, but I don't know if it was all that scary of if it was pure exhaustion by this point, but we made it through that too.

The views were awesome when we could stop to enjoy them. A lot of the hike we had to concentrate on where we were putting our feet, the trail was narrow (barely as wide as we were) and steep. There were a variety of different landscapes. We hiked next to the river, in the meadows, the Sahara (as Annette and Cathy called it) and the mountains, all these scenes were seen in a days hike. At times we felt like we were walking through a graveyard, we saw a lot of skeletons belonging to many different big animals.

After a really long 7 plus mile hike we finally made it to our campsite, totally exhausted. Our designated campsite did not have a bear pole, so we went to the campsite that was next to us. We didn't think that would be a problem since there was no one around and it was already after 7:00 p.m., the odds were slim that anyone would be claiming their campsite at that time. The campsite was beautiful, with great views of the mountains and the water. It reminded me of the campsite in the Smokys but more secluded, (no cars or people), but we would sleep with the sound of the rushing water (I call it my Yanni in the woods). We slept great, as usual.

We were kind of expecting to see some large animals (the evidence of their presence (their poop and let's not forget their skeletons were all around), but we saw none. Maybe tomorrow.

Aug. 7 Thurs. Day two

The Yellowstone River Trail (Black Canyon Trail of the Yellowstone) is rated as moderate in the guidebook- well that would be accurate if you were a mountain goat but for us flatlanders it wasn't just another "walk in the park".

We headed out early on day two and we made great time to our designated campsite at approximately 1:30 p.m.- felt great, ate, played and the views were awesome, unrolled my thermarest and laid on the ground just looking at the magnificent views, including the "Big Sky". We walked down to filter some water and soak our feet in the cool river. We already hiked 6 miles and we decided that we should press on to the next campsite (.9 miles away) so that we would only have 5 miles the next day out to our car. So after a couple hour break we walked on and up and up and up some more, hanging on the edge of the mountain, nothing but rocks and rapids below, (one wrong step and we weren't broken we were dead). We had an 1800 feet elevation gain in those .9 miles. It sucked badly, it literally sucked the air out of my lungs and at one point I found a place to sit (which was good because I either sat down or fell down at which time I had the worse asthma attack I have ever had) and I started to throw up and after I finally was able to breathe I felt really weak. The funny thing was I had lost my map some miles back and this day hiker found it and returned it to me. She said she thought she would never catch up to us (a little bit of trail magic). Afterwards, we pushed on and on and up and up.

On we continued and the views kept getting better. The walls of the canyon really are black. We also saw Knowles Falls, a 15-foot waterfall, which plummets into the Yellowstone River, that can only be seen if you are hiking this trail. Surprisingly, enough we still saw no big animals.

We made it to our campsite after 1 1/2 - 2 hours after we left the other site. This campsite was more beautiful than the last-we had a useable beach where we cooled off and played and sort of cleaned up. After cooling off and relaxing a little while we made dinner which I must say was a 5 star dinner for sure, we had Mountain House Potatoes, Broccoli and Cheese, Ramon noodles and Mountain House Raspberry Crumble (the package says serving for two, but it was enough for four). It was really, really good.

We were tired and heading for bed at 7:30 p.m., but we decided that was a little too early so why not play some cards. We found out there is a reason we don't play cards too often, nobody knows how, Mike knows Poker, I know Rummy and Cathy and Annette (who have no children) know Go Fish, so Go Fish it was. None of us knew the rules so we kept changing them to suit our needs at the moment and at one point we were trying to combine it with Uno.

The views at this campground were even better than at the last one. We were sure we would see a bear- we were in prime bear country-but no, we made it through another day not seeing any big animals. Maybe tomorrow.

It was still light out at 8:30 p.m. when we decided to turn in for the night and again we fell asleep with the lull of the rapids (Yanni in the woods). I slept great, (I usually do sleep better on my mat and in my tent than at home). Then in the middle of the night I woke up with this anxiety about the next days hike. The blasted guidebook said that we were going to have a steep up and level and then walk along the clay cliff sides- the book also said that the trail was in great shape and the only dangerous part is the clay cliffs, no mention of the other scary ups at all. I finally fell back asleep and at 5:00 a.m. I was awoken by what at first I thought was a spot light, but soon realized it was just Annette with her headlamp on.

Aug. 8, Fri. Day three

We got up early and we were packed up and ready to go by 6:00 a.m. Not bad since we had to get more water, eat breakfast (Poptarts, yuck) and break down camp. We could see the sun started to rise over the mountains in the distance and it casted a shadow on the mountains that surrounded us. It was very beautiful and peaceful and we all immediately got into the hiking groove.

Today's hike took us through and up the boulder fields, and across the meadows. The views included such things as cacti and more skeletons. We were glad it wasn't later in the day when we passed through here, because it would have been extremely hot like the Sahara again. It was very open in the meadows but at least I didn't get that feeling like I was going to fall off the side of a mountain. In retrospect it was better that we did that extra mile yesterday otherwise it would have been that much hotter and longer. We still haven't seen any big animals.

There were some more ups. So we went up and then down, up some more and then in a meadow (I'll take the prairies any day). The ups weren't as scary as the previous ones and then we could see what loomed ahead of us in the distance, the "dangerous is wet" clay cliff mountains, thank God it wasn't wet. My heart sank, I had butterflys in my stomach and I didn't look forward to it at all, and I could feel this sudden rush of anxiety. Before we even got to them we could see the ups and the shear drops hundreds of feet above the water. On we climbed up and again having to watch every step we took. The wind was very strong and at times it felt like we would be blown off the side of the mountain. It was not a short stretch as the stupid guidebook suggested; it was long, very long.

Finally, we made it through that area and we saw what we have been looking for (not the big animals) - the city of Gardnier. What a sight. We hiked on and when I saw the famous Yellowstone Arch (the north entrance gate) it dawned on me that the only way to see the Arch from where I was standing (the other side of the Yellowstone River), Knowles Falls and all of the other views that we saw, (and the possibility of seeing some big animals), was by our own feet and that we had to endure all those ups and downs and of course some more ups. At that moment the realization of this fact made all of those scary parts and ups and downs seem worthwhile (or was it the fact that we were almost done, I'm not so sure), but I do know I had a great sense of accomplishment right then. On we hiked after a few pictures and believe it or not, we had more ups through the rocks and over somewhat dried up riverbeds and some not so dried up riverbeds (the only place on the trail that threatened to wet our feet, except for the ford at mile two) and some more ups.

We did it 18.5 plus miles. For a long while I will stick to the Florida Trail-where the ups, if any, are small and there are no cliff overhangs.

Annette and I tried to count how many people we saw from the suspension bridge (the usual place for day hikers to turn around), we counted 3 backpackers, and Mike and I saw the day hiker with the map, other than that we saw no one. The seclusion of this trail was great. No people and no big animals. There were a couple of things we learned, the first one is take the stupid guidebook and throw it in the fire pit, because after all it was all lies and the second thing is put the deck of cards in the fire pit also, and carry a deck of Uno cards, because if nothing else we know how to play Uno. Finally, we never did see any big animals, (the kind of thing that makes you go huh).

This is my take on our adventure in Yellowstone National Park, I survived, and will be back after I forget!

Hope Michaud

About the Author

Hope (Gumby) Michaud,Wife, Mother and avid hiker.

Black Canyon of Yellowstone

by Hope Michaud

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