Mystic Falls Trail in YNP

According to Yellowstone.net there are over 1,100 miles of hiking trails in Yellowstone National Park.  Considering that YNP encompasses 2.2 million acres I have no trouble believing the claim.  I was fortunate enough to hike a little over 12 miles of those trails in July 2010 - only 1,088 miles to go!

The longest hike was to see Osprey Falls near Mammoth Hot Springs. - See earlier post for review of the trail.

The second hike was the Mystic Falls Loop.  The trail begins at Biscuit Basin which sit on the northern edge of Upper Geyser Basin, which is home to the iconic Old Faithful Geyser.

Probably the most recognizable geyser in the world.

We parked our motorcycles at the Biscuit Basin parking lot and viewed the numerous geysers and springs that the boardwalks surround before hitting the trail to visit Mystic Falls and Biscuit Basin Overlook.  We saw Sapphire Pool which looks so inviting, but at 200+ degrees Fahrenheit is not the place for swimming.

Sapphire Pool is so clear, looks like a natural swimming pool. 

After looking at the other geysers and springs we started the trail on the west side of the boardwalk loop and quickly entered the pine forest.  We passed an information board that the trails from that area including the much longer Fairy Falls Trail and Summit Lake Trail.

The trail forks about 1/8 mile after leaving the boardwalk.  We choose to go right (counter-clockwise), but afterwards I wish we would have taken the trail clockwise.  The sloping is not as steep on the way up and the views descending would have been better in my opinion.

Map of some trails in the Biscuit Basin.

We encountered a series of switchbacks and ascended about 1,000 feet to reach the Biscuit Basin Overlook. From the overlook we watch Old Faithful erupt as well as some other geysers that also erupted.  We could see the features in Biscuit Basin, the Firehole River and most of the Upper Geyser Basin.  The view was spectacular.

Upper Geyser Basin as seen from the Biscuit Basin Overlook.

The Biscuit Basin Loop boardwalk.  Sapphire Pool can be seen.

We continued west on the trail as it ran on top of the ridge and through the forest still trying to recover from a fire many years ago.  After about 1/2 mile the trail has another fork.  To the right/west the trail goes to Fairy Falls.  We took the left fork and turned south towards Mystic Falls.

The trail continued on the ridge.  The effects of the fire is still visible.

The Little Firehole River seen from the trail on the ridge.

The trail soon begins a gradual descent. We could see Old Faithful again.  After another 1/2 mile or so we could see the crest of Mystic Falls.  We continued the trail and were able to get a great view of the entire 70 foot waterfall.  It was a great view.

The crest of Mystic Falls.

Mystic Falls

The trail descent a little farther and then flattened out as it continued to skirt the Little Firehole River.  The trail slows works it way slightly northward and away from the river, back into the forest and intersects the Summit Lake Trail.  We turned left and hiked past the first fork that we took to begin the hike.  Through the forest we hiked until we emerged back at the Biscuit Basin Loop boardwalk.

The hike is roughly a 3 mile loop from the parking lot and is easy to moderately strenuous.  The views are great and you will leave the crowd behind.  I am glad we took the hike.  It was really nice to see Yellowstone from areas that were not crowded and were very peaceful.

You're all wet! So am I.

For the second summer in a row my son and I (along with some friends) decided to do some rafting while on our  motorcycle trip.  Last summer we rafted out of Pagosa Springs, CO.  During our trip to Yellowstone National Park we decided to raft out of Gardiner, MT on the Yellowstone River.

Gardiner is right outside the famed north gateway to the Yellowstone National Park known as the Roosevelt Arch that was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on April 24, 1903.

We stopped for pictures at the famous arch on our way back to camp.

There were four rafting companies each offering full and half day trips.  After doing some research and reading different reviews I chose the Yellowstone Raft Company.  We opted for the 1/2 day trip.  Four of us, including my son and I, got up early and got in a great hike to Osprey Falls prior to our afternoon rafting experience.

We met the rest of our group at the Yellowstone Raft Company store in the afternoon.  We changed into appropriate clothes, picked up our life jackets, and were briefed about the trip.  We loaded up in the vans and rode to the launching locations only about a 1/4 mile from the store.  We carried the rafts to the river and began the wet and wild adventure.  Since there were eight of us in our group and another couple we split up with five in each raft along with our guides.

Raft #1 had five from our group and a guide.

Raft #2 - my son is manning the front right of the raft and getting really wet!

Both of our guides were friendly, funny, and knowledgeable.  They pointed out different mountains, plants, and geological features, including Devil's Slide.  Our guide had a great sense of humor and kept us laughing.  He would skillfully steer the raft toward the biggest waves ensuring maximum splashes.

Preparing for a big wave.

The other group also had some big splashes.

During one stretch of the river the water was pretty calm, but still flowing at a good rate.  Anyone that wanted to was welcome to go swimming or float along side the raft.  That mountain water is a little chilly so I stayed in the raft, but some jumped in.

To the south we could see Joseph Peak and Gray Peak of the Gallatin Range in YNP.  The views were awesome.  We saw birds, but no mammals.  The river was flowing at a good rate so there was plenty of excitement.  Overall it was a much "wetter" adventure than our rafting trip in 2009.

If you are visiting YNP or that area and you want to do some rafting I would check out the Yellowstone Rafting Company.  They did a great job - we had fun, got wet, learned about the area, and we were kept safe.  What more could you want?