Southwestern Yellowstone

TL;DR

Three days in the Bechler Meadows area of Yellowstone National Park. Swimming experiences everyday: Waterfalls, hot springs, and rivers. The views in the meadows were beautiful, moreso than I expected. Many river crossings, and many precarious mud-river leaps in the grassy areas. It was our first real trip with the X-Mid tent, which performed well. The mosquitoes got really bad toward the end, which renewed my heart's blue flame of hatred for them.

2023-07-21 Friday

• Leave home at 6AM, drive 4h to Bechler Ranger Station.
• Pick up permits and set off at about 10:30.
• Bugs are pretty awful for the first hour or so, we ate prepped lunches while we hiked to keep them at bay. Passed 2 or 3 parties who all warned us that they are horrendous further up. They have bug face nets, we are armed only with DEET.
• 6ish miles through Bechler Meadows, very scenic, marshy in spots but we kept our feet mostly out of the mud.
• First ford of Bechler River midday. Feels great, and deeper than it looked. (Mid-thigh height.)
• Hike up Bechler Canyon, the first mild elevation gain all day. Bugs are only moderate so far, surprisingly good.
• Short detour over to Colonnade Falls Overlook. It's a very beautiful double waterfall. I decide that I'm going to regret it the rest of the trip if I don't go swim in the pool at the bottom, so I find a way to scramble down the steep bowl and have a quick dip. Phenomenal!! What an experience!
• Continue up, passing scenic waterfalls, islands, and bends in the river. More fords, only some of which are crossable via logs.
• Drop stuff at campsite, hang up food, and set up tents.
• Head another 3 miles up to the hot spring known as Mr. Bubbles. Flies are REALLY bad on the way up as we pass some mild thermal features.
• Make it to the pool, where hot water from a geyser up the hill mixes with cold from Ferris Creek, and a large bubbling plume in the center. Have a 10 minute very nice swim. I can feel the ground shaking under my feet, and my toes burn if they go too deep into the sand. We head out because of hunger and daylight concerns.
• Bugs are relentlessly swarming but manageable with copious amounts of repellent spray.
• BRC for dinner. Everyone loves it. I pour boiling water on my fingers while trying to wrangle measurements for servings.
• Retreat to tents about 9:15. Long day! I got one blister on my toe and we hiked 19.5 miles in total.

2023-07-22 Saturday

• Woke up a few times in the morning, then at 7:30. A had a rough night so we let her sleep another hour. Granola and milk for breakfast.
• Hike about 9 miles to next campsite, doing the same fords along the way. A dude gave us a tip about a hot spring near our site tonight. Hike through more wetlands too.
• Ditch most gear at Upper Boundary Creek site, the bugs are pretty bad there but not bad at the eating area.
• Head to Dunanda Falls - It was cool but not as much as yesterday's Collonade.
• We hiked downstream a bit to that hot area where a few springs run into the river. Dunking my whole body in the cool (not cold!) river felt amazing after the heat and hiking. A and K walked upstream to check out the falls from below but I opted to stay to minimize the mileage on my blistered foot.
• Head back to camp and get there about 4. A and K hung out in the tent while I sat in the meadow for a while, no bugs in the sunny heat.
• During and after dinner the mosquitoes REALLY stepped up their game, they were almost insufferable. The sun was low enough that there was no relief, even while standing directly inside the plume of smoke from the smoldering fire.
• We made it into the tent but getting there used up all of my patience with my fellow campers. No fault of theirs but I was losing my mind with the worst insect situation I have ever seen. Ever.
• Hiked 14.7 miles today.

2023-07-23 Sunday

• Woke up early, about 5, to beat the insects. Not too bad but we skipped breakfast to keep our lead.
• On the way out, bugs got progressively worse, so much that we pretty much just hiked the 7.5 miles out, almost running, and not stopping to drink or eat.
• Speed-walking through the meadows at sunrise was beautiful. We were a little nervous about coming up on some moose in the high brush around rivers, but later learned that there just aren't that many in Yellowstone.
• Our feet and lower pants were soaked within a half hour from picking up dew on the grassy trail. We tromped right through our only river crossing without skipping a beat, shoes, pants and all.
• The three of us went through an entire large "pump" insect repellent bottle, plus most of the two pressurized ones we found floating in the waterfall pools.