Yesterday Chris had another Saturday off, so we decided to head down and xc ski Fan Creek in Yellowstone Natl Park. This is just across the road from the Bacon Rind Creek ski we did a few weeks ago.
The trail starts off crossing a large meadow and the Upper Gallatin River just off the road, then goes into the forest beyond:
While there was plenty of fresh snow from the night before, it was surpisingly wet and sticky. This caused it to clump on the bottom of the skis, slowing us down. Eventually we decided to stop and put on some of the snowboard wax I had stuffed in my pack to help us out:
After a little while we came to the trail junction (Fan Creek/Fawn Pass). Chris heads off to the left up Fan Creek:
Soon the trail pretty much petered out, meaning we were breaking trail in the fresh deep snow:
This was cool except for the fact that it was often collapsing underneath us, sinking us to our waist or deeper. It became quite a slog. Here is Fan Creek, not frozen but often covered by snow:
After switchbacking up some hills we came to a nice spot to dig a snow bench (with my handy new shovel) and have some lunch and a few beers. We hung out for 45 minutes or so, waiting to see some sign of critter but we never did. Looking east towards Fawn Pass (kinda):
Looking back the way we had come from (that's our track in the immediate foreground):
Finally it was time to cover the mileage back to the car. At least this time we had our own tracks to follow and so it was a little easier getting through the deep snow. I also bombed back down a big hill through knee deep powder - good times!
One last look back where we had been, you can see our trail snaking off to the left and then back across and eventually up into the trees. Our lunch spot was beyond that tree covered hill:
No critters (except for the squirrel Chris saw, which doesn't count), but a good time was had for sure. I was tired from slogging through the deep snow, but not too tired to hit up some good runs snowboarding at Bridger this morning. Montana, so excellent.
No critters (except for the squirrel Chris saw, which doesn't count), but a good time was had for sure. I was tired from slogging through the deep snow, but not too tired to hit up some good runs snowboarding at Bridger this morning. Montana, so excellent.
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