Again, excellent trip report. I've worked in Yellowstone for several seasons and I thought Shelf Lake was a spectacular spot... until your shots of Crescent Lake! Stunning! Can't wait to get out there. Really love the format of your videos as well. Cheers.
Thank you so much, it was one of the highlights of that trip. I hope to make it back up there again someday, hopefully explore beyond shelf lake & up on the sky rim.
Great video. My wife and I are backpacking in Yellowstone this summer again. It's been 10 years since we did that at Yellowstone so we figured we best get it done before we got too old, pushing 75 now, lol. By the way, what kind of camera are you using? Really enjoy your videos.
Honestly I don't remember exactly where we wound up that evening, we drove into the National Forest outside the park boundary, and rushed to find a campsite we could get to before dark.
The hike you got was most likely a lot better , been there and prefer that area because unfortunately Yosemite is just to crowded today . Even the backcountry is often loaded with people , unless you take the under used trails not highway accessible or Grand Staircase , Hetchhetchy Lake backcountry . Anywhere in the valley or along 120 is just to crowded
Like 46, Great impressive footage capturing the beautiful scenery as the awesome gift of the mother nature, thanks for sharing and bringing us to this wonderful relaxing place and stay safe always.
Spectacular scenery in great videos. So refreshing to watch hiking videos without the distracting annoying music that some RU-vidrs put in their hiking videos.
Too bad you weren't able to make it to the causeway it really is something. I love the flat tops and have been going there for over 30 years. Thanks for sharing your short experience.
I believe we're going to try again this year. Aside from wanting to finish what we started, that really is a beautiful area that I'd love to see more of.
I hiked most of that trail 50 years ago on my first ever hiking and backpacking trip when I was 20. It changed the trajectory of my life. I loved your photography so much it brought back a ton of memories. I even took screen shots of some of your pictures to make a memory file for my self. What a great trip y’all had. Thanks so much for sharing it and stimulating my memories of one of the most beautiful places that exist.
How did you get your permits for a 9 day hike? How far ahead did you get them? I have not camped within Yellowstone for a few years because it seems to be getting more crowded and the permit system seems kind of difficult.
For this trip I entered the backcountry lottery, and to my surprise, I was able to get most of the backcountry campsites I wanted for the days I would be there. I think the lottery opened in March & I was selected to choose my campsites sometime in April. I've had pretty good luck getting walk up permits for 1-2 night trips, just showing up at the backcountry office & being flexible with what was open. For longer trips though, we've always entered whatever lottery or mail-in system they had in place at the time & just hoped for the best.
In your video description you say sub-adult grizzly. In your video you said large male grizzly. How did you go from sub-adult to large 'Male'? How did you identify it as a male? What were you doing to cause a grizzly down by the noisy creek to bluff charge you? Did you take any pictures of his tracks? Was it on the west side or east side of Fawn Pass? Was it an open area or trees? What was the grizzly doing down by the creek? This is very interesting so more details would be appreciated. Great hike.
I was a little rattled from the experience, so my description in the video was a bit scattered. After the trip I looked up as many grizzly photos as I could find & the one I saw matched the images I was seeing of sub-adult males as best I could tell, but I could very well be incorrect about that. As best I could tell we were likely we were likely traveling toward each other from opposite directions, and he wasn’t expecting to see people in the area. I believe I was being too quiet, accidentally got too close & spooked him. After the encounter, I put my camera away until I was probably half a mile up the trail. Coming down from Fawn Pass there trail was slightly muddy & I didn’t see any signs of the trail being used at all, until after the run-in, I did see bear tracks going the opposite way from me, which I assume were his. I wish I’d thought to take a few photos of them. It was about 3.8 miles east of Fawn Pass, the area was mostly open, with some scattered trees & brush. There was maybe a 6’ drop down to the water with bushes etc. obscuring the view down to the water. I heard a loud rustling & then saw him explode out of there immediately after. If you’d like you’re free to shoot me a message mikebaesher@gmail.com I could send the coordinates of where it happened, and any other info as best i can recall.
@@shredhiker6209 thanks for the information. To bad you didn’t spot him earlier. It would be interesting to know what he was doing down at the creek. My guess is he was doing nothing down there but was just crossing and heading your direction by chance.
@@StanMills I was hiking downhill too, if I had noticed him before I got too close, it could've been a great chance to observe him from a distance. This was definitely a lesson, not to get complacent or let my guard down.
@@shredhiker6209 what I would like to figure out is why the grizzly bluff charged you if there was any reason that you know of. I am not saying you did anything wrong because you need to do what is best for you. But from all of the info you talked about so far there is no indication of a reason on the bears part. Maybe it was already upset about something. But it seems like some times there is no obvious reason, they just don’t like your presence maybe. But if you can think of anything, I would like to know. Thanks for your responses.
@@StanMills I can't really say for certain. When he came running up from the creek, I was probably within 30 ft of him, having no idea he was there of course. Even though the area was fairly open, that particular spot was fairly loud with the water running and visibility down there wouldn't have been great. Why he bluff charged instead of just running off, I can't begin to understand though. The encounter lasted maybe 10 seconds, and I got out of the area immediately after.
The scenery you shot is amazing, and i loved the narration and no music. I’m flying to Denver for a concert in mid-June and looking for some backpacking to throw in!
Thanks so much! This was a really wonderful area, I’d like to go back & see more of it (will definitely bring micro spikes if it’s another early season trip) I think it’s a great option that’s a pretty short drive from Denver. A few days before this we hiked a few days on the Colorado trail near Jefferson, it was all snow free out that way.
Oh that’s awesome, i spend most of my backpacking trips in the sierras (kinda section hiking the SHR the past few years) but looking forward do doing a short trip before my big sierra trip in the summer. If you know, were there options to go cross country and were there any places that campfires were allowed?
@@wildflower_gypsy I know people do some cross country and technical routes, up near Red Buffalo Pass & Gore Lake. I had wanted to explore that area but that pass had a lot of snow. There was another group we saw at the end of day 2 who'd planned to go up that way, we saw them the next morning scouting it out and then they disappeared from view, assuming they made it. I believe above 11k is the campfire cutoff there , we saw a few fire rings around that first camp, but everything was way too wet. I'm actually going out with the same group this summer for a Sierra trip, we're hiking Onion Valley to Whitney!
@@jimmyorsag4693 Sorry I misunderstood. Those were quite spectacular actually! I stopped for lunch at the first one I came to. I wish I'd had a few more hours to explore around that area, but I was moving way too slow making the climb up that morning.
At minute mark 27:54ish, it looks as if an angel or spirit flies out of the mountain range. It's such a beautiful place I spent some time out there over the summer.
Wow..grizzlies are where they find you..bet that got th ole adrenaline flowin and heart beatin. Great scenery..those blue, cloudy skies make perfect video. Stay safe out there n keep th vids comin!
When I got a few minutes up the trail & could assure myself he was long gone, I’d never felt more alive in all my years! Not an experience I’d recommend though.
It’s about 2.5 trail miles east of the Harebell patrol cabin. If you’re looking at a trail map, it’s the last little section of trail that drops south of the NP boundary headed west.
Thanks for a trip down memory lane. Spent many nights in Slough valley. 2S4 was my favorite place. I had to give it up about 15 years ago due to age but this video made me feel like I was there again. I see they added a food storage box. Beats hanging food from the tree.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, reading a comment like this always makes my day! It’s very nice when the campsites have bear boxes provided, I’ve had my share of long afternoons looking for a suitable food hang tree.
Thank you. I've not had any real bear encounters in the Sierra, only caught a glimpse of one a few years ago from quite a distance away, and it took off running the second I saw it!
Stumbled onto your channel while trying to plan 2024 trips. Great video Thousand Island has been on my list of places to go for awhile. It appears mid October is the perfect time to go. Appreciate the work you put in on the trail and afterwards. Happy Trails!
I think I lucked out a lot last year on October being so great in the Sierra, between the historic snow pack & no wildfires in the area. I would absolutely go back that time of year though, just keep an eye on conditions and be flexible if you can!!
Really enjoyed the video. Slough Creek is my Happy Place! I usually jut stop at the first meadow, but this video has me wanting to push further past it next time I am in the park. Thank. Hike on!!!
Great trip! Nice footage! Brings back memories of that country when I worked down there. I was the Thorofare Ranger for a few years and the Heart Lake Ranger for 8 years
It's been almost 20 years since I've been out there, I did virtually the exact trip that you did in this video. That is some deep in the middle of nowhere country when you are all alone, it definitely gets your senses on edge. You've really brought back some memories. Thanks for the great video!
Great video man, I did thorofare last late summer first time. Incredible place, want to go back. Watching videos like yours lets me relive it again. Also, I brought some cigars for every night along with some scotch. What were you smoking and having for whiskey?
