Latest / This Week in Yellowstone National Park / This Week in Yellowstone: October 15th to October 21st, 2026

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This Week in Yellowstone: October 15th to October 21st, 2026 · This Week in Yellowstone National Park

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From Yellowstone National Park where the snow
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has stopped falling, but it still feels like
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fall. This is that Scott guy you know and love
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with a brand new episode of This Week in Yellowstone.
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What's up everybody? This Week in Yellowstone
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National Park from October 15th to October 21st,
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2026. I'll give you a can't miss experience,
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share a now defunct trail that used to stretch
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the entire park, and let you know how to best
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enjoy the week. I'll also give you the complete
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weather forecast, really cool trail to hike,
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the wildlife report, and everything else you
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need to have an incredible time this week in
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Yellowstone. Standard disclaimer, I'm gonna miss
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a few details here and there. I do my best, but
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sometimes I forget to mention things, so... Just
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know that also I mentioned park locations very
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casually so if you're unfamiliar with some place
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I'm talking about you can do a quick search online
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or you can contact me directly 406 -589 -1873
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via text or you can email me at theoutdoorsociety
1:09
at gmail .com Also, please know that this podcast
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is a passion project of mine. I'm not paid, I'm
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not sponsored, it's a labor of love. If you enjoy
1:18
what you hear, I'd love a review or even a quick
1:20
email or text. If you want to support my work
1:23
more, you can check out my Hiking and Wildlife
1:25
Watching Guidebooks, or you can join me for a
1:27
guided hiking tour next year in Yellowstone's
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backcountry. For more information on all that,
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contact me directly, 406 -589 -1873, or the Outdoor
1:37
Society at gmail .com, or you can go to outdoor
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-society .com. and contact me through there this
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week's Yellowstone news so two big news stories
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the first is that the snow that was predicted
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last week actually fell wasn't as much as the
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park was supposed to get according to that initial
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forecast from last last week's episode but you
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know it did snow so at least we're vindicated
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there for the weeks of saying it was going to
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snow and then it didn't It did shut down a few
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roads here and there. It looked like it was only
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about a half day to 18 hours of some closures
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and then everything opened back up. I did mention
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last week that maybe Dunraven Pass from Tower
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to Canyon was going to be closing. Looks like
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it's still open. The date online on the Park
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Road site for Yellowstone said that it was supposed
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to close on I think the 12th or 13th. Still open
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right now. because there's no snow on the road
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they're going to keep it open until they deem
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it unsafe or they just want to close it to start
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reducing traffic so know that and know that the
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snow on all the roads is melted it is very pretty
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that it's snowed in the mountains now it finally
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looks like it's supposed to i think the bear
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mountains out here in the summer while fun they
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start getting to me because you know mountains
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are supposed to have snow on them so now they
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do whether or not that's going to last that's
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a conversation for next week but Wanted to mention
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that and let everybody know that it actually
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did snow in the park and it looks beautiful and
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the tops of the mountains have snow. So if you're
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there right now, you're going to have some fall
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colors still and you're going to have snow on
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the peaks. I also want to mention quickly for
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news that if you've been paying attention to
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some of the news stories, I didn't talk about
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it because it had a potential to be quite a bit
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of a bummer. There's a dog missing by Canyon.
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It was missing for 34 days. What happened is
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the owners left the dog in their cabin, not really
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supposed to do that. They did put the do not
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disturb sign on the door, but the housekeeping
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staff inadvertently opened the door and the dog
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panicked and bolted out into the wild. It was
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out there for 34 days. It was a 20 pound terrier
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and somehow survived. It was caught successfully
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and will be returned with its owners. It was
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caught today, Wednesday, October 14th, and is
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going to be returned to its owners soon. So That's
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cool. Also, you know, if you do have a dog in
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the park, don't leave it in a hotel room accidentally.
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Things happen. There could be a fire in the room
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and they have to open it and the dog's going
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to run away. If you bring your dog to the park,
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you need to have it with you at all times, but
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it's not allowed on the trail. So that's what
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you have to think about when you bring a pet.
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We grew up with pets, bringing them to the park.
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They stayed in our tent with us. They stayed
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in the car and we rotated hiking. So some people
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got to go walk the boardwalks while people watch
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the dog and then they rotated. Dogs are not allowed
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on boardwalks. They're not allowed on trails.
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So if you do bring a pet, be very careful. Know
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that this is not an environment for them. This
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dog is extremely lucky. And the reason I didn't
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mention it is When a dog's missing for about
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three or four weeks in the park, even if it's
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been seen, the chances of survival are pretty
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low. There are good success stories, but obviously
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I didn't want to get everybody's hopes up by
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mentioning it. But the dog is fine. It's going
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to go home. So that's good. But again, if you
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bring your pet to Yellowstone, know what you
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can and cannot do and never leave it unattended
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in a hotel room because things can happen. And
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that poor staff that had to deal with that they're
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getting kind of lambasted online and it wasn't
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their fault so you know no one was really at
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fault but also don't leave your pets unattended
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ever full story i i don't know it's it's one
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of those tough things i know i could talk more
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on this i'm not going to we have a full episode
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right now the good news is that dog is being
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returned home luna is going home to its family
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and that's awesome and that's all we need to
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talk about there I do have one other news story
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quickly, and that is about the wolves in Yellowstone.
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As some of you know, the wolf numbers are pretty
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low. They're not historically low. Obviously,
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that number was zero at one point, but they're
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much lower than they've been in the last few
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years. And there's an article the other day that
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came out basically said that the Number of pups
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born in the park this year is pretty low and
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not a lot of them survived This time it wasn't
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distemper. They don't think it was just something
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else So don't expect the wolf numbers to go up
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Starting next year like probably the first or
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second week of January They will have released
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the wolf numbers and I'll do a standalone episode
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maybe on that if if it's something that can So
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stay in a standalone episode, but I'll definitely
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mention it once we have the official tally of
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wolves in the park. But again, the number of
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pups that survived this year, not ideal. So don't
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expect those wolf population numbers to go up.
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If I remember, I'll put a link to the show notes
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and a link to the article in the show notes about
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that so that way you can read it and understand
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what I briefly just talked about. My experience
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of the week. driving to the east entrance and
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back while you still can. So the interior roads
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are going to be closing in just a couple of weeks
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and there's no better time than right now to
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drive that east entrance road. October on this
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road is one of my favorite times to drive it.
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I typically drive it once in the summer or early
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spring usually May June and then again in October
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and this is the time when I will be driving it
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so I'm recommending that you do it too. part
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of the reason I really like it is not only is
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the park a little slower right now there's less
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people but there's also an opportunity to see
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some really cool wildlife and have some majestic
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spots pretty much to yourself right around fishing
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bridge and lake the last week or two has been
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really good for great gray owls I almost said
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great horned owls I haven't seen a great horned
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owl in the park in a while we do have them but
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Once the nest that was in Mammoth kind of got
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disturbed too much with the construction going
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on on those houses I haven't seen them as often,
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but they might be out there But the great gray
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owls even harder to see hang out in that fishing
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bridge Lake area and have been spotted pretty
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frequently And I recommending you go down there
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just for that or over depending where you're
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coming from That's a really good place to start
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because most of that Fishing bridge and Lake
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area is closed the infrastructure out there isn't
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open but the access to the water all of those
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things still there really cool to be down there
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when there aren't lots of people so recommend
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starting there and then making your way east
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one other thing you'll want to know about making
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your way east is if the weather isn't ideal When
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you go up Sylvan Pass, there is a chance if it's
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lightly raining, it might be snowing there. So
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always check the weather. Tune your radio, I
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think 1610, or have those text alerts set up
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on your phone. If you have an iPhone, you should
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get them. Even if you don't have service, it
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should come through the satellite. So that's
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a really cool feature. If you have an iPhone,
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I don't know if Android does that yet, but it's
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something I've heard more and more people appreciate
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when they're in the park with an iPhone. Also
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know that the drive to the east entrance and
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back is quite a ways So make sure you have a
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full tank of gas always do that in the park anyway,
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because gas is few and far between the stations
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so they're open you can still pump manually,
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but the Station themselves if you want to walk
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in and pay not open also in that region is the
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Elephant Back Mountain Trail, and that's really
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cool. I recommend doing that if you're just looking
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for a decent view of the lake and a fun little
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loop hike. It's not my trail of the week, but
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it's a nice hike in that lake region that I think
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you can get a good feel. And it's also where
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the great gray owls sometimes hang out. So you
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might hike and get to see one, which is really
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cool. Driving out to the east entrance, you're
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going to drive along the lake. You have an opportunity
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to see some bison and some elk out there. You
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might see some coyotes, you might even see a
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fox, and then as you climb up you're going to
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get toward the Lake Butte overlook. And right
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around this area every fall there's grizzly bears.
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They might not be there the day you're there,
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but pretty consistently that stretch from the
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lake shore up to Lake Butte overlook there's
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going to be a grizzly bear, if not the next mile
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or two from there. those are the famous bears
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with the names like raspberry and snow and all
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of those that's where those are located and it's
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a good place to see them as kind of that last
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or potentially last grizzly sighting of the year
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you're also going to catch the tail end of some
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of the migratory waterfowl that's along the shoreline
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and along some of the little lakes out there
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and if you go to lake butte overlook If it's
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a clear day, you're going to be able to see all
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the way down to the Tetons. It's windy up there.
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There's some cool ravens. Talked about the ravens
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last week. It's a good place to see some of them
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and really just enjoy a great sweeping view of
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the entire lake. If you're in this area around
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sunset, it's a great spot to watch the sunset.
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I love being here at sunset. It does require
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you to drive through the park. And if you saw
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some news, there was a park employee that hit
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a bison totaled their car. Fun note here, if
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you do get in an accident or have something happen
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to your car in the park and you need it towed,
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even if you have towing insurance or AAA or something
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like that, most of the time that is not covered
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inside the park and you're going to have to pay
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out of pocket and those fees are usually very
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high. I know this is buried in the, you know,
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experience of the week, but Sometimes I just
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forget to mention important things elsewhere.
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So know that and know that if you are driving
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to drive carefully because wildlife is on the
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road. After Lake Butte overlook, there is an
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opportunity to see some occasional fall colors
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and work your way up Sylvan Pass. You're going
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to drive by a couple of lakes, trailhead or two,
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and then you get to Sylvan Pass. Sylvan Pass
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is roughly 8 ,530 feet above sea level. and it's
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one of the most weather -sensitive stretches
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of the East Entrance Road. Snow, ice, strong
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winds, these are common here. What's really fun
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there is that if you look, you will see Yellowstone's
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winter avalanche management operations, and there
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is an avalanche control cannon platform. I don't
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know if the cannon's there yet, I'll know after
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this week, but if the cannon is there, they have
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that cannon set up for avalanche control. It's
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probably not there yet, but you never know. And
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that's a really cool thing to see. Also near
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the pass on the right side, if you're driving
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to the east entrance, keep an eye out for an
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old road. It's going to be hardly visible, but
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this is the old entrance route. It's going to
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be way below and you're going to see potentially
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a corkscrew bridge. This section of old road
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is really cool because it was so steep and they
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had to get you kind of to the other side of a
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gully that they had the road and then you went
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around and up onto the overpass and then dropped
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back down and then to the road on the other side
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and it was there because this was a hard area
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to drive back in the day now we have really good
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grading we have amazing technology to build roads
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to put very little stress on your vehicle Yeah,
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that east entrance road is steep, but if you
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think about if you had to drive a dirt road on
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that that wasn't very well maintained and would
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be rutted out and your car wasn't as good as
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it is today, that would be a difficult route.
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And so you can see how difficult travel was by
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stopping and looking at this corkscrew bridge.
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Once you're passing that, drop back down and
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you're just going to head out toward that east
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entrance. All around Sylvan Pass and usually
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to the east entrance is where I see bighorn sheep.
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They might be on the other side of the pass this
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time of year. It just depends where they feel
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like hanging out. Bighorn sheep are going to
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be starting their rut pretty soon, so the early
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signs of it are happening right now. They are
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gathering up. The males are coming down to hang
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out with the females, and so it is an exciting
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time around bighorn sheep. Once you get to the
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east entrance, hang out there. Or drive a little
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further. Drive another 10, 15, 20 miles down
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toward Cody. You don't have to go all the way
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to Cody. But if you drive far enough, all of
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a sudden you shift from the rocks of Yellowstone
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and the trees of Yellowstone. You enter the red
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rocks of the region and everything shifts and
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it feels like the desert. It feels like an old
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western. It's really cool. Highly recommend checking
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it out. And then you get a drive back. Typically
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what I do is I'll drive through Hayden, see what's
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there, then go to Lake, see if the great gray
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owls are out, then drive out to Lake Butte Overlook,
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up to Sylvan Pass, and out to the east entrance,
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and then all the way back. Generally, if I get
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there in the afternoon, I'll start driving this
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in the early evening on the way back, and that's
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when things are really going to be active if
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they're out at all. Please know that the grizzly
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bears that are there are very well known, and
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there will be crowds of people try and do your
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best to not interfere with anybody out there
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the photographers out there can be a little finicky
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i have heard a lot of them complaining because
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people are still in the park and the photographers
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are mad that other people are taking their parking
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spots to look at their bears their words no one
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owns these bears everyone gets to see them so
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Just be aware of that and if you're one of those
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photographers that feels ownership of a bear
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because you know it Well, and you've taken pictures
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use that knowledge to help educate not put other
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people down and call people Tourans and things
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like that. We are all in the park as visitors
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We all love the park and we can enlighten everyone
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and have a great time doing it So just wanted
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to mention that just as a aside But if you are
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in the park right now, really consider driving
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that East entrance road probably will see a bear
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usually close enough to the road to get some
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pretty cool pictures or really be able to like
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see its claws as it walks over some dead fall
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and that's an amazing experience. Always stay
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a hundred yards, be smart, be safe, and know
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that pretty soon no one's gonna be going on the
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east entrance and you get to have this experience
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almost to yourself. That brings me to my tip
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of the week. Sometimes I write my tips of the
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week, other times I just Spout it off from the
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top of my head, and this week is the ladder.
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Latcher, not ladder. We're not going to be climbing
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anything. My tip of the week, very simple in
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theory, harder in practice. If you think you
16:50
should stop, stop. This is something that I find
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myself doing all the time when I'm in the park,
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is I'll see something near the road near a pullout
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and I'll think oh I should stop maybe it's a
17:03
cool view of the mountain the light's hitting
17:04
it just right or maybe there's a bird flying
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or maybe there's an animal out in the distance
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and it's moving a little bit and I'm not quite
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sure where it's going and I think oh I should
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stop and I keep driving I pass the pullout I
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pass another pullout I pass another one and then
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I think man I really should have stopped and
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then I debate turning around but the moment's
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gone sometimes I do turn around and it just doesn't
17:29
have the same feel. This is something that Yellowstone
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can trick you into, especially when you're making
17:36
an itinerary or you have a destination in mind
17:39
as you're driving to it. It's really hard to
17:42
not be singularly focused when you're in the
17:45
park, especially if you know, I need to drive
17:49
from Mammoth to Norris so I can get down to Hayden
17:52
because there's a grizzly bear on a carcass or
17:54
something like that. If you know that that is
17:56
there, you are focused and locked in, and the
17:59
idea of stopping means you might miss something.
18:02
However, the longer I've been in the park, the
18:05
more I've learned that Yellowstone operates on
18:08
its own time and rewards you with what it wants
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to reward you with. I know that sounds really
18:13
new agey and kind of frou -frou and like, ooh,
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the park's giving you what you put out and things
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like, but there's a lot of truth to this. When
18:21
I'm rushed, I don't have as good of days. I don't
18:24
see as much. When I just let the park happen,
18:27
my days are better. And this is very evident
18:31
when I'm driving and I decide not to stop at
18:34
things. Usually when I don't stop, I learn later
18:37
that I missed something or I always have that
18:41
nagging doubt. or that nagging feeling in my
18:44
head that I should have stopped. I could have
18:46
got the picture of that and then I could have
18:48
moved on. What's 10 seconds? What's 30 seconds?
18:51
What's 5 minutes or 10 minutes in the grand scheme
18:53
of things when I'm enjoying the park? When we're
18:56
locked in to go somewhere and something is majestic
18:59
next to you, you think, I will see that later.
19:03
You might never see it again. Case in point,
19:06
I was driving from Tower to Mammoth. And driving
19:12
the curves, if you know that road, you kind of
19:15
weave around and then you drop down and you go
19:17
by these little lakes or little valleys and you
19:19
climb up, weave around, and then drop down again.
19:22
On one of those I was dropping down. Ahead of
19:24
me there were big cliffs. Up on the cliff were
19:29
a couple of elk just standing there, majestically
19:32
silhouetted. And I drove and thought, oh, that'd
19:35
be a good picture, but I need to get back to
19:37
Mammoth. I need to go home. Then I decided to
19:42
stop. Turn around at a pullout turn back around
19:45
at the net You know drive up and then try and
19:48
have that same thing be recreated and the elk
19:51
were gone Obviously, it was two minutes later
19:53
and the elk were only there for that moment.
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There was a pullout right by me I didn't take
19:58
that picture to this day when I drive that section.
20:02
I look up and I can still see in my mind's eye
20:06
those elk perfectly silhouetted yes i captured
20:09
it in my head i've seen it it was beautiful but
20:13
instead of just taking those extra seconds to
20:16
take a picture i said no i'm in a hurry when
20:19
you see anything stop if you're driving past
20:22
swan lake flats and you see the swans are out
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just stop and watch them for a minute it doesn't
20:26
hurt anything when i saw my great gray owls last
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year the only reason i saw them was because i
20:32
decided to stop enjoy a coyote on a hunt in Hayden
20:37
Valley that nobody else cared about. I stopped
20:40
I was taking pictures and somebody said oh what
20:42
do you see and I was like you know there's a
20:44
coyote hunting and they said oh just a coyote
20:48
and drove off. So I stood there a little more
20:51
I then had a friend come by and said hey did
20:55
you know that the great gray owls are out and
20:57
I said no obviously I'm taking pictures of a
20:59
coyote but I knew the great gray owls were out
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then I would have been down there. Had I not
21:03
stopped and had not done that, I wouldn't have
21:06
run into that person and then I wouldn't have
21:08
known, and it wouldn't have had that just random
21:11
experience of me finding that. Yes, me knowing
21:14
people really helps and they stop and chat, but
21:17
people are very helpful. And when you stop at
21:19
places, you can get chatting with them and find
21:21
out what else there is in the park. By just driving
21:23
point to point, you might miss things. That's
21:27
really my tip. It's very simple, I know. But
21:30
this is a reminder to myself, if nothing else,
21:34
when you're driving and you see something that
21:36
strikes you and you think, I should appreciate
21:38
that more, stop and appreciate it more. That
21:41
moment may never happen again, even if it's just
21:45
the way that a cloud looks over a mountain or
21:48
the way that the wind is blowing the sage. You
21:51
don't know what it is until you're out there.
21:53
And once you're out there, you get to realize
21:56
that you're in the park again. Full sensory experience.
22:00
Beautiful. Wonderful. Stopping. Getting out of
22:02
the car. Always a good idea. My random Yellowstone
22:06
fact of the week. The Howard Eaton Trail. If
22:10
you've ever driven Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road,
22:13
stopped to watch a geyser erupt, and thought,
22:15
I'd love to see more of this place without all
22:17
the traffic, or the cars, or the pavement. You're
22:20
thinking along the same lines as people who helped
22:22
create the Howard Eaton Trail more than a century
22:24
ago. The trail was born during a period when
22:27
Yellowstone was transforming from a remote wilderness
22:30
destination into one of America's most celebrated
22:33
tourist attractions. It offered visitors a way
22:35
to experience the park on foot or horseback,
22:38
away from the stagecoaches and then the busy
22:40
roads with cars. At its height, the Howard Eaton
22:44
Trail stretched for an impressive 157 miles,
22:47
connecting major destinations in Yellowstone's
22:50
sprawling landscape. Today, only fragments of
22:54
the original trail retain its name, but those
22:56
surviving sections offer a great glimpse into
22:59
the history of how people once explored Yellowstone
23:02
National Park. The man behind the name was Howard
23:05
Eaton, a rancher, horseman, and pioneering Yellowstone
23:08
guide who helped introduce generations of visitors
23:11
to the park's remarkable landscapes. Eaton was
23:14
born in 1859 and became associated with the ranching
23:17
business before establishing himself as a prominent
23:20
Yellowstone outfitter. Between 1883 and 1921,
23:25
he led horseback expeditions into the park, helping
23:27
visitors experience its geysers, waterfalls,
23:30
forests, lakes, and wildlife in a way that conventional
23:33
sightseeing tours couldn't match. He became one
23:36
of Yellowstone's best known concessioners, earning
23:39
a reputation that extended well beyond the park's
23:41
boundaries. His influence was significant enough
23:44
that, following his death in 1922, the National
23:48
Park Service named an ambitious new hiking and
23:50
riding route in his honor. The Howard Eaton Trail
23:53
officially opened in 1923, and rather than carving
23:56
an entirely new route through the wilderness,
23:59
planners linked together existing trails, bridle
24:02
paths, and abandoned roads to create a continuous
24:05
system for hikers and horseback riders. The resulting
24:08
trail connected everything you'd want to see,
24:12
Mammoth, Norris, the Madison region, Old Faithful,
24:15
West Thumb, Yellowstone Lake, Canyon, and Tower
24:18
before completing its way back to Mammoth. This
24:21
trail offered visitors a way to travel between
24:24
familiar landmarks without relying entirely on
24:28
cars. The timing of when this trail was opened
24:31
was important. Yellowstone's Grand Loop Road
24:34
had largely been developed for stagecoaches and
24:36
wagons by 1905, and cars were authorized in the
24:40
park in 1915. As car tourism expanded, the park
24:44
faced a challenge. How could it accommodate visitors
24:47
traveling at different speeds and in different
24:49
ways? The Howard Eaton Trail was part of the
24:53
answer. It provided a separate route for people
24:55
traveling on foot or horseback, and allowed them
24:58
to explore Yellowstone without spending their
25:00
journey on these pavement -busy roads. And sure,
25:04
some of the sections did run pretty close to
25:06
the road, but there were also some sections that
25:09
were far enough away that you really felt like
25:11
you were out there. Like anything in Yellowstone,
25:14
things fall apart quickly. The trail needed repairs
25:18
by the 1930s, and then the Civilian Conservation
25:22
Corps helped rebuild portions of the trail. The
25:25
CCC, if you don't know what it was, was a federal
25:27
work program established during the Great Depression
25:29
and pretty much every bit of infrastructure that
25:32
we know and love in the West, I would say, is
25:36
partially due to the CCC. That is an overstatement
25:40
and I'm obviously not reading what I wrote here,
25:43
but the CCC was so important that without it,
25:49
without the Great Depression and without that
25:50
deal to give people jobs just to create infrastructure
25:53
here and there we would not have what we have
25:56
now that in my opinion was the single best thing
26:00
despite why it happened to happen to the country
26:04
because we got this infrastructure for these
26:06
public lands that we would not have had so repairs
26:09
happened all the time the ccc did it and then
26:12
it kept getting different groups coming in volunteering
26:15
time to fix the trail park service helped and
26:18
the Howard Eaton Trail remained an important
26:20
part of Yellowstone's hiking and equestrian infrastructure
26:23
for nearly five decades. Then came 1970. Faced
26:28
with budget constraints, the National Park Service
26:30
abandoned large sections of the trail. Some disconnected
26:33
portions eventually acquired different names,
26:36
and the once grand route gradually disappeared
26:38
from the landscape as a recognizable continuous
26:41
loop. Its decline illustrates This broader shift
26:46
that we experienced that more people are going
26:49
to be visiting by car and driving the roads.
26:53
And people who are going to explore are going
26:54
to do short walks and short day hikes. The 157
26:59
mile trail connecting the park's major areas
27:01
was no longer considered essential to the visitor
27:04
experience. Today there are multiple sections
27:08
where you can hike some of the Howard Eaton trail
27:10
that are still named that. one of which is my
27:13
favorite which goes from Fishing Bridge all the
27:16
way to Canyon. This is a long route you have
27:19
to hop over or wade through streams. It's really
27:21
rugged and wild. I don't recommend it for everybody
27:24
or really anybody unless you're experienced but
27:27
it's a really cool section and it's on the other
27:29
side of the Yellowstone River from the road and
27:32
it's really cool because you're so far away from
27:35
everything else. One of the easiest surviving
27:39
sections to experience the Howard Eaton Trail
27:41
is near Old Faithful, where the Howard Eaton
27:43
Trail offers a pleasant escape from the busy
27:45
geyser basin and that goes to the Lone Star Geyser.
27:50
This route climbs over a burned hill, passes
27:53
through a spruce -fir forest, and eventually
27:55
descends toward the geyser. Compared with the
27:58
crowds gathered around Old Faithful itself, this
28:01
trail is a quieter way to appreciate Yellowstone's
28:05
forests and geothermal activity. Obviously Lone
28:08
Star is getting popular and has been for a while,
28:11
but this was just one section of the trail that
28:14
existed. Another place that I really love to
28:16
hike, aside from Lone Star and that first one
28:19
that I was talking about, is the Golden Gate
28:21
section of the park. And you walk through the
28:23
hoodoos on this. It connects Mammoth to Swan
28:25
Lake Flats. It's really beautiful. It's honestly
28:29
such a cool hike, especially when the interior
28:31
roads close. and it's not snowy yet, to hike
28:35
from Mammoth from the upper terrace and go to
28:38
Swan Lake Flats along the section of the Howard
28:40
Eaton Trail is truly spectacular. I can't recommend
28:44
it enough. You can also do part of the Howard
28:46
Eaton Trail on that section between Norris and
28:50
Canyon, which is really nice, you know, and it
28:54
goes past all those little lakes like Grebe Lake
28:56
and places, but generally it's a bit of a bummer
29:00
that this whole trail doesn't still exist. There
29:04
is an article, I didn't pull up, I didn't use
29:07
the source because we're already running long
29:08
on this episode, but people tried to hike and
29:12
retrace the entire thing. Some sections of this
29:15
trail are completely gone. They're not maintained,
29:17
they're overgrown, and it's been since 1970.
29:21
So, you know, that's 56 years at this point of
29:24
just natural growth. Some of the other trails
29:27
just have different names now. I will, if I remember,
29:30
put a link up. Otherwise, just search Howard
29:33
Eaton Trail and you're going to see some really
29:35
cool sections of trail that you might want to
29:38
go and experience next time you visit the park.
29:40
Anyway, I love the Howard Eaton Trail. I hike
29:43
part of it every single year. I have this goal
29:45
where I want to do it all and retrace it all.
29:48
We'll see if that happens. I also don't backpack
29:51
much, so I have to get back into backpacking
29:53
if I want to do this. But if anybody has done
29:56
the Howard Eaton Trail sections of it and wants
29:58
to talk about it with me, happy to hear from
30:00
you. So thank you. The weather for the coming
30:04
week. Lamar Valley on Thursday, high of 51, low
30:08
of 24, Friday high of 60, low of 28, Saturday
30:12
61 and 29, Sunday 60 and 29, Monday 60 and 30.
30:18
Tuesday 58 and 33 with a 17 % chance of rain
30:22
and Wednesday 57 and 33 with a 14 % chance of
30:26
rain Gardner, Montana on Thursday 54 and 26 Friday
30:31
64 and 33 Saturday 63 and 32 Sunday 63 and 32
30:37
Monday 63 and 33 Tuesday 61 and 35 with a 15
30:42
% chance of rain and Wednesday 61 and 36 with
30:46
an 11 % chance of rain West Yellowstone Thursday
30:50
54 and 18 Friday 58 and 22 Saturday 58 and 23
30:57
Sunday 58 and 24 Monday 59 and 27 Tuesday 57
31:04
and 29 with a 15 % chance of rain and Wednesday
31:07
56 and 30 with a 15 % chance of rain Cody Wyoming
31:12
Thursday 51 and 31 Friday And finally for the
31:32
weather, Cook City, Montana. Monday 52 and 29
31:46
Tuesday 50 and 30 with a 15 % chance of rain
31:49
and Wednesday 49 and 30 with a 17 % chance of
31:53
rain as always this the weather forecast as of
31:57
the day before this episode drops Recording this
31:59
on Wednesday, October 14th at 6 24 p .m. Weather
32:03
could change but this should be a ballpark of
32:06
what you'll experience a New feature. I'm adding
32:09
I think I did it once but I'm gonna do it every
32:11
week now the sunrise and sunset times this is
32:15
a generality this is for tomorrow so which is
32:19
thursday october 15th know that we're losing
32:22
daylight so take a couple minutes off every day
32:26
sunset is at 6 39 pm and sunrise is at 7 36 am
32:34
road conditions no main park roads are closed
32:38
right now Dunraven Pass is still open as of time
32:41
of recording. I don't see them closing it for
32:44
a little bit as I said off the top. There's still
32:47
some construction areas here and there but you
32:49
should be good to go. Weather doesn't look dicey
32:51
at all. Just know there might be patches of ice
32:54
here and there or it might be foggy so drive
32:56
safe. Also animals are always on the road. For
32:59
up -to -date road information, you can call 307
33:02
-344 -2117 for recorded information, or you can
33:06
sign up to receive Yellowstone road alerts on
33:08
your mobile phone by texting 82190 to the number
33:12
888 -777. Camping information. Bridge Bay is
33:18
closed, Canyon is closed, Indian Creek is closed,
33:20
Grant is closed, Tower is closed, Lewis Lake
33:22
is closed, Slough Creek is closed. Both Fishing
33:26
Bridge RV Park and Madison Campground will be
33:28
closing on the 17th, and then that's it. Then
33:32
it's just mammoth. That will remain open all
33:36
year. The Wildlife Watching update. Wildlife
33:40
watching has been picking up. It's been foggy.
33:42
Obviously the snow also made things a little
33:44
more difficult. The fog really snarled things
33:47
for wildlife watching way more than the snow
33:49
did, but everything has a sense of urgency right
33:52
now, especially the predators. Bears are being
33:55
Spotted more and more especially out that eastern
33:57
entrance like I said some in Hayden some in Lamar
34:01
a Few have been spotted around Norris in that
34:04
area. I also know of a few that have been spotted
34:08
Off of like Mount Washburn area. So check that
34:12
out I personally if you really really really
34:14
want to see a grizzly go out the east entrance
34:17
Go towards Sylvan Pass. Like I said before that's
34:20
gonna be your best bet Wolf watching has been
34:23
pretty good off and on. If you drive between
34:26
Mammoth and Lamar there have been some sightings
34:30
especially like by the S curves by the black
34:33
tail area near Mammoth and then Hell Roaring
34:37
has been picking up a bit and also Little America
34:41
and then out by the confluence has been decent
34:43
too. So that's where I would go for wolves, moose,
34:47
Mostly go to the Tetons, you know, that's that's
34:49
where moose are gonna be the best but moose have
34:52
been spotted at Lost Lake somebody messaged me
34:55
the other day and said that they are hiking Lost
34:57
Lake and they saw a bull moose a female and an
35:00
adolescent at Lost Lake and that is so awesome.
35:03
So happy for them. Also moose are by Floating
35:06
Island Lake and then out toward Cook City. It's
35:10
a decent place to see them. I also saw moose
35:12
the other day in Paradise Valley between Livingston
35:15
and Gardner. So you never know. Bighorn sheep
35:18
have also been near calcite Springs area and
35:22
also then like North of the park by Yellowstone
35:27
hot springs that you're starting to congregate
35:28
there and then Sylvan Pass Other than that elk
35:32
around mammoth and north of the park out Madison
35:35
as well And then some by the lake also elk have
35:39
been down in hell roaring somebody saw so I had
35:42
a friend tell me that oh Sandhill cranes are
35:45
also gathering to leave the area, so you might
35:47
see 20 to 30 Sandhill cranes at a time right
35:50
now. Really cool, really loud. Not obnoxious,
35:55
I love the sound of Sandhill cranes. Also a lot
35:58
of Canadian geese, or Canada geese as they're
36:00
properly known. But, you know, those aren't as
36:02
special. Anyway, if you need more wildlife information,
36:06
feel free to reach out to me, 406 -589 -1873
36:10
via text. Or if you want, you can help support
36:13
the podcast and pick up a wildlife watching guidebook.
36:15
Ebooks are just $10, paperback books, a little
36:18
more. But it's a great way to not only support
36:21
this podcast, but also have all the information
36:23
that's in my head about wildlife watching. I
36:26
try and be quick with this because no one wants
36:28
to listen to a three hour wildlife watching podcast
36:31
once a week. I mean, maybe people do. I don't
36:33
have the time and energy for that. But this book
36:36
was written out of my lifetime of experience.
36:39
While animals are unpredictable, they do have
36:42
some pretty steady routines. This helps you learn
36:45
those routines and know where to go in each season
36:47
and in each section of the park. Trail alerts
36:51
and updates. I will link to the backcountry conditions
36:54
page. It's not as updated as I would like, but
36:57
it's the best. way to have any information. It's
37:00
what I use. You can also talk to your ranger
37:02
when you're in the park, or again, shoot me a
37:04
text 406 -589 -1873. That leads me to my Trek
37:09
of the Week. This week, because we're getting
37:12
to that end season, I'm recommending Grizzly
37:16
Lake and beyond. Grizzly Lake is located between
37:19
Mammoth and Norris, and is a really cool place
37:23
to go because it's an overlooked area of the
37:26
park. In the 1988 fires, this is where all the
37:29
media crews came and filmed the fire because
37:32
it burnt twice. So it just looked like this burnt
37:36
out hellscape. And if you saw video in the 80s
37:40
of the fires, a lot of it was from this trailhead.
37:45
Obviously, 1988 was a long time ago, and that's
37:49
not why you're hiking there. You're hiking there
37:51
because the name says Grizzly Lake. Must see
37:53
a grizzly there, right? You might. Honestly,
37:57
grizzlies are in this area right now. I did it
38:00
last year after that October snowstorm and there
38:03
are grizzly tracks fresh all over this trailhead.
38:06
It was really cool. I also do it in the spring
38:08
pretty much every year and there's always bear
38:10
prints out there. Really good area for bears
38:13
when they're in the region. They might be, I
38:15
don't know what food source is currently there,
38:17
but it's worthwhile. The reason I'm recommending
38:20
it is because it's short, there's a good elevation
38:23
gain and loss, but it gets you out into the wilds
38:27
of the park. You get a look at a remote lake
38:29
that not a lot of people see, and you have an
38:31
opportunity to do some other exploration. If
38:35
you were to hike just to the lake from the trailhead,
38:39
it's 4 .4 miles out and back, about 700 feet
38:43
of elevation gain. You're gonna start next to
38:47
a trailhead, you're gonna walk through a little
38:48
marsh, you're gonna climb up a steep hill with
38:51
switchbacks and then you're gonna be in this
38:53
beautiful reclaimed forest after the fires the
38:56
trees have grown back and generally you're just
38:58
walking in this gorgeous area there's some marmots
39:02
out there if they haven't started hibernating
39:04
yet and you know you're gonna climb quite a bit
39:08
you're gonna have a little bit of flat and by
39:11
flat it's not flat flat it's rolling flat and
39:14
then you're going to drop quite a bit in elevation
39:17
you're gonna go from about seven 7 ,800 feet
39:20
down to 7 ,650, so 150 feet down to the lake.
39:25
If you walk around the lake, if you go to the
39:27
left of the lake, you're just going to walk along
39:30
the shore. If you go to the right, you can walk
39:32
there until you get to the creek. And at the
39:35
creek, there's a lot of logs down that are blocking
39:37
it. If you feel up for it, I highly recommend,
39:41
if you're skilled and you know what you're doing,
39:45
crossing those logs or crossing that creek then
39:49
going a little further on the trail on the other
39:52
side. There's gonna be a trail on the other side
39:54
that heads north. Walk that as far as you want.
39:57
It's a great area that gives you just more of
40:01
Yellowstone's wilderness. There's some fall colors
40:03
out there. There's potential for wildlife. Last
40:06
time I did this I saw grizzly on this side of
40:09
the trail just walking through. When I was crossing
40:11
that log section I had an otter pop up. I've
40:15
seen moose out here. It's a good wildlife area.
40:18
I've seen elk. It's a nice remote area that you're
40:21
really going to enjoy if you feel like doing
40:25
something extra. If you went all the way along
40:27
this trail you would then cross back. You'd have
40:30
to wade through a creek and then you would end
40:32
up at an entirely different trailhead. I do not
40:36
recommend that. That's the Mount Holmes trail.
40:38
I would cross the lake hike until the junction
40:42
with the mount holmes trail then turn around
40:45
and come back that's going to give you probably
40:48
10 miles but it's a gorgeous 10 miles and you're
40:51
going to have to cross that log creek crossing
40:53
again but you know once you're out there it's
40:55
fun if you hike this just know there is a very
40:59
high potential for wildlife not just bears but
41:03
moose, which are also aggressive right now, elk,
41:06
which can also be aggressive, so be vigilant.
41:09
There's also wolves and stuff out there, so you
41:10
never know what you're gonna see. Just be smart,
41:13
be safe, carry bear spray, have it readily accessible
41:15
and not in your backpack, know how to use it,
41:18
and above all else, have a great time. Sit, listen
41:22
to the sounds, watch the clouds, take every minute
41:27
you can in the back country of Yellowstone. and
41:30
enjoy it because it's not something we get often.
41:33
And when you get it and you understand it, it's
41:36
addicting and you'll want it more. All right,
41:39
that is it for this week. In the next episode,
41:41
I'm going to return with all the information
41:43
you need to have a good week in the park. That,
41:46
of course, includes the wildlife update, the
41:48
weather, a trail, some sort of history that I
41:51
feel like talking about. Until then, consider
41:55
booking a tour with me in 2027. Pick up a guidebook
41:58
of mine. and happy trails.