Old Faithful 

August 2nd

Qtip was up and walking by 5 am.  He wanted to alter his permit at Old Faithful Village.  I  was glad because he was taller than me and would thus clear out all the spiderwebs.

I was hiking by 6. I descended to the main geyser basin near Old Faithful Village.  I had been here before with my family about 5 years earlier. It was cool to be there early before the crowds. 

I did eventually encounter the crowd as I neared the central visitors center.  I entered hoping to charge my electronics  in light of a long stretch.  However, over each outlet was a sign warning me that the park service did not allow the use of their outlets for “security” reasons. I can’t imagine the national security threat posed by backpackers charging their phones, but obviously someone made such a compelling case they were able to puchase signs.

I went to the grocery store and got some fruit and junk food.    In addition to Fritos, I purchased a couple candy bars, hard boiled eggs, and premade sandwiches.  

Once out of the village, I was on the type of trail I had expected: wide, well maintained and marked.   I passed a few families out hiking, some people fly fishing, and one backpacker.  

I met a trail crew.  Mostly younger folks doing this as a summer job.  About half seemed enthusiastic, the others seemed grumpy given the work and the heat.

In the afternoon I came across a designated campsite sign.  It indicated campfires were prohibited there.  Walking up to take a snack break, I was surprised to see not just a fire pit, but smoke coming from it.  Recently, somebody had a fire there, but stupidly sought to put it out by pushing forest floor on top.  In dry conditions, the forest floor is mostly pine needles. It took two trips to the nearby stream to get enough water to deeply soak the smoldering mound.

It was a long hike to my second designated site.  Unfortunately, part of the trail was a bog, so I got both feet soaked.  

One interesting sight was a tree with a park service trail marker about 10 feet high.  Below that, a bear had scratched the tree marking it as the bear’s territory as well.

I was bracing myself for a noisier campsite since this one allowed up to 8 tents.  When I arrived around 7:30, I had it all to myself, including the luxurious pit toilet. 

I slept really well.