[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Yellowstone Up Close and Personal Chat Page Version 1.60 ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Ballpark Frank (66.58.238.35) on 13:19:46 08/12/12
In Reply to: route description? posted by Jim
Jim,
First, the easiest way to find the petrified trees is to go up the first time with someone else who has been there, and can lead you to them. That's how most of us found them the first time.
Second, if you don't have easy access to someone who is willing to take you up there, do some research on the web, and check the published hiking guides. The trailhead is plenty easy to find. It is on the right side of the road as you proceed toward Lamar Valley from the Tower/Roosevelt area. It is about a half mile before you get to the bridge over the Lamar River (where the construction is going on). There is room for about 8 or 10 vehicles as I remember.
Think of this trail as segmented into 4 sections. The first is almost level, and takes you from the trailhead to where the trail starts climbing noticeably through an open meadow. This second section is clearly visible from the road. It is a well beat in trail that rises from the flat section to the forest, which is the third section. Once you enter the forest, the trail gets steeper still. It is a braided trail in some areas, but most take you toward your left as you gain elevation. Once you exit the forest, you are in the fourth and final segment, which is the open ridge. There are multiple, unmarked, trails through the steep meadow that will get you eventually to the ridgeline. As you negotiate this area, you will occasionally see chunks of petrified wood. Unfortunately, due to the many thousands of people who have trod this trail, and the small percentage who have no respect for the rules (or future generations), most chunks remaining are those too big to carry back to the road!
Your intermediate objective is to get over to the ridgeline (to your right) that overlooks Little America, facing Junction Butte and Electric Peak. Once you get to the ridgeline (and you will know it, because if you keep going, you will have a steep descent toward the road), hang a left, and continue your ascent along the ridgeline. Fairly early on, you will encounter a huge horizontal log and stump that are embedded in the hillside. After that, the trail eases up for a ways, before rising steeply. Eventually, you encounter several trails that go off to the right toward a small forested area. I generally prefer the first heavily used one, because it brings me to where Roadie's photos were taken. That spot is just over the side of the ridge.
At this point, you will have gained somewhere between 1,000 and 1,200 vertical feet if I remember correctly (could easily be off by a few hundred). If you have the energy/desire, and the weather permits, once you have visited the trees, continue on up that ridgeline until you reach the main ridgeline of Specimen Ridge. That area affords stunning views in virtually all directions, but particularly off to the south and southwest. You look into the Antelope Creek drainage and Mt. Washburn rising above it. If you walk toward Mt. Washburn a ways, you will intersect the Specimen Ridge trail. Occasionally, we will go over there, hang a right, and walk downhill toward the Yellowstone River Picnic Area trail, and take that to either the Specimen Ridge trailhead or the Yellowstone River Picnic Area. If you have a group with multiple vehicles, or are willing to thumb a ride, this makes a great one-way hike. Going to the top of the ridge adds another 800 vertical feet to your jaunt if I'm not mistaken, but it is well worth it.
Over the years, we have seen bighorn sheep up along the ridgeline on roughly half the treks up there. Several times, we have observed bears, both black and grizzly, over to the left (as you ascend), in the Crystal Creek drainage.
One suggestion I would make to anyone reading this, and thinking of going up there is that if you find you like going all the way to the top, and you are crazy about the views you get off mountaintops, hike Avalanche Peak, off the East Entrance Road. It's 2 miles and about 2,000 vertical feet to some of the best views in Yellowstone (without investing many hours getting to the top of mountains like Electric Peak, Mt. Holmes, or Mt. Sheridan).
I personally would not do either hike without carrying pepper spray!
Ballpark
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Yellowstone Up Close and Personal Chat Page Version 1.60 ] [ FAQ ]