Day 88 Grant Village Nero

12.1 miles

Lightning flashed through the trees in the deep morning dark, followed by low rumbles of thunder. Rain was coming. It started with a few big drops which was enough to shake me from sleep, jump out of my tent and retrieve my bear bag by head torch before it got a thorough soaking. Still too dark and too early to fully rise I returned to the comforting warm of my quilt and snoozed for a while longer. 

Rain started to belt down soon after however it was obvious from the pattern of sound from the thunder that this cell was rolling through and would pass. It did which was great. As with yesterday, today would be a short day and there was no need to rush. I was prepared to just linger in bed for as long as it took for the rain to clear. It didn’t take too long and was time to get moving.

There is nothing worse than packing up a wet camp. Everything has a dampness to it and I’d have to look for an opportunity to dry gear later in the day.

It was awesome to finally get to see some of Yellowstone’s geo-thermal features on the way out this morning with the trail leading along a steaming river snaking its way through the landscape. It was easy to track the rivers route owing to the multiple steaming vents rising against the damp morning air. 

As tempting as it was to find a pool with the right temperature for a warm soak I stuck to the track. Smaller pools with the richest blues would appear randomly on the trail and at times while no obvious thermal activity could be seen, you could feel the warm earth underfoot beneath the ground.

As predicted, it didn’t take long to reach the road. Now it was time to hitch. This hitch can be tricky as just about all the traffic are tourists who have no knowledge of the CDT or have any interest in picking up random smelly hikers. There were so many top end expensive cars passing that you just know will not pick you up. Many, many Jeeps, Rams, Audi’s and Mercedes. The easiest hitches seem to be with young folks out touring, like minded people like hikers and bikers on the road and foreign tourists. 

Luckily it took only 20 minutes for a car to pull up. They actually passed at first, turning around to come back and collect me. Young Luke and Finn from Alaska passing through Yellowstone on their way to hike some trails in the Grand Tetons. Like anyone who picks you up they were fascinated to hear of the CDT and amazed that I’d got this point by hiking from the Mexican Border. They had me in Grants in no time. 

I quickly made my way to the restaurant inside the general store for a burger and coffee. My phone battery was running low and both power banks as well. I suspected the way I had packed my electronics bag that the power buttons on both banks had bee activated, draining the batteries. I desperately needed to have them charged to keep my phone functioning at least until through to West Yellowstone. I searched out a table with a power outlet and took my time eating while things could charge up. My appetite was big enough for a second burger and coke which bought me more charging time. 

Finishing up lunch I headed outside and immediately ran into Bluejay, Redline and Etienne who had all hitched in to Grant Village as well. Looks like I sowed a seed as none had planned to stay here and all had permits for the Moose Campsite further up trail. I think they were all keen to change their permits, which can be done in Grants, to reflect a similar plan to mine, avoiding further short days between the Moose Campsite, Upper Fire Hole and Summit Lake as the parks standard itinerary has in place. I would camp in Grants tonight, move onto Upper Fire Hole tomorrow and exit the park the following day.

The beauty of the plan I had was that it would mean two breakfast buffets in a row, one in Grants tomorrow morning followed by another in Old Faithful Village the following day. I could also resupply from both Grants and Old Faithful Village which sees me carrying less food for this leg of the journey. Both locations are very pricey being inside the park but I’d rather pay a bit more than carry more food. The trick to the Old Faithful breakfast buffet is to time it to coincide with the Old Faithful Geyser eruption as the restaurant pretty much clears out. 

I wandered down to the massive campground 0.5 miles from the village and checked in. Although there is a sign out the front of the entrance stating ‘Campground Full’, they always have a few sites reserved for hikers and bikers. I was able to allocate me a site right next to a toilet block which is awesome as it has outlets to full charge up all my electronics. 

While updating this blog I saw Bluejay and Redline coming in. They had managed to change their permits and will also stay in Grants tonight at another site just up the way from mine. 

With another whole afternoon to take things east I took the time to dry all my gear, charge electronics and wandered back up the road to take a warm shower in a separate amenities block.

Later a biker would arrive to share my campsite and we’d spend the early evening comparing talking hiking and biking as we cooked dinner.