Backpacking Yellowstone National Park - Michael Holm's Portfolio
× Home Publications
▶︎ Photography
Astrophotography Wildlife
Hiking CV

Summary

I recently went on a 5 day, 4 night backpacking trip through Yellowstone National Park with a group of friends. We hiked a total of about 50 miles. We started at the northwest corner of the park, and went in a loop. We hiked through the Gallatin area of the park, which is one of the main areas of bear activity. Unfortunately, we didn't see any bears, but we did see some other wildlife, including elk and deer. The trip was the hardest backpacking trip I've done so far, due to really intense elevation changes.

Throughout the trip, we hiked up and over two mountain passes, summited a different mountain (Electric Peak, the second tallest in Yellowstone), and had a total elevation gain of about 10,000 feet. Being from the midwest, the high elevation hiking was definitely a challenge. Additionally, on our first day of hiking, one of the group members got food poisoning from some bad cheese, and had a VERY upset stomach. We seriously consisdered turning around and going back to the car, but ended up deciding to continue on. This thankfully turned out to be a good decision, as that group member ended up being mostly recovered by the end of the following day.

Our campsites were all great, and our milages came out to 11 miles the first day, then 8 miles, then 7 miles (up and down Electric Peak), then 7 miles, then 16 miles(!) back to the car. That 16 mile day was very diffictult, as it again required going up and over a mountain pass, but we were all very motivated to get back to the car. My feet looked like marshmallows for about 2 days after that hike, but it was worth it.

If you're interested in organizing your own hike in Yellowstone, go to this link for information on how to get a backcountry permit.

Weather

The weather was great for most of our hike, and considering that it was the middle of summer, we got lucky. There was very little rain, but it wasn't intensely dry or hot. The temperature rarely got above 75 degrees, and at night it was usually in the 40s or 50s. There was a nice breeze during the days that kept bugs mostly away, however when we got in the trees, the mosquitoes were pretty bad. Additionally, up on the high mountain passes, the wind was insane, and I genuinely thought I was going to be blown off the mountain a couple times. There was still a bit of snow at the really high elevations (10,000 feet and above), but it wasn't bad. We had considered bringing microspikes for potential ice, but ended up deciding against it, and didn't need them in the end.

Highlights

We had a couple of pretty great highlights on this trip. The first highlight was reaching our camp the first night. Our first day was pretty difficult with the food poisoning case, and setting all our stuff down at that campsite for the first time was such a relief.

The second highlight was getting to the top of the first mountain pass. This was a really tough climb, especially with the food poisoning case, and the entire hike up, we were not sure if we were actually going to make it. For the last (approximately) 500 feet of elevation gain, we were either crawling on all fours with our 50 pound packs, or just taking 3-4 steps at a time then resting for 30 seconds, due to how steep and high elevation it was. But we made it to the top, and the view was absolutely incredible. We could see for miles in every direction, and we saw a big herd of elk on the other side of the ridge. Then we stopped to eat lunch behind some brush so we could get out of the wind. It was a pretty rewarding spot to eat lunch.

Third was summiting Electric Peak. This was a day trip we did on our third day, and it was one of the hardest days of hiking I've ever done. We had our packs packed for a day hike, but they were still around 15-20 pounds with all the food, water, and photography gear I brought. The hike up was really steep, and there was a lot of loose rock. We had to stop a lot, and several times I considered turning around. There were points where we were needing to rock climb up and down the mountainside, with our packs on, and below us was a sheer drop off. At one point, one of the guys in our group commented that it was one of the most dangerous things he'd done in a long time. But it was fun! And the view made it worth it.

Also, we crossed paths with a group badass of 60 year old women that summited the mountain about 15 minutes before us, and that really put me in my place :). However they were very impressed that we were all from the midwest and doing that hike, so that made up for it a little bit.

Fourth was just the general experience of being at camp at night. Every night except for one we had a campfire, and we'd all spend 2 or 3 hours around the fire, reading, playing games, and just talking. The two other guys on the trip with me are very good friends of mine, so it was nice to be able to catch up with them about life.

Finally, it's kind of weird to call this a highlight, but the last day of hiking, with 16 miles, felt so good to complete. Knowing that we had covered a not insignificant part of Yellowstone in a single day, on foot, was pretty cool to think about. It was also a pretty fun bonding experience with the other two guys, because we were all going through hell together hiking those last 2 or 3 miles. And of course, it started raining right at the last few miles, so we got to stop and put on all our rain gear. But reaching the car just felt so good.

Packing list for the hike

  • Clothing
    • Base gloves
    • 1 t-shirt
    • 1 sweatshirt
    • 2 pairs of sock liners
    • 1 long sleeve shirt
    • 2 pairs of underwear
    • 2 pairs of wool socks
    • Wool hat
    • Raincoat
    • 1 pair of sweatpants
    • Rain pants
    • 1 pair of zip off pants
    • 1 sunhat
  • First Aid
    • Medical tape
    • Tylenol
    • Hand sanitizer
    • Hot hands heat packs
    • Lip balm
    • A&D ointment (for chafing)
    • Allergy pills
    • Search and Rescue Insurance
  • Food & Smellables
    • Bear spray
    • Bear cannister
    • 8 Mountain House freeze dried meals
    • 14 Clif bars
    • 14 Tuna packets (yuck 😖)
    • A jar of creamy peanut butter
    • A block of cheddar cheese (shouldn't have brought this, the weather was too hot and it went bad)
    • Gatorade electrolyte mix
    • 14 Fruit snack bags
    • A bag of dried mangoes
    • A fork
    • Sunscreen
    • Small tube of toothpaste
    • Soap
  • Shoe gear
    • 1 pair of hiking boots
    • 1 pair of tevas
  • Sleeping gear
    • 1 Big agnes 2 person tent
    • 1 Exped Synmat HL MW sleeping pad
    • 1 Mountain Hardware 20 degree synthetic sleeping bag
    • 1 Sleeping bag liner
    • 1 Inflatable pillow
    • 1 Sleeping pad repair kit
    • 1 Ground tarp
  • Cooking gear
    • 1 Pot
    • 1 Pocket Rocket stove
    • 80/20 Isobutane Fuel
    • 2 Lighters
    • 1 Sponge
  • Electronics
    • 1 26800 mAh power bank
    • 1 Phone
    • 1 Garmin In Reach
    • 1 Garmin Fenix 6 GPS watch
    • Charging cords
    • 1 Camera (Olympus OMD EM1 Mk 3)
    • 2 Lenses (Olympus M. Zuiko 12 - 45 mm lens and Olympus 100-400mm f/5-6.3 IS M.Zuiko Digital ED Lens)
    • 1 Peak Design Carbon Fiber Tripod
    • 1 Extra camera battery
    • 1 Peak Design Capture Clip
    • 1 Kindle
  • General gear
    • 1 Deuter Air Contact Lite 85 + 10 quart backpack
    • 4 32 oz water bottles
    • 1 Grayl 24 oz Water filter
    • 1 Rain cover for backpack
    • 1 Trowel
    • 1 Headlamp
    • 1 Compass
    • 1 Map
    • 2 Toilet paper rolls
    • 1 Small toothbrush
    • 1 Bug net for the head
    • 2 Bug spray bottles
    • Fire Starters
    • Fire straws
    • 1 Small towel

Our route

Shown below is a map of the route we took through Yellowstone. We started and ended at Fawn Pass Trailhead. Here's a download link for the GPX file of our route.

Yellowstone Route Map
Map of our route through Yellowstone
Additionally, here is an elevation profile of our route. Overall there was about 10,000 feet of ascent and descent over the course of the hike.
Yellowstone Elevation Profile
Elevation profile of our route through Yellowstone

Pictures

Here are some of the best pictures from the trip.

An image of a blue hot spring
A hot spring (too hot for people) in central Yellowstone
A river running through a forest
A river running through central Yellowstone
A geyser erupting
A picture of Old Faithful geyser erupting
An elk in a field
An elk we saw in central Yellowstone
A photo of a bison in a field
A bison we saw while driving through central Yellowstone
A photo of two people hiking in a field
Us starting the hike, about a mile into the first day
A photo of a river running through a forest
Another view of a river, about 3 miles into our first day
A photo of a campsite
The group sitting around the campfire on the first night
An image of a mountain view
The view from about halfway up our hike going through the mountain pass on the second day
An image of a mountain ridgeline
Us nearing the top of the first mountain pass
A photo of a herd of elk
A herd of elk that we saw about 2 miles from us on the other side of the ridge at the top of the pass
A photo of a group hiking down a mountain
Us descending the first pass, getting close to our second camp
A picture of me sitting on a rock
A picture of me ready to summit Electric Peak
An image of a mountain peak
Electric Peak from the base of the mountain
A photo of a person at a mountain summit
A picture of me at the summit
A photo of a view from a mountain peak
The view from the summit of Electric Peak
A photo of a butterfly with white wings
A butterfly we passed by on our hike to our last campsite
A photo of a lake in a mountain
A lake we found at the top of the second mountain pass, about halfway done with the 16 mile day
A photo of a trail leading down a mountain
The group heading down the second pass, descending to the car
A photo of a frog
A frog we saw while heading to the car
A photo of the group at the finish
The group at the car right after finishing our hike

Conclusion

This hike was the hardest backpacking trip I've done so far. The path was just so steep at some points I felt like the only way to keep going forward was to literally crawl. Plus, the food poisoning case made the first day especially difficult. But even so, the trip was so fun, and I was sad to be done after only about an hour in the car driving home. I had two really great guys to hike with, and we all got along really well. This was the second backpacking trip I've organized to a national park, and I feel like I'm really starting to learn how to navigate all the rules and logistics of backpacking in national parks.

Thanks for reading!