Yellowstone - Elephant Back Trail

Yellowstone National Park is one of the highlights on our trip. We have been looking forward to being here for a long time.

Arriving in the park to see the sun coming over the mountains after a very early start from Jackson was just wonderful.

Elephant Back Mountain was our first hike of the day after being fully briefed by Kinsey, our guide, on how to behave and use bear spray when encountering wild animals.
First lesson: Don't run!!

Elephant Back Mountain is a 3.6-mile lollipop loop that climbs to a plateau top with unrivalled views of Yellowstone Lake and the Absaroka Mountain.

Elevation change of 244m was a little challenging for the first day. But the views at 2624m are absolutely stunning.

A couple of titbits I remember
👆Yellowstone was the home of one Native American tribe: the Sheepeaters (or Sheep Eaters), so-called for their primary food source, bighorn sheep. They were seminomadic hunters who followed the bighorn sheep migration to high elevation in the summer and back down to lower valleys in the winter.
They used to make spearheads from the obsidian that they found in the soil. Making their weapons strong.
👆The fires of 1988 collectively were the largest recorded wildfire in Yellowstone. Even 34 years later the impacts can still be seen. Some of the areas haven't recovered yet and regrowth is very limited. Also, the burned, dead trees hardly decompose because of the dry air.Read more