Yellowstone National Park, Mammoth Campground, day 6 Bunsen Peak Hike

Day 81 Saturday September 3, 2016                     Mammoth, day 6

Sat outside with our coffee on this nice 52^o morning.  The elk came down the hill from Mammoth again this morning (actually every morning, but not necessarily on our end of the campground).  The bull elk was bugling quite a bit, rounding up his women.  When he got to the campground he was just up the road and broke a branch from a tree and practiced fighting with it, making believe it was another bull he was fighting.  Then he walked down the road and passed 3 feet in front of me.  It was kind of spooky having an animal that size armed with that rack walk by that close. 

Early morning bugling from the ridge.

Fighting with a tree branch.  Practicing for fights with other bulls.

How would you like to have this excited bull elk walk within 3 feet of you.  I was hoping he was in a good mood.

I made final preps for my hike up Bunsen Peak today.  I took off from the trailhead at 08:15. The peak is 2.1 miles away by trail, and 1,300 feet up.  I arrived at the top at 10:15. I stopped many times to take pictures.  I spent about 15 minutes at the summit.  There was a shed there and all kinds of communication antennas for the town of Mammoth, according to the sign up there.  There was another sign that said to use caution, bears frequent the area.  I removed my pack and ate some snacks.  On the way up I used my pocket camera to take pictures.  I had my “good” camera in my pack to take pictures at the summit.  I did, but kept it on the neck strap all the way down and took more.  I thought it would be uncomfortable slinging it around my neck while hiking and trying to take pictures with trekking poles straps around my wrists, but it worked out fine.  I left the summit at 10:30 and arrived at the truck at 11:30. Two hours up, one hour down.  Here’s some pictures I took going up (with my pocket camera) and coming down (with my Canon EOS Rebel SLR).

Here’s some pictures of the trail:

Starts out easy.

Then it gets a little harder.

Then it goes through talus as you get higher.

Rocky and steeper.

Almost there.  The power pole detracts, but they have to get the wires up there somehow.

Cabin at the top.

Here's some scenery on the way up:

Electric Peak.  Highest mountain in Yellowstone Park.

Another view of Electric Peak.

Mammoth Hot Springs zoomed in from the summit.

An interesting tree.

A rock outcrop.

Looking west.

And here’s some from the summit:

A blurry picture of my GPS at the summit.

Signs at the trailhead: 

Wildlife seen on the trail:

Mountain grouse.  Nice camouflage.

Mountain grouse.  Didn't even have to zoom.  Could get close and didn't have to zoom.

Chipmunk.

Plants (for Marsha):

Fireweed.

On the way back to camp, there was a massive bear jam not far from the trailhead.  I saw it from the mountain.  At Yellowstone a jam is a bunch of cars parked on both sides of the road and people getting out, all standing in one spot, pointing cameras all in the same direction, because there is a critter there.  The jam is named after the type of critter.  In this case it was a black bear, down the embankment.  I played along and stopped, too.  When I got there he was standing on his hind legs.  See photo.

Bear jam picture taken from the mountain:

Bear jam.

Reason for bear jam..

I saw others pointing large lenses on cameras with tripods up the side of the mountain.  I could see the white spot that is a mountain goat. 

Can you find the mountain goat?

When I got back Marsha made me a big bowl of spaghetti. 

Sat out for a while and then went fishing for a short while.  Had one on, but he got off the hook.

Back at camp, I reviewed all the pictures I took today.  Was very happy with them.  I then sat outside and worked on the Baker’s Hole draft and assigned pictures to it.

We took a walk around the entire campground.  When we got back, it was getting really blustery and they were forecasting rain for tomorrow.  So we put everything away.