Heart Lake Backpack, Yellowstone National Park

In mid August, we backpacked to the Heart Lake Basin in Yellowstone National Park. We spent 4 days/3 nights in the Yellowstone backcountry and had a wonderful time. Total backpacking distance was ~23 miles.

Backpacking in Yellowstone is done on a permit system. Hiking and backpacking info from the National Park Service is available here. We submitted our permit request in January and found out in early April that we were awarded permits for the dates and route we submitted.

Saturday, August 13th, 2011
Heart Lake Trailhead to Heart Lake Campsite 8H3
9 miles

The trail into Heart Lake Basin travels through an area that was nearly obliterated by the 1988 fires. The lodgepole pines are growing back slowly, but are only ~15-25 feet tall and don't provide much shade. We did the hike during the mid day hours and found it to be very hot due to the sun beating down on us.

Factory Hill on the trail into Heart Lake Basin. The lake can be seen in the distance. Damage from the 1988 Yellowstone fires is visible on the slopes of Factory Hill on the right.

Nice thermal feature along the trail

We arrived at our campsite in the early evening. While we were setting up camp, an American Marten (aka pine marten) came by to check out a squirrel nest in a snag.

Pine Marten investigating the squirrel nest.

Very unhappy Mama squirrel.

Pine marten close up. A rented Nikkor 80-400mm lens helped get close to this little guy.

Apparently raiding squirrel nests is very hard work and quite tiring to pine martens!

"This is my camp!" Pine marten with a crazy look in his eye.

This stream ran through our campsite and created a beautiful soundtrack for sleeping. Mt Sheridan is the mountain in the background.

Full moon rising over Heart Lake.

Full moon close up

Sunday, August 14th, 2011
Exploring Rustic Geyser Basin and
Eastern Group Geyser Basin

Sunrise near our campsite.

Paintbrush and other assorted wildflowers

Lots of birds near camp


On the trail to Rustic Geyser Basin


Rustic Geyser Basin. This was a really cool experience for us and was one of the highlights of the backpacking trip. This basin has several beautiful pools and a good sized geyser. There were no boardwalks and no people, so we were free to explore the entire basin. This is quite a contrast to the hoards of people and boardwalks at the front country geyser basins.

Columbia Pool. The water looks refreshing, but looks can be deceiving, since the water temp is 189 degrees F.

Scott and Angie at Columbia Pool

Scott and Columbia Pool

Bubbling thermal feature

Angie exploring the basin with camera in hand. Her goal was to get an image of every thermal feature in the basin. She succeeded.

Rustic Geyser eruption. Rustic Geyser erupts for about 40-60 seconds every 10-90 minutes. While we were there is was going off about every 30-45 minutes. The eruption lifted the water about 20-30 feet in the air.

Angie's video of Rustic Geyser erupting


Amazing colors around the thermal features


After having lunch and watching Rustic Geyser erupt 4 times, we headed over to the Eastern Group Basin.

Eastern Group Basin


Scott near a small pool.



Scott composing an image.

End result.

On our way back from the geyser basins, we ran into a pair of sociable backpackers from Eastern Texas. They had arrived that day and told us they saw grizzly tracks for about 2 miles on the trail coming into the Heart Lake Basin! They never saw the bear, but had their bear spray ready. They also told us the Park Service had dispatched several rangers into the area near our campsites to look for a missing moose calf. Apparently the moose calf had gone missing sometime during the previous few days and the mother moose was still in the area. The rangers were worried that the calf may have perished and that wolves and bears might converge on the area...not good! They spent most of the evening looking for the moose calf (they never found it) and trying to scare the mother moose away from the campsites. They actually went as far as to shoot shotgun blanks into the air to try to spook the moose. We thought we might have problems sleeping that night, but amazingly once we went to bed, we were out.

Back in camp. Angie and the campfire she built all by herself. Single match!

Angie's favorite part of the 8H3 campsite was the new composting toilet which was just installed this year. Check out her video tour below.


Sunset near our campsite. The wildflowers were at peak bloom while we were in the area This was quite a treat, since the flowers usual peak several weeks earlier. A hard winter and cool spring kept significant snowpack over Yellowstone until late June, which contributed to the late wildflowers.

Night image of the stream near our campsite

Camping under the stars

Monday, August 15th, 2011
Backpacking from site 8H3 to 8J1 - 3.5 miles

The following morning, we got up early expecting to climb Mt Sheridan (10,308 feet). Everything looked good early, but as the morning went on thunderstorms began to build. Once we started hearing thunder and seeing lightning, we decided to skip the climb and explore the area around our campsite.

Thunderstorms over Heart Lake

Small stream coming down the slopes of Mt Sheridan. Thunderstorms building in the background.

A beautiful moment between thunderstorms

Scott and Angie at Heart Lake

On the way to our campsite on the other side of the lake, we spotted the moose that had been hanging out in the area. Apparently it was not afraid of the shotgun blasts! We saw this moose at about 100 yards, which was about as close as we would want to be in the backcountry.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
Campsite 8J1 to the Heart Lake Trailhead - 9.5 miles

Down on the beach near campsite 8J1, we found grizzly tracks in the sand. From the look of the track the bear must have come through the area sometime during the previous day. Seeing a track like this definitely grabs your attention!


Scott's self portrait (Angie slept in). Heart Lake and Mt Sheridan are in the background.

Moonset over Mt Sheridan

Looking all the way across the lake to our previous campsite (8H3)

Snowshoe Hare in summer clothes

Wildflowers near our campsite

On the hike back to the trailhead, the trail follows the beach on the north end of Heart Lake for about a mile. Hiking in sand with a backpack on is seriously hard work!


Parting shot from the Heart Lake Basin...doesn't get much better than this!

This was an outstanding backpacking trip. We really enjoyed all of the thermal features and wildlife in the area. Spending four days in the Yellowstone backcountry is an experience we will always remember. If you ever have an opportunity to get into the backcountry at Yellowstone, take it!