Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
through boggy sections. Near the poorly marked Turbid Lake Trail junction, scan the
forest edge (and trail) for signs of coyotes, bison, elk and grizzlies.
A mile further on the trail passes the rickety remains of the
Pelican Creek Bridge
,
near which you may spot cutthroat trout. Make the easy ford and climb a terrace for 1.5
miles to the bridge over
Astringent Creek
, just before another junction. The marshy area
around a group of thermal springs just south of the trail offers good wildlife-watching.
Continue east along the forest edge, scanning the clover patches for bear scat.
REGENERATION - AFTER THE FIRE
Catastrophic wildfires swept across 1.4 million acres of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem in the summer of
1988 and torched one-third of Yellowstone National Park. More than 25,000 firefighters battled 51 fires during the
driest summer in 112 years. The fires jumped roads, rivers and even the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.
Twenty-five years later, the aftermath of the fires is still very much in evidence. Yet far from marking a disaster,
many observers now describe the fires as a natural event heralding a new cycle of growth.
Many plants and trees depend on high temperatures to trigger the release of their seeds (lodgepole pines require
temperatures of 113 degrees to melt the resin holding theirs in place), and surveys estimated that there were as
many as one million seeds per acre on the ground during the fall of 1988. It was also found that only 390 large
mammals (less than 1% of the park's total) perished in the fires, the vast majority being elk (and six bears). The
year after the fires, the populations of all grazing and browsing mammals flourished thanks to succulent new ve-
getative growth. Birds thrived on the increased numbers of insects living on dead wood. Ten years later grasses,
wildflowers and shrubs were clear winners, aided by increased sunlight and soil nutrients.
For hikers, Yellowstone's scenery has been affected to a certain degree, but not all in a bad way and certainly
not to the apocalyptic degree described by the media at the time. Wildflowers are blooming, many views are now
unimpeded and it's now easier to see the wildlife thanks to the burns and richer grazing. Smokey the Bear would
be proud.
Follow the old service road northeast for 1.5 miles to another easy ford of Pelican
Creek and the Upper Pelican Creek Trail junction. Stay in the meadows to the right for
0.33 miles to the Pelican Cone Trail junction, where a small stream provides the valley's
best drinking water. The ill-defined trail cuts south away from the valley edge, crossing
meadows to ford
Raven Creek
. Search carefully for a shallow spot. There are plenty of
waist-deep swimming holes here.
Beyond Raven Creek, the poorly defined trail heads southeast through sagebrush-inter-
spersed meadows. The trail passes through a dormant thermal area with sulfurous odors.
After a patch of unburned forest, follow through rolling sagebrush hills to the
Pelican
Springs Patrol Cabin
and the Mist Creek Pass Trail junction. From here, it's a well-
