Adventures of a Yellowstoner #2 - I conquered Skyrim in July

Skyrim is a 16 mile trek that follows the the north-western boarder of Yellowstone for most of the way. The route we took had us climb 3 different peaks, and ended on Big Horn Peak 9934 ft(3028 m). Its called skyrim for a good reason. To get up to the skyrim trail, you have to climb up to the top of a narrow ridge, and the trail follow that for about 9 miles (14 km). We started early in the morning, arriving at the trailhead at around 04:00.

Less than a mile in, we encountered a moose, fairly close to the trail. In the low light it didn't look like a moose at first. This was the best photo I could get.

The trail started to climb up at this point, revealing some quite spectacular views.

Here you can kind of see how narrow the ridge was.

At this point the trail kept climbing.

This isn't just a straight climb up. This was fairly close to the top of the second peak, after which the trail drops down, quite steeply, then continues up. Almost straight up that mountain in the distance. It was honestly, the most difficult climb I did this year. The slope was so steep, you can't stand up. We resorted to crawling up it along the way. I was too tired to take any photos at this point. There isn't a defined here trail either, just big orange markers all the way up.

This is from google earth, to give you a better idea for how steep this was. My rough calculation puts it at a 54% grade! damn.

Finally at the top, this is what it looked like. Just a field of grass.

The trek down wasn't as steep, something I was rather conflicted about. With 6 miles left, all downhill, it felt like it took a lifetime to reach the bottom.

We encountered a rather eerie looking set of dead trees as we approached the tree line.

I was so tired, I had to take a nap in my car before I felt I was able to drive back to old faithful, but it was sooo worth it. Given the change, I would do it again, and take more photos.

I would like to post more often, but I've been extremely busy with school and work. Hopefully I can get a few more done by the end of the year.