Hike #6: Bunsen Peak to YCC Camp (7/13/2012)

Katrina's brother Nicholas came over for the weekend and we planned some heavy duty hiking for him.  We woke up Friday morning to find resident Bison Fred in our yard.  He gave us the side-eye on his way to the parking lot to size up our cars.

Bunsen Peak is right outside of our dwelling, you can actually see it in the background behind Fred!  It is a robust climb to the top, about 1300 feet elevation gain in just over 2 miles to the top.  We switched carrying Ilija off between Katrina and myself on the way up, though Katrina got him most of the way to the top.  On the way up you pass by Cathedral Rock, and jutting outcrop of rock on the side of Bunsen.  As a side note, Bunsen Peak is named after the famed Robert Bunsen for whom our middle school science classes are made awesome by!

Another shot of the side of Bunsen headed up the switchbacks.

Austin, Ilija, and Nicholas approaching the top of the peak.

Looking North towards Gardiner from the peak of Bunsen.  Mammoth hot springs is the white stripe in the middle of the photo.

Ilija playing with rocks at the top of Bunsen.  Communication equipment is in the background.  Although Bunsen Peak is a pretty popular hike in YNP we only saw one person that day and it was up here at the top.  It is really interesting how a popular hike translates in typically seeing less than 5 people all day on the trail.

Katrina, Nicholas, and Ilija on top of Bunsen looking south toward Mt. Holmes.

The family getting ready to head down.

Nicholas was kind enough to carrying Ilija for a large chunk of the trip down.  The hike down was pretty brutal as we hiked the backside of Bunsen back to our apartment.  You lose about 1800 feet (I think) this way and the trip is four miles.  The first part coming right off the peak was surprisingly not steep and winds through areas all burnt during the fire of 1988.

When you get to the base of Bunsen, there is an option to climb and addition 800 feet down into Sheepeater Canyon to see Osprey Falls.  We ended up skipping this portion of the hike as our knees were beginning to feel it and Ilija was becoming restless from sitting in the backpack for about 3 hours.  The canyon is really incredible and you can hear the roar of the falls and eventually see the waterfall from the trail without going all the way, which we are saving for another day.

Katrina at the cliffs edge!

It was about 4 hours of hiking and over six miles, which made for a pretty full day of hiking.  The boys took there shirts off to relax and cool off inside, as it was approaching 90 degrees F by the time we made it back home.  Ilija went straight for the belly buttons :)