Hike #7: Trout Lake (7/14/2012)

Friday evening brought Tony and Mary to YNP to spend two days hiking with us.  Along with Tony and Mary came a few growlers of Carter's Beer!  Below is Papa reviewing the farm animals with Ilija while Nicholas looks on and consumes Carter's.  We got up early Saturday and headed east to Lamar Valley, one of two primary locations in YNP known to host a great selection of wildlife (the other being Hayden Valley).  Trout Lake is far east in the park, very close to Soda Butte and the Northeast Entrance to the park.

Trout Lake is a short two-mile roundtrip hike that takes you up about 200 feet to a lake nestled in the mountains.  It is known to have a unique fish called the Cutbow, a mixing of Rainbow and Cutthroat trout!  In addition to the wily Cutbow (many anglers frequent Trout Lake, and Saturday was no exception) a family of River Otter are known to be sited in the early and late hours.

The brief hike up opens into a lake surrounded by mountains, presenting a very rugged and wild part of the park.  Along the drive and some of the hike you get fantastic views of the Beartooth Mountain range.

Ilija rode in the pack on the way up but walked the circumference of the lake on his own, insisting on using the hiking pole, with both hands, and the loop around one of them...

We finished the hike without being able to spot any river otter (we had just missed them) but saw plenty of Cutbow.  We headed back to the Montero and shipped off for Slough Creek.