I have longed to go to Yellowstone National Park USA for a very long time. There are many National Parks in the USA that are on my list, but Yellowstone has to be in the top 3. So finally I decided to go in September 2016. I had booked it a long time ago and used the 9 months to prepare.
Walking and camping for 6 days outdoors when you use a CPAP machine at night for breathing and carrying 6 days of batteries is no easy task especially for my size and fitness level so the preparation had to be right. I spent months taking day walks and regular lunchtime walks to build up the miles and get some weight off. I had been on several wild camps to tune my gear, a few I have already put on here. I needed to make sure I knew what gear I needed and it all worked. It was to be an epic trip so I had to make sure I was OK. The trip I booked was a 6 day guided hike in Yellowstone with a company called Wildland Trekking. They offer trips all around the world for people of all sorts but I get the feeling their primary market is for people who don't have a lot of time to plan the trips or want a guide if they are going somewhere for the first time. They were a great company who took a lot of care during the vetting process and seemed to ask all the right questions, well the ones I would ask if someone with sleep apnea asked to go. For those interested in the trip it was the Bechler River trip.
So I landed in Bozeman, Montana not really knowing what to expect, a 6 day hike with strangers and a guide, but I needn't have worried, both the guide and all my fellow hikers were amazing and we all got along. Ashley our guide was fantastic, a great asset to Wildland Trekking and we went over everything in our first meeting at the hotel. She was a very experienced hiker, knew the routes and seemed to be a font of all knowledge in the outdoors. She also cooked some amazing meals considering where we were and that we carried it all.
For 6 days we hiked across hills, forests, meadows, stopping to camp and bath in the hot springs that we were shown. Mr Bubbles was a favourite for the group, a very hot relaxing bath after a few days in the park was welcome.
There are so many memories I have of Yellowstone, but I think my best one would be standing watching this adult black bear feast on berries on the other side of a canyon. It was a breathtaking and humbling experience.
It is hard to put into words the beauty of Yellowstone in fall in all its glorious colours, but hopefully these pictures will give you an idea. A great place and some great memories, I hope I will be back and if you have ever thought of going, just do it you won't regret it.
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