Bliss Pass

Today Colin, Charlotte, and I hiked to Bliss Pass, a 15 mile out and back.  The trail begins at the Pebble Creek Trailhead. We got an early start, leaving the dorm at 7:30 and began hiking before 9 AM. The weather was chilly when we began, at about 45 degrees. 

The trail began its initial 1200 foot climb immediately. The climb brought us up and over a mountain ridge and down into a gorgeous valley on the other side.  

A nice view from the climb at the start of the hike

Hiking down into the meadow

We hiked across the flat valley for several miles. We forded Pebble Creek once and crossed it a few other times before entering a short section of burned forest. At the 5.5 mile mark, we took the two mile spur trail to Bliss Pass. 

Several hundred yards into the spur trail, we had to ford Pebble Creek once again. Afterwards, the trail started switchbacking steeply towards Bliss Pass. We enjoyed views of magnificent mountains in every direction on the hike up to Bliss Pass. While the mountains around us were very rocky and dramatic, Bliss Pass itself was a lovely, grassy spot between two mountains. We enjoyed our lunch and then took a short nap before heading back down to the trailhead. 

Pebble Creek 

A lovely view as we switchbacked up to Bliss Pass

Charlotte and me at Bliss Pass

As I am leaving Yellowstone tomorrow for school, this was a fantastic capstone hike. I will be very sorry to leave such an amazing place, but feel very lucky to have spent a summer here. I have made some wonderful friends and seen some incredible sights. I am very happy to say that I will be back next summer to complete my project in lieu of thesis at the Heritage and Research Center where I worked this summer. My project will be to make a disaster management plan for the museum collection. Already, I can't wait to come back to this place!