The hike followed an old dirt road, built in 1905. Early tourists used to bring their Model-T’s up this road to the peak, but the cars could not handle the steep grade and had to make the trip in reverse. That is a scary thought, as many sections of the road are very close to large steep cliffs!
The road climbed upward steadily all the way to the summit, where there is a small interpretive center. About halfway up the mountain, we encountered deep, snowy sections of the trail. The views were amazing the entire way up the mountain and at the top we could see a great distance on all sides – even as far as the Tetons!
Mt. Washburn Trailhead
View from the beginning of the hike
About halfway up
The old dirt road that we walked up
My darling with an amazing view behind
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in the distance
Snowy path on the way to the summit
We could see for miles
The interpretive center at the top
Almost to the top!
As we enjoyed the views at the summit, we could see the sky darkening all around us. We decided to go back the way we had come rather than finish the hike as a shuttle – the steep sections of the trail would probably be hazardous, especially in the rain and we didn’t want to put ourselves in harm’s way. After a nice lunch break, we headed back down the mountain, making it to the car just as the sky opened up and it started pouring down rain. We definitely timed the hike perfectly – it was absolutely beautiful and we missed the bad weather.
We made it to the summit
We decided to stop at Artist’s Point really quickly to see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. It was amazingly beautiful and colorful and I was glad Colin was able to see it. Hopefully the weather will clear up so we can do some more hiking tomorrow.
Colin and I at Artist's Point
Beautiful--thank you for sharing! I did that hike with my 11 and 13 year old sons on July 22, and there was much less snow, but still enough for a couple of July snowballs. So glad we made the trip from RI!
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