Hiking Up Mount Washburn
Yellowstone National Park
By: Meredith Miller
Published June 12, 2018
Written June 2017
All right, class - today we are going to talk about what it's like to hike up Mount Washburn!
Mount Who, you ask?
Mount Washburn is located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. Elevation at the top is a whopping 10,243 feet above sea level. There are two trail options to get to the summit:
1) Dunraven Pass, the trail from the south, is about 6.2 miles round trip through a more forested area (BEARS!!)
(2) Chittendon Road, which is actually a seldom used NPS service road. Chittendon Road is about 5.1 miles round trip, but at a steeper incline.
At the summit is a lookout area that has a 360˚ building that the park service used to use 24/7 post during the summers to watch for wildfires.
“In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks.” – John Muir
Randy and I decided to hike up the Chittendon Road trail on June 30th, 2017, which turned out to be a perfect day for Mt. Washburn. Because of the elevation, the top tends to be windy and chilly in nature, but Yellowstone also has these “afternoon rollers” – thunderstorms that happen basically every afternoon. Guess that happens over giant volcanoes.. But anyways, June 30th was perfect! No clouds in the sky when we started around 1pm, and all through the afternoon it was sunny and clear skies.
Randy and I had bought a “Hiking in Yellowstone” book as well as a map that covers all four areas of the park – Southeast/west and Northeast/west – which we used to help plan what hikes to do and the topography of the hikes. As a former Indian Guide, Randy assured me that he knows how to read a topography map and is an excellent scout.
So we start out on the trailhead, which is just a short, steep trail to the actual trail up the mountain. So anyways, he reads the map, and assures me that after this steep part the trail “sort of just level out.” So here I am thinking the hardest part is happening now and will be over in a minute.
Well, we get to the actual road that’s used as the trail, and we see it looping far up the mountain, and Randy says, “….I may have read the map wrong.” Yeah, he did. It’s literally a trail up a mountain. The steep part is not over in the first five minutes. So for anyone looking for an easy trail, don’t go to Mt. Washburn. I mean, we knew it was up a mountain so we were prepared, he just didn’t register that his map reading made no sense.
The hike up the mountain is gorgeous. The trail is known for its immense portrayal of wildflowers and view of the surrounding mountains, which means that not only should you plan for the typical four hours it takes to hike there and back, but also for the time spent viewing everything on the way. Don’t be afraid to stop though and rest.. when we got to this point I felt about as dead as these trees and we still had another mile to go up.
Also, word to the wise. The trail book told us that there would be a drinking fountain at the top. Lies!! At least, it was not in service when we got up there, because it appeared to be nonexistent. We had just finished our water, confident we’d be refilling before we headed back down, and then we couldn’t find any sort of drinking fountain. It was probably the most let down we’ve ever been.. But at least the hard part is the way up – I couldn’t imagine going up without water. (BRING A LOT OF WATER!)
“The trail is known for its immense portrayal of wildflowers and view of the surrounding mountains”
The view from the top is incredible. It is a full 360 degrees, and both our trail and the Dunraven Pass trail meet up at the top. You can see the Grand Tetons 70 miles to the south, the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and all around the north, east, and west part of the park. When you get to the top, it’s really hard to think about any problems you’re having because everything seems so insignificant and small when you’re up there. You literally rise above your problems. I think maybe Congress should move their Capitol Hill to the top of Mount Washburn. But that’s just me.
The hike down is just as great as the hike up. The only qualm I had was figuring out where to shift my weight to so that I didn’t feel like I was walking like a pregnant troll (and by that I mean waddling with my stomach way forward and my back leaning backwards), or feel like I was leaning forward too much and about to just fly down the mountain face forward. I can understand why people use walking sticks now.
All in all, the hike up Chittendon Road takes about 6 hours for the average hiker (which includes Randy and I). That allows for time spent resting, stopping for pictures, and time at the top to look around (and not refill your water bottle). Another thing to be prepared for: the whole time on the mountain, you’re either stripping down or you’re frantically looking for your sweater. I started out cold at the bottom, since I hadn’t started moving yet and the breeze was kind of chilly, to taking all my sweaters/vest off, to putting my sweater back on, to putting my big sweater on, to back to just my shirt. Keep in mind this was at the end of June. I mean, if you’re looking to get a good workout in, the hassle with the clothes might get your heart rate up in and of itself.
Once we were back down the mountain, we headed back at the campsite. We celebrated our success with grilled bison burgers, and watched the sun set over the mountains.
Thank you for reading about our experience hiking up Mount Washburn, please feel free to share your own story about hiking or your experience in any of our National Parks in the comment section below. Check out the National Park site here to start planning your next trip, and #FindYourPark. Happy Travels!
Pingback: Journey to Jackson (Wyoming)America's Road Trip and Best of The Interstate