“When a bear comes into your tent at night, it never has good intentions,” the narrator of the Yellowstone Bear Basics video droned. “Like humans, bears get the munchies at night. If they smell the those Cool Mint Chocolate or Chocolate Chip Peanut Crunch Clif Bars stashed in your tent, you've got a problem.”
Admittedly, my mind had drifted during the required bear safety video I had to watch in order to acquire my backcountry permit. I mean, come on. This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve spent enough time in the woods to be onboard the bear bandwagon and I’ll gladly give any carnivore that wants to dine on my chitlins the right of way on any trail. But the image of a wet nose sniffing my ear, a giant paw on my chest and sharp incisors piercing my jugular made me take pause.
“You sell bear spray, right?” I clarified with the park ranger.
“It’s the number-one selling item in the gift shop!”
Covering 2.2 million acres, Yellowstone is still a premier wilderness area. It’s hard to imagine it as such when every direction you turn in the main park is clogged with camera-wielding tourists. But most of the park is still backcountry and managed as such, with more than 1,100 miles of trails to take you deeper into the more remote thermal areas, cold water lakes, turbulent streams, and rugged mountains. To experience this, you have to take your chances with bears of all colors, motives and intentions.
The Seven Mile Hole trail is an example of where you can to get away from the crowds. All you need is an 18-minute Bear Basics video, backpack and a can of bear spray.
The trail descends into the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and is just one of the many overnight multi-day backcountry trips you can take with a permit.
Getting there
Drive southeast from Canyon Village about one mile, and then turn left on a two-way road heading east. Look for the turnoff to Inspriation Point and a behemoth 500-ton glacier boulder. Park along the road next to the boulder. The trailhead sign is just beyond.
The hike
I’ll start off with the basic disclaimer: This is a strenuous 5.5-mile one way trail with a 1,400 foot elevation change.
The first 1.5 miles is a nice, flat hike under shady pine trees that meanders along the Canyon's north rim. There are plenty of the short spur trails that take you to various overlooks off the main trail so you’ll want to keep your camera ready at all times. Be careful on the overlooks as there is no safety fencing. Be sure to look for the Silver Cord Cascade on the opposite side of the canyon. Dropping 1,300 feet, it’s the highest cascade in Yellowstone and is really very lovely.
At a trail junction with the Howard Eaton Trail, stay right and continue for another 1.5 miles (or so) until the trail begins to descend and comes to a foot bridge and a fork. Take the right fork to Seven-Mile Hole.
The trail continues easily for a bit (enjoy this while you can) and then arrives at the Canyon rim where the steep switchbacks begin. We packed collapsible ski poles, which proved to be a very good decision and are very handy at this point. On a side note, if you’ve ever hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (the one in Arizona), the terrain and effort is very similar.
Once you hit the switchbacks, the flora and fauna and geography changes from lush green forest to a post-apocalyptic desolate desert. One or two scenes from The Road come to mind. Watch your steps on the switchbacks because aside from being steep, the trail is rife with loose, gravelly soil, scree and scraggly, struggling vegetation in various stages of life. The air temperature increases as well, due to the many steaming fumaroles along the switchbacks. Be sure to check them out but use common sense. Like don’t hold your hand over the steam vents to see how hot it is.
At the bottom of the Canyon, the trail evens out and the dry scraggly vegetation turns back into lush green meadows and tall, healthy pine trees. The air becomes noticeably cooler and moister as you approach the river and you’ll even cross a small stream of warm water.
There are three great campsites in this area that are well-marked with signs. They're also very well spread out so even if you’re not the only one camping down there, you’ll likely not know about it. It'll be just you, the bears, some rogue marmots and the sound of the Yellowstone River. Speaking of bears, all campsites in the park have a cross pole set between a pair of trees. This is where you need to hang your pack, food and trash. Be sure to bring your own rope.
Once you get your campsite set up, hike down to the Yellowstone River and relax. There’s a nice grassy flat area where you can literally just nap in the sun. You can fill your water supply from the river but make sure you treat it.
To return to the top the next day (or whenever), retrace your steps, allowing for twice as much time for the tough trek up.
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