SPORTSMAN LAKE (YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK)

WHERE:  The northwest corner of Yellowstone national park.

THE TRAIL:  This hike begins at Fawn pass trailhead and proceeds to follow fan creek through forest.  It is about 11 miles to the lake.  This section of Yellowstone has lots of wildlife and I saw some and heard some more during this three day trip.  I spent two nights at the lake and spent my off day hiking up to electric pass and scrambling up a ridge toward electric peak but not to the top.  On the first day I saw a couple deer, Turkey and heard the howl of Timberwolves.  I also heard some Moose shouts.  At the camp I met some rangers who rode on horses with bells to forewarn any Grizzlies they may approach to avoid surprise.  There are a lot of stock users in Yellowstone.  The rangers were doing a survey of water flowing through the meadows near Sportsman Lake and observing the proximity of campsites to these meandering streams.  The day hike from the lake to electric pass went up 2,500 feet in elevation over 2.8 miles to 10,000 feet.  The hike is steep going through forest of Whitebark and lodgepole pine in a Grizzly Bear recovery zone meaning that travel off trail in the forest is not allowed.  I assumed this did not apply to my ridge scramble as I am sure the terrain was to precipitous for grizzlies to approach.  On my hike up electric ridge I saw a couple of Bighorn Sheep grazing about 50 feet below me.  I also saw a herd of Elk taking an afternoon nap on the north slope of Joseph Peak near the top. 

During my day hike to electric peak ridge I noticed a wildfire which was not noticeable 20 minutes earlier.  After getting back down to my camp site I got into my tent to rest and get out of the mid July heat.  Soon I heard helicopters which I eventually assumed were going to the wildfire and poring water on it.  Eventually I heard a helicopter whose rotors did not seem to be moving anywhere.  Eventually I decided to get out of my tent and see what was going on but as soon as I did so the helicopter took off.  Turned out to be bad timing on my part as I would find out later.  I now assumed these copters were scooping water from Sportsman Lake to put out the fire.  Thinking that I was not in danger I resumed normal activities and set up my camera on a tripod for potential wildlife sightings.  Not long after I heard noise in the woods to the west and saw a brown figure through trees.  Due to the distance I could not tell what it was but figure it to be either a bear, moose or elk.  Soon as I forgot about this I saw a brown bear ramble in the rugged meadows to the south of camp.  I was immediately nervous about a potential confrontation with a Grizzly Bear.  It seemed to be an adolescent or a female which was scary in either case as an adolescent may not be smart enough to be afraid of people and a female could be protecting its cubs.  My first reaction was to make sure I had my bear spray with me (this was a product I bought at a sports store in West Yellowstone to help me feel more secure in Grizzly country).  With the spray on my belt I went to the camera to take a picture but I saw nothing out of the lens.  I kept turning the camera on and off hoping a "restart" would fix the problem.  After about a minute I figured out that my problem was with the lens cap?  As I corrected that the ambling Grizzly realized it did not want my company and fled before I could get a picture.

The next morning I left for my car.  As I hiked back I looked for signs of fire but predetermined that the fire was north of the trail I would take back with winds blowing north and thus I figured there would be little danger.  When I got to the trail head I washed my hands and face in the creek before being approached by a ranger.  The Park Ranger said that they were looking for me and the helicopter that landed near Sportsman Lake was for me and they left a note stating to take a different route back.  Apparently the fire was actually to the south and blowing north toward the trail I took.  I felt that the ranger though I ignored the note to avoid a longer hike although I think the heavy winds actually blew the note away.  After explaining to the ranger that I was sorry if I caused any commotion the ranger replied that they were happy I was OK.  After talking to the ranger I also found out that there was a group of three people who were staying across the lake that had to be evacuated.  Apparently they tried to climb to Electric Peak on the same day I did but a few hours later.  One member of the party sprained an ankle and had to be brought to the trailhead by horseback leaving me alone with no rangers or other company on my last night in Grizzly country.