After walking away from the Gardner River (note the different spelling for the River as opposed to the town of Gardiner), you cross a wide, flat plateau on the southern side of the lower part of the Black Canyon of the Yellowstone River. This is the area where rattlesnakes are often seen. Once you cross the flat tableland and turn up the canyon of Turkeypen Creek, you'll be climbing out of rattlesnake habitat - it's simply too cold once you gain altitude for the snakes to survive the winters of Yellowstone.

The Black Canyon trail winds along the northern banks of the Yellowstone River. Though the river isn't visible in these photos, lying deep in the canyon, it's easy to trace its path. In mid-summer, the Black Canyon trail can be oppressively hot, and after a rare heavy rain, the muddy slopes that it traverses can be pretty treacherous. However, the campsites along the river are outstanding, the fishing is excellent, and like most trails in Yellowstone, the Black Canyon trail takes the backpacker through superb scenery with a minimum of effort - that is, if you're hiking downhill.

The Rescue Creek trail turns south, away from the river, near the end of the wide tableland, cutting steeply up the narrow canyon beneath Rattlesnake Butte.