Yellowstone: Rescue Creek Backpack Trip

Rescue Creek, in the northern range of Yellowstone National Park, was the destination for this mid-autumn backpack trip. Rescue Creek makes a great destination for hikers and backpackers out of the Blacktail Plateau or Gardiner area. A shuttle will be needed if you do the hike as a point to point. Most hikers prefer to hit the trail at the Blacktail Creek trailhead, 6.8 miles east of Mammoth. It's only 8 miles to the other end of the trail, down near the Gardiner entrance to Yellowstone. The total elevation loss if you decide to do the hike in that direction is a tad over 1,000 feet, but you pass through a wide range of Yellowstone habitat. Though the campsite at Rescue Creek, #1A2, is fairly close to the road, it receives very little use, and in spots, the trail between the campsite and Turkeypen Creek can be hard to follow. The trail guide, Hiking Yellowstone National Park, by Bill Schneider, calls campsite 1A2 one of the most scenic in Yellowstone. Though comparing the site to others that I've enjoyed is like comparing apples and oranges, I have to admit that the site does have a terrific view of the broad meadows that line Rescue Creek, and despite the shrill cries of impending doom from the anti-wolf pantywaists of the Friends of the Northern Herd of Yellowstone Elk, you'll be sure to see and hear a great performance of elk opera if you stay at the site in autumn.

Rescue Creek was supposedly named after Truman Everts was found wandering lost in the Yellowstone wilderness back in 1870. Truman had been lost for 37 days and was in very poor condition when finally rescued, but recovered and lived to the ripe old age of 85. The actual location of his being found was on the east fork of Blacktrail Creek, south of where the Mammoth/Tower road now runs.