My wife had picked us up at the end of our canoe trip at Sedge Bay on the 10th and we returned to the Grant Village Campground for the night where we met two of our friends who were going to hike the trail with us. This would be my third time completing the Mary Mountain Trail in the last 30 years, and it would be my sixth time to Mary Lake (I approached the lake three other times along the Trout Creek stagecoach road), making Mary Lake my most visited backcountry lake in Yellowstone. Other than me, all the others had never done the Mary Mountain Trail before. With our route going to Violet Hot Springs, it put the total distance of our hike at 21.1 miles.
We started around 7:00 am on the Hayden Valley side, and at the beginning it was still pretty chilly, but once the sun rose a bit further in the sky it became a perfect day for the hike. Along our way, we ran into numerous bull Bison, and on the western end of Hayden Valley, we spotted a Grizzly Bear grazing along a hillside. We watched it for a couple of minutes before it got wind of us and headed up and over the hill.
We stopped at the Mary Lake Patrol Cabin and had a nice lunch before heading west and down into the meadows along Nez Perce Creek, and then on to Lower Geyser Basin and trail's end. The hike took us a bit over eleven hours to complete and I was pretty worn out by the end.
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Map of the eastern portion of our hike
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The Mary Mountain Trail signpost at the north end of Hayden Valley
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Of course, I'm bringing up the rear
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Looking south from the trail towards Crater Hills and Sulphur Springs
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Looking west across Hayden Valley
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The last standing trail marker. Bison tend to knock these over over time
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You shall not pass!
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Alum Creek, gently flowing through Hayden Valley
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Small cascades on Alum Creek
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Violet Creek
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Approaching Violet Hot Springs
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Mud pot in the Violet Hot Springs group
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Violet Hot Springs thermal area
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Violet Hot Springs thermal area
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Sheila and Katie making their way back to the Mary Mountain Trail
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More small cascades on tributary of Alum Creek
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Grizzly Bear grazing on a hillside at the western end of Hayden Valley
![Image](http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48532672902_d0776ab4d4_b.jpg)
Giving us a look as it makes its way up and over the hillside
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Making our way towards the Buffalo Highway - looking back east across Hayden Valley with Mount Washburn in the far distance. Not much of a trail at this point
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Looking back east across Hayden Valley from the west end of the valley
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Wolf track along the trail - we encountered wolf track along almost the entire length of the trail
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Hiking along the Buffalo Highway towards Mary Lake
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Mary Mountain Patrol Cabin
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Mary Lake
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Lunch at the cabin
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Visitor at the cabin
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Map of the western half of the trail
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Old man heading down Mary Mountain
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
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I believe we have seen this young gentleman before
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Breaking out into the meadows along Nez Perce Creek
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The fate of the Cowan party
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Meadows along Nez Perce Creek
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Crossing Magpie Creek
![Image](http://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48532451271_ca05ac952c_b.jpg)
Nez Perce Creek
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Old footbridge across Nez Perce Creek
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Nez Perce Creek
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Morning Mist Springs
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Happy hikers at trail's end.