Avalanche Peak - Hoyt Peak Traverse // Yellowstone National Park

Hello everyone. I'm in Yellowstone National Park at Avalanche Peak Trailhead to climb, you guessed it, Avalanche Peak. Avalanche Peak Trail doesn't waste any time. You start gaining elevation immediately. So it's 2.3 miles to the summit and you gain over 2,000 feet. So it's about a thousand feet per mile which is pretty dang steep but also there's another peak nearby named Hoyt Peak and I want to try to climb that one too. See where the day takes us. Well the trail keeps going that way but the peak's that way so I'm gonna go off trail and skip the switchback and just go straight up because why not. So behind me is the mountain I set out to do today Avalanche Peak but Hoyt Peak is much more alluring with that rocky summit so that's where I'm headed and then I'm going to come back follow the ridgeline summit Avalanche Peak and then head back. Just traversing across this very steep slope of Hoyt Peak. I'm so happy I decided to do this ridge traverse and try to summit Hoyt Peak. Look at this mountain behind me. Man, a tall steep rocky volcanic summit covered in lichen. It's about as good as it gets for me. I couldn't be happier. As I climb Hoyt Peak I have a great view of Yellowstone Lake and obviously Avalanche Peak right behind me but man so far a very fun ridge traverse. Nice and rocky just me and the lichen up here. Haven't seen any mountain goats yet. This is just an absolute scree for all. Made it to the full summit and just kind of try to stay as high as I can on this ridge to make my way over to the true summit. Off and on cloud coverage gets chilly when the clouds cover the sun but then the sun comes back out and isn't too hot. It's just perfect. First real mountain climb with a ridge traverse. I gotta tell you it feels so good to be in the mountains. Ah, missed it. Missed it so much. I'm home. All right. Summit. I am not disappointed by the views from the summit. Beautiful 360 degree views of the Apso Roca mountain range and Yellowstone Lake. Pretty awesome ridge traverse. You stay up high on the ridge for the most part and you don't have to come down too much. It's a long way down. It's definitely a plummet from the summit. All right now I just have to head down the ridge to Avalanche Peak. I just wanted to stop and show you Cody Peak since it's named after me. The imposing summit over there. Who knows maybe there's a route to the summit. Looks awesome. Well I've been off trail for most of the hike which is amazing. All right back on the trail going up Avalanche Peak. Right back up the trail again because the trail turns into a pile of snow about four feet deep. No problem. Well this is the false summit. I still have to climb down and climb back up to get to the real summit of Avalanche Peak. It's starting to get chilly. And it said sunset was about 9 10 but looks like I have about two and a half hours of daylight. So I'm gonna keep on moving. All right well basically at the low point of the ridge and uh just making my way up to the summit. This is the last uphill part of the day. All right I made it to the ridge of Avalanche Peak. Just walking over to the summit. What an incredible view at sunset of Yellowstone Lake. The valley below. Mountains in the distance. This feels so good. What a great hike and I don't know if you can get a better view of Yellowstone Lake really. It's just I mean this has to be the best view of Yellowstone Lake. You know the vantage point you have on the summit here of Avalanche Peak. And not to mention 360 degree views all around of all the mountains of the Apsaroka mountain range and other Yellowstone mountains. And then you can see the Grand Tetons in the distance which is only about 40 miles away. But awesome day. Amazing traverse. I'm glad I decided to go up trail and summit Mount Hoyt first and then come over here. But looking back on the mountain I climbed over there you can tell that Avalanche Peak is taller. But from that basin down there in the saddle area it definitely looks like Mount Hoyt's a lot higher. I wasn't planning to summit two peaks today and do the traverse but so happy I did. And if you come out to Avalanche Peak and you want to challenge yourself that's the that's the thing to do. It's getting dark and I have a rainstorm coming my way so now's a good time to go. Nothing like a sunset ridge walk in Yellowstone on the longest day of the year. It's the 2023 summer solstice. And that's how I'm able to do this longer hike when I started at 4 30 in the afternoon. Thanks for watching. Like and subscribe. All right just got back to the jeep. Very happy with the route I chose today bagging both those peaks on the longest day of the year.