August 6, 2019
Took our time getting ready since Joseph’s Coat Spring was only two miles away. Had to navigate by dead reckoning. We got a late start but had plenty of time to get to 4B1. We traveled through forest and had to avoid ravines and swampy areas. Kristian managed the compass and map and did a good job getting us fairly directly to Joseph’s Coat Spring. We used the GPS to guide us to the 4B1 camp. The UTM coordinates that the backcountry office gave us were right on and brought us right to the bear bag pole.
We set up our bear bag then pitched the tent. We then went exploring around Joseph’s Coat and took lots of pictures. The area is named after Joseph’s Coat of Many Colors from the Bible. The slope face to the North is red, yellow, purple, and orange. We found a lot of cool thermal features, some dumping hot water into Broad Creek. But nothing appeared to be like a “hot tub”. There were some cool (hot) vents that had pure yellow sulfur buildups. We think we found Whistle Geyser, but it did not sound like a whistle, at least while we were there.
Went back to camp and made dinner. I had kung pao chicken and a little shared raspberry crumble. Filtered some water and Kristian saw a leech in the creek. Probably just as well that we could not find a place to hot tub!
Had eggs and bacon for breakfast (freeze-dried) and kung pao chicken for dinner
Did 19,388 steps, 55 floors, and 9.4 miles
Backpacking, Smoke, and Rain My buddy Kristian and I made a second attempt to hike to Fairyland Basin the week of August 16, 2021, and . . .