Beaver Ponds

Beaver Ponds is a 5 miles loop trail directly behind Mammoth Hot Springs.  It is the first hike we did when we arrived and I plan to make it the last hike we do when we leave to gauge how much better in shape we are after 5 months of hiking nearly every day at between 6200 and 11000 feet.  The first time we did it there was still significant patches of snow on it that if we were not able to follow previous hikers footsteps over we would have surely gotten lost.  Also the spots where the snow was melted were deep, wide patches of mud.  Sometimes we would be by a precarious cliff on snow, other times mud.  We never really could decide which was more frightening.  The ponds were partially melted but mostly still frozen when we got to them and they framed a very picturesque setting with tall, snow capped peaks in the background, and heavy forest that surrounded the ponds.  The trail was great and is very popular with employees due to its proximity, relative ease, and beauty but by the fourth mile, Clarise and I were both wanting it to end from exhaustion and being sick and tired of walking over either snow or mud.  

A couple of days after we did Beaver Ponds we heard that it was mostly dried out and that a couple of people had reported seeing a Cinnamon colored Black Bear around mile 3.  So we ventured back out on the trail with the goal being to find and take a picture of this adorable sounding bear.  Sure enough the trail was much easier to hike this time around as it was dry and we had 2 weeks to acclimate to being over 6000 feet up.  We saw an elk just off the trail by himself and when we got to the ponds they were completely thawed out and the pictures were even better than the first time.  We decided to turn around at the ponds because of needing to be back at work that night and on the way back we heard what we both believed to be a warning growl from the bear we were seeking.  We stopped in our tracks and looked around the forested area we were near for 10 minutes but never did see or hear anything else.  Before that time we saw an interesting bird that made a low, guttural sound we believe it adapted to sound like a bear so since we did not see anything move after hearing the growl we can't be sure what it was but I believe it was the bear running away as black bears are known to be skittish of humans.  I hope to return to find the bear when I get the time again but there is just so many things to see its hard to do too many repeats without missing out on other things in this huge park.