VIDEO: First time in the Wind River Range

[mountain wanderer]

This was my first trip into the Wind Rivers. The group I was going in with had been there the previous 2 years. This year they wanted to hit one of the most popular areas in the range, Titcomb Basin.

We started out from the Elkhart Trailhead and the parking lot was absolutely packed when we got there. We were taking the Pole Creek trail. From the trailhead to where we turned off to Eklund Lake I probably saw more people on trail than I ever have before. I would conservatively guess 50-60 people. Once we turned off the trail to Seneca Lake, the amount of traffic died down a bit. The hike the first day to Pole Creek Lakes would be our longest hike of the trip and we would have our heaviest packs as well.

The lake we wanted to stay at was packed with people (not much of a surprise) and we ended up just taking a spot along the CDT at the inlet of the Lake.

I didn't put my tarp that night and at first light I started hearing thunder. Instead stringing up my tarp I decided to just pack up my hammock and keep everything dry. Everyone who was sleeping in tents had the opposite idea. Everyone waited out the storm in their shelters. We got a really late start on trail that day.

It was only 5-6 miles from Pole Creek Lakes into Cook Lakes were we intended to make it in to. Even though we were at or above 10,000 feet, I was pleasantly surprised how "hike-able" the trails are. The grade of the trails are perfect. I assume that is because there is so much traffic from outfitters and other people using pack stock.

Another thunder storm chased us into Cook Lakes and I just got my tarp up as the storm hit us. Once the storm passed, it cleared up and we were able to explore the area a bit and the fishing was in full stride.

The next day we took a zero. That just means all day fishing for the rest of the group! Not being a fisherman, I just followed along to see some more lakes. We made our way up to Wall Lake that was supposed to house Golden Trout. The rest of the group had been trying for 3 years now to land a Golden. Despite rumors of big Goldens being in Wall Lake, no one had any luck there, so it was back down to Cook Lakes to finish the day.

The next day we were moving on. On the backside of Cook Lakes we ran into Adam Eakle from KSL Outdoors who was up there with his crew doing a piece on (wouldn't you know it) Golden Trout in the Wind Rivers. Check it out here: https://www.ksl.com/?nid=1112&sid=46...nd-river-range - Timber even made it in there! They told us that they were catching Golden Trout at Lake Nelson that sits at the base of Lester Pass. We were going that way so we decided that we would drop packs and hike up to Lake Nelson. Not sure if they were telling us fish stories or not, but we didn't have any luck there.

From there we continued up and over Lester Pass and took the Indian Pass Trail into Island Lake. We were definitely back into the popular area. There were people everywhere. We got lucky and found an open campsite that had a few trees that would work for our hammocks. It was tight getting 2 hammocks and 3 tents in there, but we did it.

That night another storm came in and rained on and off all night. The next day we were taking another zero and once again, it was about fishing! We hiked to the far side of Island Lake and then up into Titcomb Basin. All of the peaks were shrouded in clouds and there were no views. There were however plenty of people. I went back to camp to warm up, but a few members of the group hiked up to Mistake Lake. At Mistake Lake they finally caught a Golden Trout! Not a small one either, it was a really good sized fish!

That night it stormed again and in the morning, the top of the peaks had a dusting of snow on them. It was a cold pack up. We were starting our way back to the trailhead, but we wanted to break it up into 2 shorter hikes. We made it into Hobbs Lake. It was raining when we got there and we setup at the back of the lake.

The next morning we had a bit of a surprise. I feel asleep to the pitter-patter of rain on my tarp, but at some point in the night that stopped and everything got quiet.... really quiet. That could only mean one thing.... SNOW! We woke to about 1.5 inches of snow... in August! Anything can happen at 10,000 feet.

We got packed up and started to make our way back to the trailhead. The trail was a sloppy mess. Of course we started hitting more and more people as we neared the trailhead. It's interesting to me how the type of people you encounter change as you get closer to the trailhead. All and all it was an incredible trip and I am already looking for to my next time into the Winds!

Thanks for watching!

[OlTrailDog]

Nice trip that brings back a lot of good memories of climbing and backpacking trips into the Winds when I worked out of Lander and Moran, WY. Couldn't help but make some observations as I sit here in my arm chair Your mention of "all the water" also brings with it a host of mosquitos earlier in the year. I love late August in the mountains when the frosts have put a lot of the bugs down. A note on hanging your food/attractants, if it isn't away from the tree bole a bear can readily climb up and voile', chow time.

I couldn't help but notice how none of the signs, with the possible exception of Pole Creek at the end, had been chewed and scratched up by bears. Few griz in the Winds. Albeit, a griz recently was shot by some bow hunters in the Wyoming Range to the south after they happened on his day bed area and confronted them about it. A lot more griz to the north in the Teton Wilderness, AB Wilderness, Yellowstone, and Teton NP. I know you seen this on your other travels.

All the fish in those lakes is part of the ecological catastrophe perpetrated by the Game & Fish, or Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to the north, as they introduce fish into wildlife habitats where there was no fish previously. Tsk, tsk.

Snow in August. Always good to be prepared for inclement weather in the wilds of ID, WY, and MT. I can vaguely remember probably around a half dozen years over the decades that we had snow every month of the year. I hate getting spanked by mother nature. As I look out the window I see a fresh dusting of snow on the Bitterroots from last night. Sure sign to get the loose ends taken care of.

Burger Town. Yeah! Got to love wolfing down a humongous greasy burger and fries at the end of a trip.

[ObdewlaX]

Great video & narration... well done. Glad you hiked up to Titcomb Basin I bet, what a pretty & rugged looking area.

Definitely have to put the Wind River Range on my 'someday' destination list.

Thanks for posting.

[mountain wanderer]

Nice trip that brings back a lot of good memories of climbing and backpacking trips into the Winds when I worked out of Lander and Moran, WY. Couldn't help but make some observations as I sit here in my arm chair Your mention of "all the water" also brings with it a host of mosquitos earlier in the year. I love late August in the mountains when the frosts have put a lot of the bugs down. A note on hanging your food/attractants, if it isn't away from the tree bole a bear can readily climb up and voile', chow time.

I couldn't help but notice how none of the signs, with the possible exception of Pole Creek at the end, had been chewed and scratched up by bears. Few griz in the Winds. Albeit, a griz recently was shot by some bow hunters in the Wyoming Range to the south after they happened on his day bed area and confronted them about it. A lot more griz to the north in the Teton Wilderness, AB Wilderness, Yellowstone, and Teton NP. I know you seen this on your other travels.

All the fish in those lakes is part of the ecological catastrophe perpetrated by the Game & Fish, or Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to the north, as they introduce fish into wildlife habitats where there was no fish previously. Tsk, tsk.

Snow in August. Always good to be prepared for inclement weather in the wilds of ID, WY, and MT. I can vaguely remember probably around a half dozen years over the decades that we had snow every month of the year. I hate getting spanked by mother nature. As I look out the window I see a fresh dusting of snow on the Bitterroots from last night. Sure sign to get the loose ends taken care of.

Burger Town. Yeah! Got to love wolfing down a humongous greasy burger and fries at the end of a trip.

Great comment! So much here I want to respond to:

- I can imagine that the bugs are pretty bad in there earlier in the year. Near me in the Bitterroots, at this time of the year, there's not much water up high and hasn't been for a while... especially this year.

- I knew the hang wasn't going to stop a bear. In fact I never saw any bear sign the whole time we were there. Not to mention we have dogs and all of the other campers in there.

- As far as snow goes, we actually anticipated it before getting there. I may have been over dramatic in the video..

- Most burgers after a trip are great... it really takes a bad one to get a negative review, but the brewery in Pinedale was awesome!

[mountain wanderer]

Great video & narration... well done. Glad you hiked up to Titcomb Basin I bet, what a pretty & rugged looking area.

Definitely have to put the Wind River Range on my 'someday' destination list.

Thanks for posting.

I would definitely put the Winds on your list if you've never been there! This trip was the first time I've seen a glacier! It's high country, so you'll need to acclimate, but the area I was in is very hike-able and there are many routes to choose from. Highly recommend!

[Hang Williams]

I can't wait to go to the winds.

[BillyBob58]

Wow! What a great video of my old stomping grounds! My first trip was a 30 day one June 3 to July 3, 1985. Saw very few other folks. Followed by numerous 5-6 day trips since then, always 1st week of September, no bugs and we rarely see other folks. One trip was to Island Lake and Titcomb basin: there were few cars in the parking lot, and we saw i person at Photographer point, and I don't remember any after that. But we did see several ice ax's at the foot of a peak(but not the folks they belonged to) and heard some people howling like wolves on the other side of Island Lake one sunset. At least we thought it was people. Didn't sound like coyotes.

On that trip it started raining the last night at Titcomb basis, and it rained all the way to where we camped at Hobb's Lake where it rained all night, and then all the next day back to the car. That is the most rain I have ever seen in the Winds. Kept expecting it to snow, as it has on other trips(even over a foot on June 27th, 85), but it just kept pouring rain.

Thanks for a great video bringing back lots of memories! I really enjoyed it!

[mountain wanderer]

I can't wait to go to the winds.

You won't be disappointed!

Wow! What a great video of my old stomping grounds! My first trip was a 30 day one June 3 to July 3, 1985. Saw very few other folks. Followed by numerous 5-6 day trips since then, always 1st week of September, no bugs and we rarely see other folks. One trip was to Island Lake and Titcomb basin: there were few cars in the parking lot, and we saw i person at Photographer point, and I don't remember any after that. But we did see several ice ax's at the foot of a peak(but not the folks they belonged to) and heard some people howling like wolves on the other side of Island Lake one sunset. At least we thought it was people. Didn't sound like coyotes.

On that trip it started raining the last night at Titcomb basis, and it rained all the way to where we camped at Hobb's Lake where it rained all night, and then all the next day back to the car. That is the most rain I have ever seen in the Winds. Kept expecting it to snow, as it has on other trips(even over a foot on June 27th, 85), but it just kept pouring rain.

Thanks for a great video bringing back lots of memories! I really enjoyed it!

How cool! This trip was nearly at the height of the season. No bugs, but too many people. Sounds like the weather does whatever it wants in there!