For my first trip to the Winds last summer in mid August I got a decent deal on a flight through Denver to Jackson and that’s a lot closer than SLC. Plus car rentals out of SLC are curiously expensive; so check that out. I really enjoyed Pinedale and the Winds; so much I have been planning a return trip towards the end of July this coming summer.and like Seth also studying Pallister like a monk! The snow pack was really high last year but looks more normal this year so that may help with stream crossings and moskies but OTOH there were snow fields in places I guess you might not normally maybe see snow in later August and that was neat. I think the only times I got above the mosquitos was the passes like @ Jackass Pass ( I took the “climbers route”, the Lizard Head Plateau, Hailey Pass and that pass between Wall Lake and Island Lake so had to go above tree line to leave the buggers behind! I think my permethrin treated Mt. Hardware canyon shirt won my Most Valuable Gear award. But all that said I don’t think I was bitten once and never resorted to a headnet. They were always around camp and kinda annoying but no real biting and they disappeared after dark. No trouble on the trail/moving.
Man it’s beautiful! Sometimes challenging but in a good way… not really hair raising stuff…. just take your time on the off-trail passes etc. I did 2 loops, both of which can be done in 4 nights/5 days or even 3 nights 4 days it took me to do the first southern route, and I kinda played around a day on the second northern route to avoid the big eclipse party in the Island-Titcomb basin. I did have a pretty light pack @ 16-17 lbs ( seems like everyone I met had a big Osprey and thought I was day-hiking) but then again I’m a senior citizen, which is WHY my pack is light; hello again Teepee Walter!. The southern route was a variation on the one from Big Sandy into the Cirque loop except up over the Lizard Head Plateau and out past Valentine Lake to Graves Lake, over Hailey and back to Big Sandy. Now I wish I’d gone to Baptiste since I was so close but I didn’t realize it since I’d planned to come out of the Cirque over Texas Pass and do a much smaller loop so I’d hiked right off the map I’d made of my planned route..
I loved the Lizard Head Plateau. Water flowing off and through it almost the entire way so I basically rock-hopped on those almost paver-like rocks across nearly the whole plateau Guy I talked to later said his problem the time he crossed it was no water! I really like that tundra like terrain, or what I imagine is tundra like terrain. Up there on that big sorta plain in the sky at or above the neighboring peaks. Guess maybe I need to go to the Arctic. A Lesson from that is bring a bigger map in case you go somewhere further or different, and also that you can almost just kinda strike out and go in a lot of different directions in the Winds as long as you know where the passes are. I got some funny looks when I’d ask for a peek at someones map!
The northern route was out from Elkhart. I originally planned to go up past Jean Lakes etc to Peak lake, over Knapsack Col through Titcomb and back by Island Lake, but it turned out that the second day of that time period was the eclipse which I had totally ignored ( I know living under a rock I guess) and the Island Lake area was a circus cum sorta Woodstock with groups evidently getting stuff like kegs horse-packed in? I kept telling everyone in Pinedale I’d heard the Rainbow people were supposed to be coming as a gag but they weren’t biting on that one as it turns out they actually had experience with that group! Had to take a shuttle to Elkhart and leave my car in the muni lot in Pinedale since cars were parked down the road halfway to the ski resort!, which also meant I had to hitch back to Pinedale after the loop, all of which actually improved the whole experience! But good news is everyone seemed to clean up behind themselves and when I came into the basin the afternoon of the second day after, you couldn’t tell there’d been a big “party” 2 days before. Maybe that was all a bunch of hoey but then again I saw all the cars. Anyway I decided to detour all that and instead went down the Pole Creek Trail to Upper Cook Lake and camped with a couple of nice guys from Springfield Missouri who were fishing and watched the eclipse with them. That upper Cook Lake is really pretty! Then up to Wall lake where I now realize (from studying that Pallister like Seth’s monk!) That I camped in exactly, precisely the same spot where a tent is pitched in a photo in her book on that locale. Then over to Island and up into Tittcomb and back into the very lower Indian Creek, and back to Elkhart.
So both those can be done in 4 or 5 days, 3 or 4 nights.
Any food supplies you aren’t bringing with you plan on hitting a grocer in a bigger town on the way like Jackson or maybe Smiths in Evanston if you’re coming that way unless whatever you need is pretty routine. There’a good gear store in Pinedale for standard stuff if you forget something or don’t/can’t pack stuff like iso-butane, The Great Outdoor Shop. Nice informative people. In fact seems like everyone I met from (or actually even in ) Wyoming was really nice! The weather up in the Winds can get a little frisky. Saw snow, hail, thunder and lightning and some gusty winds but OTOH no real problems like accumulating snows or weather that wasn’t passing; but I learned why Pallister always cautions to get over or off the really high stuff early if you can, or seem to need to. Up high near tree line or above too you often have to look around a bit to find a tent pad/site that is clear of rocks and reasonably level and that looks like it wouldn’t be the spot water pooled in a bigger rain event, but some people do it with tarps so there you go. Usually if you’re down to the conifers you can find a spot and often a really amazingly scenic campsite. It’s rocky especially off trail so wear something with a sold base at least. I had heavier trail runners; Salomon XA pros, and they were pretty stiff and supportive and worked great on the rocks and talus. Thank you for the support and encouragement on that Lester! No real critter adventures; no bears, but was happy to see a moose near Hobbs Lake on the last hike out. If you have a particular question I’ll give it a try. The only downside to the whole range is (like so many things in life) probably its saving grace. It takes a good day or more of pretty going after it hiking to get into the big mountains from any trailhead except possibly that one on the eastside near Crowheart? that instead is a @ $500 truck shuttle ride. Also since it takes a very long 2 days to cross the divide from Elkhart That can kinda weed out the casual hikers. Go for it!
