Wind River Range – Sept. 2016

[Leap Frog]

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[Leap Frog]

Five friends and I had a blast in the Wind River Range in early September. Many, many thanks to the BPL community for invaluable advice regarding the route, timing, and gear.

We left Elkhart Park at dawn on Sunday morning. An afternoon thunderstorm forced us to hunker down for about an hour – we got only rain and some light hail, but snow accumulated at elevation. We made camp that night in an impossibly beautiful location just above the largest of the Cook Lakes. Another storm dropped about 2 inches of wet, heavy snow that night. Our shelters withstood the load impressively.

On Day 2 we awoke to the sound of elk bugling around us. We traversed Lester Pass and made camp just above Island Lake. My fears that nothing could top the previous night’s campsite were quickly laid to rest. We camped there for three nights, never getting tired of the views.

Day 3 we explored Titcomb Basin. Certainly worthy of a day.

Day 4 we ascended Fremont Peak via Indian Basin.

Day 5 we broke camp, hiked out to Elkhart Park, and ate an exorbitant amount of food at the Wrangler Cafe in Pinedale.

The pictures probably tell the story best: https://goo.gl/photos/E4BVmiYic8L7p1ui7

[Lester Moore]

Thanks for sharing your photos – that’s one of my favorite places on earth. Looks very pretty with the new dusting of snow on the peaks. Great shot of upper Fremont Glacier from the summit.

[Ben C]

Great photos.  Looks like y’all had a great time. We were in the Winds starting Sept 2.  We were camping at elevation (Alpine Lakes) when that snow hit.  It was a blizzard up there.  It looks a lot friendlier at the moderate elevations.

[John Vance]

Thanks for the pics.  I was there the 2nd through the 10th.  Always a great time and quite cool compared to previous years, although there seems to be a cooling trend over the past decade in the Winds around Labor Day.

It was still doable in shorts, but I put on my wind pants in camp almost as soon as we stopped.  I broke a toe walking around camp barefoot the first night, got a nasty staff infection in my left leg that had to be drained twice daily – a big thank you to my hiking partner and his steady hand with the knife – and my IT band in my right knee had enough after crossing the divide for the 4th time on the seventh day and I had to limp out the last 25 miles or so.  It wasn’t my typical fall trip but was great nonetheless.

 

[Sean B]

I just spent my first few days in the Winds this past August and these pictures brought back some great memories. Already looking forward to getting back out there. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Brad Rogers]

Great shots!  Camera?  Post Processing?

[Leap Frog]

Thanks, Brad. Camera was an iPhone 6s. The only changes made were the “auto” function in Google Photos – in most cases just adding a little light to shadows.

[Brad Rogers]

Wow that’s impressive. Cell phone cameras have gotten quite good.

Looks like an amazing trip. I was there for a week in late August.

[Brad Rogers]

John- that sounds like a “interesting” trip. Glad you made it out in one peice.

[Ben C]

The auto setting on Google  Photos really brightens up the photos a lot.  I did it to my Winds photos after reading your description.  The setting makes it look more like it did live to me.  It seems to work especially well when the clouds make your photos look gray.

My hiking partner had some similar issues, John.   We were out there in the same time frame.  He hobbled out the last 2 days as well.  I don’t know if that makes you feel better.  The off trail travel there can certainly chew up the leg joints.

[Ben Wortman]

Awesome!  I was camped at upper cook a month before you then headed over Lester pass after a night at Nelson Lake.

 

My buddy found both a 9″ dagger knife and a whole kayak paddle along the shore of Upper Cook by the waterfall that pours out of wall lake.

He got a lot of questions about the paddle on the 25 mile trip out!

 

Good stuff!!

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