Travis and I got back together in June 2018, and joined up with my son, Christian, to take on the Wind River Range in Wyoming. I’d been wanting to do a hike in the ‘Winds’ since I first started backpacking so when Travis and I started planning for a 2018 western trip the choice of a destination was easy.
We knew that June is early for any hike in the Wind River Range, and 2018 had been a high snow year in that region of the country. But Travis had been staying in touch with the outfitter in Pinedale, Wyoming throughout June and they sounded hopeful that our planned route would be passable by the time we started hiking. We wouldn’t know for sure until we arrived in Pinedale.
Unfortunately, upon arriving we found that the snow was still deep on the passes on our planned route and, worse, the rapidly melting snow was causing the lakes on our route to be many feet above the trails that ran along their shores. So we opted to go with plan ‘B’, deciding to start out of the Big Sandy Trailhead and hiking in an entirely different area of the Winds from our initial plan.
Snow didn’t turn out to be a factor on our hike, but mosquitos sure did! Travis had warned me in advance to bring my bug head net, and I’m sure glad he did because it ended up being our most valuable piece of gear for the trip. I’ve backpacked in some ‘buggy’ places, but nothing could remotely compare to what we encountered on this trip. Thankfully we found two exposed campsites, both with great views, and there was a healthy wind for much of the time we were in camp which made it bearable. But when the wind died down at night and in the early morning… wow!
The trip didn’t end up being anything close to what we planned, but it was still a great trip. I found that all of the Wind River Range is spectacular, and even though we didn’t get to the iconic destinations like Titcomb Basin and the Cirque of Towers the places we did get to, and the views we experienced along the way, were breathtaking. And it just gives us a reason to go back.
For those who have watched my other videos this one is done in the same style - a little under an hour in length, intended to bring the audience along for the ride, and with a still picture slide show with music at the end. If you just have a few minutes just skip to the end and enjoy the pictures.
Equipment / Gear List:
Still Camera: Nikon D810 with Nikkor 20mm f1.8 lens
Video Cameras: Canon Vixia G40 with Rode Stereo Videomic Pro, GoPro Hero 6
Video Editing Software: Vegas Pro 15
Pack: ZPacks Arc Blast 52l
Shelters: Nemo Meta 2P tent (me), Warbonnet Blackbird hammock (Christian)
Негізгі бет Wind River Range (Wyoming) Backpacking - June 2018
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