Wind Rivers Backpack

In mid August, Angie and Scott backpacked with Matt, Jaclyn, Chance, Steven and the dogs Cami, Warren, Cirque and Cole in the Wind River Range of Wyoming. We completed the Hailey/Washakie Loop (5 days, 40 miles) in the Bridger Wilderness. The drive from Portland was ~15 hours to Pinedale, Wyoming (the closest town to the trailhead). Chance and Steven drove 22 hours from Texas to join us on the trip.

A big thanks goes out to Matt for planning this trip. Without his diligent and thorough planning this trip would not have been possible.

Here is a trip report and a bunch of photos from the trip. We think the photos definitely do this area justice, but it's hard to capture the massive scale of everything with a camera. After visiting the Wind Rivers, Angie and I feel these mountains are some of the most beautiful in North America. Hopefully these pictures show you why we feel this way.

Sunday, August 15 - Day 1
Big Sandy Trailhead (9,100 feet) to Marms Lake (9,878 feet) - 7.1 miles

The trip started off at the Big Sandy Trailhead at an elevation of 9,100 feet. This is the highest starting elevation we have ever had for a backpack. The thinner air made it a little harder to breathe and catch your breath after exertion. We moved fairly slow on the first day, but arrived at Marms Lake by mid afternoon. Matt and Scott fly fished the lake and caught a few small cutthroat trout. Angie and Jaclyn relaxed in the sun. Chance and Steven rested to recover from their long drive from Texas.

Angie, Jaclyn, Steven, Matt, Chance at Mirror Lake. The first of many lakes we saw on this trip.

Marms Lake Sunset. The thunderstorms built up right at sunset and created some dramatic lighting. (0.8 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Monday, August 16 - Day 2
Marms Lake (9,878 feet) to Pyramid Lake (10,570 feet) - 5 miles

We got up at 6AM the next morning to try to get to Pyramid Lake early, because it looked like thunderstorms were a possibility. We really didn't want to get pinned down on the trail by a thunderstorm at 10,000 feet!

Leaving Marms Lake very early.

Marms Lake.

Jaclyn and Angie crossing Washakie Creek

Angie, Scott, Steven, Chance, Jaclyn at Mays Lake with Pyramid Peak and Mt Hooker in the background.

We never got hit by any big thunderstorms that day, but there were several rumbles of thunder around us. It seemed like every hour the weather was changing. We saw everything from thunderstorms to completely cloudless skies during the day. It's amazing how fast mountain weather can change.

Pyramid Lake sits right at the treeline and the air here felt quite thin to us. By the time we reached the lake everyone had a headache and was lightheaded. It took us about twice as long as usual to set up camp. Luckily, by the next morning everyone was feeling strong and acclimatized to the high altitutude.

Pyramid Creek just below Pyramid Lake. (1/15 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Wildflowers at Pyramid Lake. 2 exposure blend for exposure and depth of field. (1/200 sec at f/4, ISO 100 and 1/30 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Steven and Jaclyn discussing the mosquitoes. The bugs were never really too bad, mostly due the breezy conditions at the lake.

Chance preparing dinner surrounded by Cole and Cami. The dogs thought that every bit of food that was prepared was for them. It didn't matter who was making the food....the dogs wanted to eat it!

Mt Hooker and clouds over Pyramid Lake. (1/6 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Sunset at Pyramid Lake. (1/3 sec at f/16, ISO 100)

Sunset at Pyramid Lake. 2 exposure blend for exposure. (1/13 sec at 1/4 sec at f/16, ISO 100)

"Bark at the Moon". Cami and the moon.

Hanging food around treeline proved to be a challenge. Matt found this rig to string the food up on top of a massive boulder. No bears or vermin messed with the food overnight, but Matt was convinced that something came into camp that night to check the food out. Apparently this kept him up half the night, but no one else heard a thing!

Tuesday, August 17 - Day 3
Pyramid Lake (10,570 feet) to Baptiste Lake (10,828 feet) over Hailey Pass (11,600 feet) - 5.4 miles

Matt and Scott got up early the following morning to explore the Raid Valley near Pyramid Lake. The Raid Valley was an amazing valley of massive, near vertical granite cliffs. The early morning sunlight illuminating these rock faces was amazing.

"Morning Glow on Raid Peak" (1/6 sec at f/16, ISO 100)

Matt at a small tarn on the way back from the Raid Valley

Morning at Pyramid Lake

Angie working her way up the trail to Hailey Pass.

Warren cooling off at Twin Lakes.

The dogs found this patch of snow on the shore of Twin Lakes. As soon as their paws hit the snow the situation turned to pure madness! They spent a good 10 minutes running, wrestling and digging in the snow. We were amazed that they still had the energy for this at 11,000 feet.

Steven checking out the view from Hailey Pass.

Chance, Matt, Steven at Hailey Pass.

Angie and Scott

Angie, Warren, Cami.

Angie and Jaclyn relaxing on a rock in Baptiste Creek.

"Wind River Paradise" (1/3 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer, 4 stop ND filter, 3 stop soft GND filter). To us, this photo really captures the essence of the Wind Rivers.

Mt Hooker from the trail leading up to Baptiste Lake.

The moon and Mt Hooker above Baptiste Creek (2.5 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Cami and Mt Hooker Alpenglow. (0.4 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Stars over Baptiste Lake. (30 seconds at f/4, ISO 400)

Wednesday, August 18th - Day 4
Baptiste Lake (10,828 feet) to Ranger Park (10,110 feet) - 6.2 miles

Matt and Scott got up early again to photograph the sunrise around Baptiste Lake.

"Arise" Early morning sunlight illuminating the face of Mt Hooker. The north face of Mt Hooker is 1800 feet tall and is one of the largest chunks of granite in North America. This was an absolutely beautiful scene to witness. (10 sec at f/16, ISO 100. Polarizer. 4 stop ND filter)

Small cascade on Baptiste Creek. (1/4 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Our campsite at Baptiste Lake. Note the tents on the right hand side to get a sense of scale here. This was a beautiful area, but the wind blew the entire time we were there. The wind kept the bugs away, but made it slightly uncomfortable to be outside the tent for extended periods.

We thought this day was going to be an easy one, but it turned out to be the hardest day for most of us. It was 6.2 miles mostly downhill, but the temperature was quite warm that day which made for some tough hiking.

Waterfall on Baptiste Creek near Graves Lake.

Graves Lake

Bridge over Grave Creek

"The Last Light" This was another amazing sunset in the Winds. Initially it didn't look like there was going to be much color at sunset, but just before the light faded away the sun made its way through the clouds to create these brilliant colors. (5 sec at f/16, ISO 100, polarizer)

Thursday, August 19 - Day 5
Ranger Park (10,110 feet) to Big Sandy Trailhead (9,100 feet) over Washakie Pass (11,600 feet) - 15.5 miles

We awoke early on Thursday to overcast skies and significantly cooler temperatures. Our initial plan on this day was to hike up over Washakie Pass and then camp at either Skull Lake or Shadow Lake. The weather turned to crap just as we were working our way up Washakie Pass. By the time we came over the pass we were into heavy winds and horizontal rain. Due to the conditions, we all made the decision to cut the trip short and head all the way back out to the trailhead. This made for a brutal day of backpacking, but it was nice to get back to Pinedale for a hot shower and good food.

Angie preparing for the hike up over Washakie Pass.

On the trail around Washakie Lake

Scott near the top of Washakie Pass. The wind was howling up over the pass (~40 mph)

Angie and Chance working up over a snowfield on Washakie Pass.

Pass Lake and Washakie Lake from Washakie Pass.

Heading back down the other side of Washakie Pass and back to the Big Sandy Trailhead.

Thanks for reading. We hope you enjoyed the photos.
-Scott and Angie