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

Haleakala National Park Backpack

Angie and I backpacked from April 11-13th at Haleakala National Park in Maui, Hawaii. Haleakala is a dormant volcano located in southeastern Maui. The crater area is a drastically different from the beaches and tropical climate found in the lower elevations of the Hawaiian islands. This was a very unique backpacking experience due to the extreme variations in the terrain. The crater has everything from lush rain forests to desolate areas of volcanic cinders. The Haleakala crater offers one of the few multi-day backpacks on Maui. We did this backpack over 3 days and covered 20.6 miles.

Sunday, April 11

Our flight from Portland arrived in Maui at ~1100 AM on Sunday. We picked up our rental car then headed to the Sports Authority Store in Kahului to buy a MSR backpacking stove and fuel. We ended up buying a stove, since we couldn't find anywhere to rent one on Maui! Our next stop was in Paia to drop off our luggage at the hotel. We then set off for the Haleakala Park Headquarters to get our wilderness camping permits. The permits are free and are issued on a first come/first severed basis after watching a 10 minute orientation video at the ranger station. There are 25 permits available for each backcountry campsite at Holua and Paliku. There are also backcountry cabins available at Holua, Paliku and Kapalaoa which can be rented from the NPS. Click here for more information about cabin rentals. For more information about backcountry camping/backpacking visit the NPS website here. There is water available at both campsites, but the water should be filtered, treated or boiled before drinking.

After obtaining our permits we drove up to the Halemau'u Trailhead at 7990 feet above sea level. The temperature at the trailhead was a comfortable 65 degrees F. Our destination was the Holua backcountry campsite which was located 3.7 miles and ~1000 feet below. We set off at ~3:30 PM hoping to make it to Holua by dark. The first mile of the trail wanders through native shrubland and some very rough volcanic rock on the outer slopes of the volcano. As the trail approaches the rim of the crater, the first views into Haleakala appear.

Scott near the crater rim.
Angie.From here the trail makes several switchbacks as it winds down to the crater floor. It was difficult to get good footing as we descended, since the trail was covered with small rocks which always seemed to slip out from beneath our feet. We were glad to have our trekking poles, but wished we had our hiking boots. We did this backpack in trail shoes, but in hindsight we should have worn our boots to protect our feet from the tough volcanic rock. We passed a few day hikers ascending the trail back to the trailhead.

We arrived at Holua with plenty of time to spare before dark. There was only one other backpacker camping at Holua. We ate our dinner and watched the sunset from our campsite. Shorty after sunset the ua'u (Hawaiian Petrel) birds began returning to their nests after spending the day out at sea. Ua'u are medium sized gray and white seabirds which are unique to the Hawaiian Islands. The birds usually leave by sunrise unless caring for an egg. It's incredible that these birds come all the way from the ocean to the crater to reach their nests. Listening to the calls of hundreds of ua'u in the dark was a very cool experience.

Once the twilight faded, the stars came out and were absolutely stunning. There is something to be said about the stars in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a moonless night! Once it got dark the temperature quickly dropped into the mid 30s.

Here are a few night photos from the Nikon D80.

25 second exposure at f/1.8, ISO 400, Nikkor 50 mm f/1.8 lens
Photoshop blend of 2 exposures of ~30mins each at f/4.0, ISO 100, Nikkor 12-24 dx lens. The first exposure was started during twilight to pick up some of the magenta color in the sky.

Monday, April 12

The following morning we got up early for sunrise (~6AM) and caught a pretty good sunrise with the misty clouds spilling over the crater wall.

Scott's camera/tripod tipped over on the rock in the foreground in the photo below and demolished the polarizer. Luckily minimal damage was done to the actual lens! Not the best way to start the morning, but at least the photo looks good!

Photoshop blend of 2 exposures, 1/30 sec and 1/4 sec at f/16, ISO 400.
After eating breakfast, we broke camp and started heading to the Paliku backcountry campsite which is located 6.6 miles down the Halemau'u/Sliding Sands Trails. After hiking for about a mile we entered the middle of the crater where there is very little vegetation, but lots of volcanic rock/sand/cinders. The cinders are up to 3000 feet deep in this area. The rain that falls here quickly percolates down through the cinders and doesn't leave much water near the surface for plants to grow.

Angie hiking across the crater. Looks like it could be the moon or Mars!
Looking up the crater walls to near the summit area.
Halemau'u Trail.
Pele's Paint Pot. The colors here are due to the minerals which are present in the volcanic rock. The camera doesn't really capture the full range of colors seen here.
Another photo of Angie crossing the volcanic plains.
Kawilinau, aka the bottomless pit. This vent is ~65 feet deep and was created by super heated gases which blasted though the crater floor.After hiking 6.6 hard miles across the crater floor we arrived at the Paliku backcountry campsite. Our feet were very sore from walking over the volcanic rock. We only saw one other backpacker at Paliku.

Paliku gets ~200 inches of rain a year and is very green and lush. As expected, there were intermittent showers all afternoon. The cool thing about the showers is that every half hour there would be a new rainbow.

There is a pasture area near Paliku for all of the stock animals which bring riders into Paliku. Here is a photo of Angie trying to sweet talk the burro into giving here a free ride out of the crater....it didn't work!
We spent most of the afternoon exploring around Paliku and ventured part of the way up the Lau'ulu trail. This trail was park hike, part rock climb and was pretty crazy. We also saw a pair of nene (native hawaiian geese) which loved to eat the grass near our tent. Although the nene are endangered, it is fairly common to see them in the park. They are notorious beggars, but should never be fed by backpackers/hikers, since they have plenty of natural food available.

Tuesday, April 13

The following morning at Paliku was very pleasant, because we didn't have much rain. It had rained most of the night, but we were nice and dry inside the tent. Our plan that morning was to hike back to Holua and camp there for one more night before hiking back out the trailhead the following morning.

Paliku backcountry cabin.

Scott and Angie at Paliku with the Kaupo gap behind. The Kaupo gap has been formed by millions of years of erosion to the crater wall by the constant rains in the area. The rains are created by the warm ocean air cooling and condensing as it rises up the side of the volcano.
Interesting lava formation near the trail in the Paliku area.
Angie on the trail...note clouds beginning to form...more on this in a bit!
Scott at the junction of the Halemau'u and Sliding Sands Trails.
One of the few bird shots we got. This is a chuckar. These birds love to hang out in the bushes on the sides of the trail. As you walk by they blast out of the bushes making their chuck-chuck-chuckar-chuckar calls.
Angie on the trail again.
When we reached the middle of the crater on the way to Holua, the weather changed abruptly. The wind picked up and it started to rain. Here you can see the rain starting to fall...not good!
Angie hiking in the rain.
On our way Holua, we stopped by the Silversword Loop Trail for a few pictures. The silversword is a very unique plant which is only found inside Haleakala crater. The plant is a relative of the sunflower, but looks very similar to the yucca and century plants found in the southwestern U.S. deserts. The plants were not blooming that is time, (usually bloom May-October) but the silver color of the plants was amazing.

Shortly after the silversword loop trail, the wind picked up even more and started blowing the rain horizontally. We were starting to get quite wet, since the rain was finding a way around our rain gear. By the time we reached Holua, the rain/wind had not let up one bit, so we decided to press all the way out to the trailhead to avoid spending a cold night in the tent. This would make for a 10.3 mile day, but we were both ready get to the beach!

A view of the Halemau'u Trail switch backing up the crater wall. This trail was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
A small landslide on the trail. The constant rain had saturated the soil.
Angie on the Halemau'u trail near the trailhead. The trail was literally a stream, and our feet were completely soaked. This area was dry on our way down.
Despite getting rained out, we really enjoyed this backpack. Camping inside a dormant volcano is something very few people get to experience. The Haleakala crater is a unique area with some absolutely stunning scenery and stars. If you are considering a backpack here, make sure you bring your hiking boots. Your feet will appreciate it. Feel free to post any questions you have about the backpack in the comments area and I will try my best to answer them.

Aloha and Mahalo, Scott & Angie

Recommended reading;
NPS Haleakala website
"Hiking Maui, The Valley Isle" by Robert Smith
"Maui Trails" by Kathy Morey