Windriver, WY Backpacking 2020

Windriver, WY Backpacking Trip 2020

August 24-29, 2020

This was a six day, five night trip.  Mileage was 10, 3,6,9,6,5

Elevation was between 9K-11K feet.

Since we're from Virginia, we went out a week early to start acclimatizing.  We stayed in Orem and Park City.  Did a few hikes up around Park City.  Arrived in Pinedale, WY a day early and hiked there as well before starting the real hike.  We took Diamox preventatively and had rented a satellite communicator in case we had issues with the altitude.  We also carried a pulse oximeter with us.  Our oxygen rates ranged between 84 (a low on the first night for one hiker--a bit of a concern, but much improved on day 2) to about 92-95.

Temperatures ranged between low 40s at night to low 80s during the day.  

We didn't have problems with any mosquitos.  I didn't apply my bug spray at all during the week.

Our first day with everyone.  

Group:  Jeff, Rene, Paul and Susie, Eric, William, Joe

Lyle and Brandon (day 1), Chris and Jessie (days 1-4)

Typical trail scenery.

Upper Jean Lake---the best fishing!  Among our four fishermen in the group, I think they caught 100 fish that day. (or maybe the same ones multiple times. . . but the fishermen were very happy).

Such amazing scenery.

This was our view on the 2nd night.  After a grueling 10 mile hike on day 1, we took it easy on day 2.  This was a day hike away from Titcomb Basin (famous in this area), but we decided to lay low for a day here.  We had a big hail and rainstorm.  Paul and Susie had to relocate their tent since it was in a puddle.

Views like this were common on this hike, but always very appreciated!

This was day 3 when we had  two passes to cross at 11K feet.

This portion of the trail had been wiped out by a landslide.  The trail was completely obliterated.  We had to climb down the mountain on these huge boulders.  I thought it was difficult and tricky.  This was type 2 fun:  not so fun while it is happening, but kind of fun to tell about afterwards.  Apparently the CDT adds a little bit of mileage and goes around this mess.  We met a few people going the opposite direction from us.  I was really glad we were going down.

Paul dropped his bag at the bottom and came back to help me with mine.  I was very grateful!

Backpacking Food

I didn't get pictures of our meals, but I usually put a day's worth of meals in a ziplock bag.  

Breakfast consists of some of the following:  instant oatmeal, hot chocolate, pop tarts (it's ok if they crumble a bit), cliff bars, nature valley granola bars.  

Lunch is usually some of the following:  cheese stick (yes they last all week), pepperoni sticks, fruit leather, trail mix, tortillas and peanut butter/honey or hazelnut spread.   

Dinners were Knorr Spanish rice (didn't work out well this time), Loaded mashed potatoes (great), Andrew Skurka dehydrated refried beans and rice and fritos (great!), pesto noodles (great!), and packit gourmet Tuscan stew (great).  Dinner always had a snickers bar too.  

At Upper Jean Lake, Eric caught and cleaned a fish for me to eat.  I put the meat in a small ziplock back that had some parmesan and added a small amount of water.  Then I dropped the ziplock in our pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes to cook the fish.  It worked great!  I added it to my pesto noodles.

Back to the tree line and our last night on the trail.

Hiking time!

Paul took my pack before I crossed this makeshift bridge.

I loved the quiet, contemplative, restful moments in the wilderness.

Resting with a view.

Turquoise colored rivers!  We filtered water throughout the trip using a gravity filter.  It was the perfect thing for our group.

The view from our campsite!

Flat top rock in the background on our last night.  Susie, Paul, William, and Eric are great traveling and hiking companions! (as were Joe, Chris, Jessie, Lyle and Brandon and Jeff)

Quiet moments.  The beauty of nature.