Wind Rivers

   Since I have lived in Bozeman i have heard the Wind Rivers mentioned by a handful of people.  This small group of friends who have been into the range, primarily for climbing objectives, have always left grand detail to the imagination.  The common word ran through all the reports: Big.  This almost cult-like secrecy eventually made me decide that I need to go explore this range, and find the cult's secrets myself.

   So a few months back i pulled out the map and said where to go?  Places i had heard of where spread out all over the map, Gannet Peak, Titcomb Basin, The Freemont Trail, Cirque of the Towers, and Sinks Canyon.  So in a rapid bout of ambition I declared to myself, I am going to traverse the entire range.  With a long trip and my honed backpacking skills I would see the entire range in one foul swoop.  Before long the route was planned, starting above Dubois we would follow the glacier trail up and over Bonney Pass (possibly summiting Gannet on the way), and continue down the SW side along the Fremont trail, before crossing back over Washakie pass and down into Sinks Canyon, just above Lander.

95-100 Miles - 8 Days - and no clue what i was getting into


After routinely putting in 15-18 mile days on many of my Pacific Crest Trail trips in my younger days i thought this plan to allow ample time for handling a bigger range. I was wrong.

Here's the list of ass-kicking features that the winds include:

• a day of hiking in the winds is mellow if it includes 3,000 vert of climbing, tough means 6,000
• this elevation is all achieved and lost between 10,000 and 13,000 feet, so yeah - your suckin wind
• If you've never seen over 100 mosquitos swarming you at one time...  it's pretty impressive 
• they don't build bridges... ever
• scree fields, boulder piles, mud pits, moraines, and creek beds are all alternate names for "trail"
• all gear breaks in the winds... im serious there's some sort of black freakin magic 
• They could be called the "Bermuda Triangle Range", GPS units give you altitudes up to 1000 feet wrong, and tell you there are multiple un-paved roads 40 miles into the backcountry

So in the end, we made it onto the Fremont Trail, a little more than halfway, before having to pull the plug due to being too far behind schedule to make it to Lander (Kevin had to head out a day earlier due to a bum ankle and a broken pack).  We dropped down and turned back to elkhart trailhead (near Pinedale).  I have never had a range hand me my ass like that...   ...and it was great!  The Winds are so big, inspiring, committing, wild, unique, and peaceful.  I was thrilled to be humbled by such an amazing range, and am already itching to get back.

Cheers, to the last truly wild place in the West.

The Royal Couple

So following the beautiful wedding of two good friends Marge and Kevin Volkening.  Dave, Ryan, Kevin and I rolled out around noon (following adequate hangover recovery) to the King and Queen near Whitehall for a little casual trad afternoon.