My first trip to the Wind Rivers was in 1984, back in the era of wool shirts, frame packs, and the Sierra Designs Clip flashlight. Unfortunately, this was one of the few trips where I did not keep a detailed journal. My only notes are on slides copied from Buddy, the route as marked on my Wind River Handymaps, and some notes written on the inside cover of my copy of Finis Mitchell’s “Wind River Trails.” Some of the entries in this blog tell stories, while others are just records of trips taken. With little original info, this post is one of the later.
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| Pingora and Cirque of the towers. |
At this time, I was just out of grad school and working in Butte, MT on a drilling project for Pegasus Gold. We were busy that summer, and I was only able to get 5 days off by having to work the two weekends on either end. This was a five day trip with my friend Buddy from the AT, and his friend Steve. Basically, we walked a CCW loop from Big Sandy to Cirque of the Towers and Graves Lake and then back along the Pyramid Lake and Fremont trails.
We started 7-30-84 from Big Sandy Campground and hiked 8.5 miles up and over Jackass Pass to stay at Lonesome Lake in the Cirque of the Towers, perhaps the range’s best known and most awe inspiring feature.
Day 2 was 12 miles to Lizard Meadows, then on the Lizard Head Trail to the Bears Ears Trail and down to Valentine Lake. Mostly I remember the torrential rain on this high exposed route. We walked much of the day in a watery trench, wondering where all the water was coming from when there was so little country above us.
On Day 3 we
took some time to dry out our gear, then walked to the South Fork of the Little
Wind River, forded, and reached Grave Lake for about 7 miles. The afternoon was
nice, we took a brief swim and then a 3-mile walk in shorts and T-shirts up and
around Pilot Knob. Just a short rain around dinner time.
The USGS Mt Bonneville Quad with our route on Mt Hooker. Our 1984 route is in green.
On Day 4 we
climbed Mt. Hooker (12, 504’) via the Class 3 East Ridge on a 3-mile, 3.5 hour
side trip. The north face of Hooker is one of the few classic “big walls” in
the Winds, yet it offers a rare and beautiful walk up/scramble route up the
East Ramp ideal for hikers like us. There was a hailstorm while we on top, so
we really appreciated the option for a quick descent. We continued over Hailey
Pass to Marms Lake, where I took another swim.
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| Mount Hooker from Graves Lake, note the escape ramp on the left. |
Our last day was a 7.5 mile hike out to Big Sandy. Presumably I drove back to Butte, while Buddy and Steve headed back to Denver.
Overall, I remember the trips as being especially rainy, and nearly all the pictures from the trip feature deep dark clouds. But simply being in the range was exhilarating. The Winds may have the most striking alpine terrain in the lower 48. There are few easy ways into the high country, and few easy routes once in the heart of the mountains. There are few walkups among the high peaks and no easy routes among those.
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| Buddy, Hiram and Steve |
My summary of
the trip was “great camping places, abundant trails and easily climbed peaks,
not crowded, weather cool with frequent rain especially above tree line, no
wildlife.” Many of these observations would be tested in my future visits to
the range, but the Wind Rivers remains one of my favorite places.
