Wind River Range
Pinedale, WY
A backpacker’s paradise – the Wind River Range located in western Wyoming is home to more than two million acres of wilderness, including 40 peaks over 13,000 feet and more than 1,300 alpine lakes. The “Winds” have been on our bucket list for years for a handful of reasons – the wildness, the out of this world views, and more recently, the fly fishing opportunities, and we’re so excited to write about this magical place.
We hit the road Friday, August 26th (our anniversary!) after work and made it as far as Kennebec, SD where we stayed the night in a motel before getting up early Saturday morning to finish the drive to Pinedale, WY, the gateway to the western side of the Winds. We stayed the night in an AirBnB outside of town and loaded our packs, then spent one last night in civilization before heading out into the backcountry Sunday morning. Pinedale is a small, quiet town – just our style. We popped into a local fly shop for Wyoming fishing licenses and recommendations on different flies, then sampled local brews at Wind River Brewing Co before calling it a night!
We got on the trail Sunday morning starting at Elkhart Park Trailhead, a few new pieces of gear in tow for this trip: a homemade pot cozy (to speed up our food rehydrating time), ultralight sleeping mats (that would double for a place to sit around camp), our fly fishing gear, and an extra bear vault. Since we would be spending a week in grizzly and black bear country, we needed to store all food in approved bear containers – this meant that each of us had to carry a bulky, heavy bear vault to accommodate all the food we planned to bring! All in all, we had a lot to carry and we felt it as soon as we strapped our packs to our backs. The trail started out with a gentle incline meandering through the woods, occasionally opening into a meadow with views of the surrounding mountains. Right away we felt the effects of the altitude – we were both quite out of breath and pushed through a dull headache for most of the hike.
After a few miles we made it to Photographer’s Point, a gorgeous overlook of the mountains extending as far as the eye could see and a deep canyon far below. We relaxed there for a while, took in the views and relished the opportunity to take off our packs for a short time! We met a solo backpacker from Philadelphia who was just coming off the trail, and he gave us some great campsite recommendations. Eventually we pressed on and descended into a valley, passed a few unnamed lakes, and then the trail got tough – after a seemingly relentless ascent and a few more nice overlooks, we finally descended back to Hobbs Lake, our home for the night.
The Wind River Range is not a national park, it is comprised of three different national forests – every national forest has different camping regulations, but in the Winds, you can camp anywhere as long as you are 200 feet from lakes and trails and 100 feet from streams. This leaves almost endless camping opportunities, though it is best practice to try to find a previously used campsite to lessen your impact (easier said than done sometimes). We explored around the southern side of Hobbs and found a nice campsite with a flat tent pad and nicely built fire ring, plus views of the mountains off in the distance. Exhausted, we stopped our search there and decided to make camp for the night!
We had some lunch (salami and cheese wraps that just hit the spot) and very, very slowly set up camp. We could really feel the altitude at that point – our camp was already above 10,000 feet. After some food, electrolytes, and relaxation (and our good old friend, ibuprofen), we felt a bit better and got to fishing! Joe was awarded with catching the first fish (and second and third), and eventually Ashley got on the board too! We took a break for dinner – homemade dehydrated burritos with tortilla wraps. Using the pot cozy shaved about 20 minutes off our rehydrating time, and to our delight, dinner was ready 10 minutes after adding boiling water! This may not seem like a very big deal, but when you’re tired, hungry, and sweaty, being able to eat after only ten minutes of waiting makes all the difference. After dinner we fished a bit more, then made a fire and started settling down for the evening. We sat around the fire, watched the stars come out and were treated to seeing the big dipper and part of the milky way. It was a relaxing end to a strenuous day, and we settled into our sleeping bags for the night excited to be starting this journey!
Monday morning was slow – it got pretty cold Sunday night and it took us a little while to crawl out of our sleeping bags. Crimson, on the other hand, was rearing and ready to go as soon as the sun came up (many squirrels and chipmunks to be chased, of course). We left camp a little before 10am, and hit the trail bound for Island Lake. We hiked in and out of the forest, crossed meadows and streams, and eventually made it to Seneca Lake, the perfect place to stop for a break! We took in the views from our perch high up on the cliffs above Seneca and enjoyed our lunch, the once distant mountains that we saw at Hobbs now right in front of us.
After lunch we pressed on, and the trail descended to the lake and followed shore for a while, passed Little Seneca Lake, then took us through a real tough climb up never-ending switchbacks before the trail finally started to descend toward Island Lake. We took a spur just before we reached the lake to look for a campsite, and apparently lots of other backpackers had the same idea. We passed multiple tents and walked another mile before we found a suitable place to camp, all the way at the end of the trail near a creek. It was a beautiful spot out on a peninsula – tall, craggy mountains and deep blue water all around us! It was a warm, sunny day, and we waded along shore and fished. We caught a few nice-sized rainbows, but the real highlight was Joe catching a 16” cutthroat “cuttie” trout on a streamer, just after he said, “I’m not sure if streamers are the way to go” (of course). The fish was a fighter, and if you want a good chuckle just imagine Ashley running around in the water trying to net the thing (you’re welcome). It was a beautiful fish, and a really cool experience! We let him go and went back to camp for dinner, then settled into the tent for the night.
We were up early Tuesday morning, bound for Titcomb Basin. We hiked back out to the main trail and around Island Lake including a nice little sandy beach section on the southern end. The trail took us past a bunch of smaller, unnamed lakes, through wide open meadows filled with large boulders, and treated us to amazing mountain views for the entire hike. After a small ascent we made it to our destination, Titcomb Basin – home to four lakes rimmed by a series of 12,000-13,000 foot peaks creating a natural amphitheater…and the legendary golden trout.
We found a suitable camping spot on a peninsula between two lakes and set up camp there (though the wind did not make this easy). It was a tough hike, and we rewarded ourselves with some relaxation and snacking before finishing our camp setup and heading out to fish. We tried a handful of different spots around the lakes on the basin, but no luck catching any fish! At least we had lots of chances to practice casting, right? After dinner we tried a new spot on an outlet from a stream, and Joe caught a rainbow trout. The wind died down just in time for bed, and we crawled into our tent very ready for a break.
We slept in Wednesday morning, had coffee and a proper breakfast, then packed a day bag and our fishing gear for the 0.25 mile hike up to Mistake Lake – we had intel from one of the locals that it’s full of golden trout. The hike was quick but steep, and the lake was absolutely dreamlike. Seemingly floating among the mountains, Mistake Lake sits at about 10,800 feet surrounded by tall, rugged mountain peaks and sheer cliffs. The fishing was quiet, a few jumps but no bites no matter what we tried! We took the storm clouds rolling in as a hint to get back down to camp and take a break, passing by a few other anglers who were having the same frustrations as we were. After a little R&R at camp, we headed back up to Mistake, fished a bit more, and made dinner beside the lake. We saw tons of fish rising and golden trout cruising around in the crystal-clear turquoise water, and a huge golden jumped out of the water right in front of us (unfortunately, it was not jumping after either of our flies). Even though we didn’t catch any goldens, it was a cool experience to see such a unique fish!
Thursday morning we packed up camp and said goodbye to Titcomb Basin. The fishing was slower than we had hoped, but it was still a privilege to experience such a beautiful area. We retraced our steps on the trail back to Island Lake, this time opting to look for a campsite on one of the smaller lakes slightly north of Island. Something to note if you ever visit Island Lake in the Winds – it’s a busy area. It took a little bit of extra hiking and crossing through a small stream before we found a remote site with tree cover and no other campers around, but it was worth it! We had the whole area to ourselves, and the lovely mountain views and nearby stream provided the perfect ambiance. There were also plenty of critters running around, so Crimson was very pleased with our choice of campsite. We relaxed around camp for a while before heading out to fish – skunked again! The previous few days had been very sunny and hot, and we weren’t seeing much fish activity…but on the bright side, we got plenty of practice casting dries, nymphs, and streamers, and we couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting.
Friday morning we hit the trail headed back to Hobbs Lake for our final night – it was a tough hike, made even more difficult by the heat, direct sun, and hefty elevation gain. This time around we made camp on the northern side of the lake in a nice private area with an overlook of the lake, and we were finally among trees again which meant some shade! We had some lunch and lounged around, walked down to the lake to fish, and broke our dry spell with a rainbow trout for each of us – we even saw a moose across the bay! After dinner we decided to check out Sapphire Lake, about 1/3 mile away. Our GPS app came in handy and guided us on the primitive trail up to Sapphire, a gorgeous lake enclosed on all sides by tall, rocky cliffs and views of the surrounding mountains. We found a bunch of really cool campsites, and no other people – keep this in mind for next time! The only downside was the murky, stagnant water, definitely not home to any trout, so we hiked back down to Hobbs and enjoyed the rest of our evening before the three of us crammed into our tiny backpacking tent for our final night on the trail.
The hike out tested our limits for sure– steep, sunny, and hot, with heavy packs and tired legs. The last few miles were much easier, shaded, and downhill. We made it off the trail a little after 1pm, took some time to unpack our gear and organize the car, and then began our classic post-hike ritual: a shower and a feast! This trip’s feast featured Funyons, milkshakes, huckleberry lemonade, beer, burgers, and fries, and we even ordered Crimson a ”dog burger” (a.k.a. a hamburger patty) which she gobbled up in the blink of an eye. We picked up some souvenirs, and saw two moose standing in the middle of a creek right in town! Then we settled into our motel for the night and reflected on our trip – definitely bittersweet that it was over, but we both felt ready to return to civilization and our normal lives (not to mention an actual bed and bathroom).
The Winds definitely lived up to the hype – it was an epic week for our little family living out of our packs and connecting with nature. We’re already scouring a map of the range, planning where we’ll go next – until next time! And there will be a next time.
Thanks for reading! Check out our gallery here for the rest of our pictures from the trip.