Wind River Range Traverse, July 2017

Here's my gear list from the Wind River Range trip, in case anyone is curious. I don't usually weigh my gear anymore, but I did for this one, since I was carrying 18 pounds of food/consumables from the start of the trip (for 8 days in the backcountry).

Wind River Gear List — 12.9 lbs base weight

Packing — 46.3 oz

• Granite Gear Mariposa pack (29.9 oz)
• Small Granite Gear stuff sack (0.5 oz)
• Ursack food storage bag (7.5 oz)
• Ursack Minor food storage bag (2.7 oz)
• 2 OP Sacks (3.1 oz)
• Trash compactor bag (2.0 oz)
• ZPacks small cuben fiber dry bag (0.6 oz)

Kitchen — 18.7 oz

• Fire Maple foldaway chop sticks (1.0 oz)
• Sea-to-Summit long-handled spoon (0.4 oz)
• Ziploc 2-cup plastic cup (0.8 oz)
• MSR Titan Kettle, 0.85L (4.75 oz)
• Soto Windmaster Pro canister stove (2.7 oz)
• Bolthouse Farms Water bottle (1.5 oz)
• 2x 1L Platy bottles (2.8 oz)
• 1L Sawyer water bag (1.35 oz)
• Sawyer squeeze water filter (3.3 oz)

Sleep & Shelter — 51.5 oz

• Stateless Society down quilt (18.7 oz)
• Gossamer Gear Airbeam sleeping pad (7.4 oz)
• Klymit X Pillow (2.2 oz)
• Gossamer Gear The One (19.8 oz)
• 8 MSR needle stakes & 2 titanium shepherd hooks in Zpacks stake bag (3.4 oz)

Clothing carried— 34.9 oz

• Spare socks-- Darn Tough 1/4 Cushion (2.0 oz)
• Sleep shorts-- New Balance athletic shorts (5.9 oz)
• Patagonia Wool T-shirt (4.7 oz)
• Westcomb Focus eVent Rain Shell (9.6 oz)
• Montbell UL Thermawrap Jacket (8.0 oz)
• Knit Wool Hat (2.5 oz)
• Marmot Running Gloves (2.2 oz)

Electronics — 21.3 oz

• Nitecore NU20 rechargeable headlamp (1.25 oz)
• iPhone 6s in Lifeproof case (6.3 oz)
• Amazon Kindle in homemade case (6.55 oz)
• Anker Powercore 10000 battery (6.3 oz)
• Thunderbolt & micro-USB cables (0.8 oz)

Other — 33.1 oz

• Brondell GoSpa Travel Bidet spout (0.35 oz)
• Printed maps (2.6 oz)
• First aid kit (4.0 oz)
• Wallet (a few cards and cash in ziplock bag) (0.7 oz)
• QiWiz Potty trowel (0.4 oz)
• Toiletries kit (2.1 oz)
• Kahtoola Micro spikes (15.6 oz)
• Camp Corsa Ice Ax (7.3 oz)

We still had a 20-mile day to get out at the end of the trip, although it was all on trail so that sped things up nicely. We got to see plenty of lower-elevation lakes and forests, as well as this big, open alpine meadow (Burro Flat). We also saw more of the route that we would have taken if we had stayed on the High Route-- totally snow covered. So this was a good decision.

In the end, we made it to the car at Trail Lakes by about 5:30 PM, and to Lander by dinner time. And oh, what a dinner it was!

Finishing up Blaurock Pass. It's pretty humbling to be burning the last of your fuel reserves after only ten miles or less in one day, but we were totally burned out at the top of this pass. Still, it was a good time. We got our first real views of Gannet Peak (not in this photo) and got to see just how much snow would await us. Hikerbox and I had already decided that we wouldn't be making it over any more mountains or passes on this trip, and that we'd head out to the car once we got down from this pass. I feel no shame in saying we didn't achieve our original plan. This was some hard work!

Halfway up the pass, and I feel like I'm going to die. This is some serious work. But exciting.

Finally, getting to the base of Blaurock Pass, the steepest and longest climb of the route. Tons of snow, too. It's the pass on the right in the picture. It looks insane from the bottom, and only slightly less so as we began the ascent.

Another ford of another branch of Bull Lake Creek, this one much harder since the glacial sediment clouded the water. It was deeper and faster than the earlier ford, too. Exciting.

The creeks are crazy with snow melt. Bull Lake Creek wasn't deep, but it was wide and fast.

After Alpine Lakes Pass, even more snow and huge mountains. Stunning barely describes what we see around every turn. Blaurock Pass, our next destination, is six miles of hiking away, down into the valley and back up.

Tons of snow in the Alpine Lakes area, and a long, grueling climb up over the snow. I think I've been getting weaker every day, even as my body acclimates to the elevation. I'm just as tired after each climb as I was in the early parts of the trip. Maybe it's mostly because the climbs are harder, but my body is definitely ready to finish this trip.

Just before camp, we met Quick Ham and Recon, who were also working on the High Route. Now we were a group of 4 for the day, since Mike and I would head out early at the end of the day. Anyway, we camped overlooking an icy lake, and the pass that all four of us had decided was way too crazy to try. In the morning, a lovely sunrise before hitting the road.