Back into the Wyoming Wild: The Wind River Range
Day 35 – August 15
Waking up in a covered wagon was a nice way to start the day. Breakfast with my parents and Ryan soon followed in the Heart 6 Cafe where we were joined by two very cute doggies. It was pretty obvious what their motivation for being there was, but I chose to entertain the idea that maybe they just really liked US and not our delicious and tempting food.
Back at the wagon we packed up and sorted through the plethora of tasty hiking foods my mom had carefully selected for us. We decided there was enough there to get us 8-9 days down the trail. Mommy, thank you SO much for being our resupply. Your generous offering made it so that we gain a day not having to stop in Pinedale, and so that we save money on TWO resupplies since we get to bypass the one we had planned next. Yay!! What a good start to this next leg on our journey.
After breakfast we drove to see the Tetons up close and well lit by the morning sun. We amassed many geology questions.
The rest of our time together was spent mostly in the car enjoying lunch from a nearby deli and contemplating what lies ahead. For Ryan and I, it’s much more walking, walking, walking. For Mommy and Daddy, it is soon back to work!
They dropped us off at our trailhead around 2pm. We got to chat with a bike tourist who is currently headed from Portland to Boulder and hiked the CDT last year! His trail name was Flip Flop. How cool to meet a fellow adventurer.
Ryan and I are now back on the trail, really missing my dad’s company our here, and enjoying being back in the woods. We are camped tonight by a nice river with a bridge. Unfortunately a bear hang is not available so we are risking it with the food in our tent and bear spray at the ready… this will be published long after tonight, but please pray for us!
Luckily the river we are on is very warm so I ended the day with a nice rinse. All set for a good night’s sleep.
Day 36 – August 16
We woke up bright and early, groggy but pretty well rested. No bears visited us during the night for our food so I was feeling very happy about that!
Our goal for the day was at least 21 miles. Spoiler alert, we made it! What a LONG hard day. Thankfully it was mostly flat. We also spent a lot of time… 2.5 hours or so listening to audio books or podcasts. That made the pain and suffering move to the back of our minds for a while which was a nice reprieve. I’m listening to Oryx and Crake right now on my dad’s recommendation and it’s very gripping! What a nice way to pass the hours of walking and walking and walking.
Our packs are exceptionally heavy right now with food so any incline feels much more intense. My back and shoulders are sore again for the first time in a while after getting conditioned. There was a point today that I lost my spirit for about 10 minutes but thankfully regained the desire to keep going on the CDT!
It helped that we also met a cool section hiker (hiking the trail over many sections with long breaks of normal life in between instead of all at once), Kirk, AKA Still Deciding. He gave us some great tips on upcoming trail sections which was appreciated. It’s always a lot of fun meeting other people who are making the CDT their main priority for a bit.
We also ran into a giant heard of elk today near the end of our long hike which was a fantastic way to wrap up our day. We are camped with a gorgeous view of the Tetons next to a little bubbling spring. Tomorrow, the goal is 22… time to REST!!!!
Day 37 – August 17
Long, long day. Ryan and I hiked 22 miles or so today and we are spent! Fortunately the terrain was dry forgiving and we had audio books and music to keep our minds from going a little crazy due to the monotony. Unfortunately, we managed to get under each other’s skin more than we would like to admit… I guess what can you expect when you spend all day in physical stress and discomfort right next to someone else who is in the same boat.
All is good though and we were able to end the day on a very high note with pleasant conversation on our way down to Green River Lakes. What a GORGEOUS spot. This is one of our favorites yet on the trip and we are planning to cowboy camp… despite the tiny mosquitoes out here. They are small but mean!
We are also have double rations tonight since we are ahead of schedule and working hard means we need the extra fuel. This leg we will definitely loose some weight, but the hunger adds to the adventure appeal in a strange way.
We had the good fortune of running into Gaoshan today, a northbound hiker who started at the New Mexico / Colorado border. He has to be in his sixties and Ryan and I were both inspired by his ability to hike such a hard trail at his age and are aspiring to the same hearty lifestyle.
After a rinse off with a portable shower, left with us by my dad, Mr. Clean, we hit the hay ready for another very long day tomorrow… This time, with mountains to climb!!
Day 38 – August 18
Today we saw many, many other backpackers. Definitely the most that we have seen since starting our trip. It’s no surprise, because the area we and all these other friendly hikers are currently stomping around in is likely the most famous place to hike in Wyoming. 13,000+ ft peaks, gorgeous rocky summits, and crystal mountain lakes make it so.
We met many fun groups doing longer hikes than we are used to non CDT people saying they are on. Most are on at least 10 day trips! We also met many people over 50 and once again enjoyed the idea of hiking this at their age.
There was one duo hiking the CDT who we had the pleasure of bumping into around 11am. Hygina (look her up on Instagram @ginazoid) and Box who are heading north from the Mexico border. It was great to pick their brains about what was coming, and to feel the instant bond that appears as soon as you hear you’re on the same LONG journey.
Ryan and I had a nice early start and got our miles in fast before lunch. When we took a break for wraps and a load of creek laundry, it was just after noon and we were at 10 miles. This was good because the second half of our day held a big elevation gain and some difficult trail. We both admittedly had some nerves, but we were ready.
Boy was the climb slow. Boy was it worth it! Initially we had the usual slow ascent with switch backs, easy trail, shady trees… but slowly that shifted into literally hopping from boulder to boulder, crawling along at a glacial speed (pun intended!), and drooling over the views in front of us with disbelief. We saw a little pika again too which was fun! What cool little rodents who live up so high.
Today we set a new height record, 10,600ft!! Tomorrow we SMASH it first thing going in the morning going over Knapsack Col. We are camped beside a gorgeous pristine lake, hitting the hay nice and early. Lack of water sources for the next bit forced an early stop, so we plan to rise and shine around 5:30am and hit it hard.
Day 39 – August 19
Today was the hardest day I’ve hiked yet. We set off for Knapsack Col first thing in the morning, leaving later than we planned at 7:30am, and met two other adventurous hikers on our way up who had stopped about a mile from where we camped. Ashley and John were up there with their adorable dogs and decided to head to a different hike since their little Ruby dog was limping a bit probably from climbing the huge boulders we had to brave on the way up.
We said goodbye and kept climbing up to the col, our legs burning, but our eyes entertained by the incredible rocks around us and gorgeous high altitude wildflowers.
It was a daunting task to climb that mountain. Every time I looked up it seemed to be impossible to get all the way up there! The trail was nearly nonexistent and a good bit of the hike was jumping between big rocks or scrambling over slippery dirt and small fragments that had been carved away from the mountain by glaciers and snow. On top of this, it began to rain near the top and the temperature was very cold. Thankfully we met some friends on the way up, a section hiker and his daughter who was joining him for a week. Climbing the mountain together made the task seem a little less impossible.
We reached the top… YAY!! New record at 12,253ft!!! And looked down at the other side which seemed even more treacherous. It was steep, and a good bit of the way down was covered in deep snow. I opted for a route to the left of the snow over some big boulders and skree while Ryan went down the steeper part towards the snow.
The way down was thrilling and terrifying. I was dizzy from the high elevation and no food in my stomach which didn’t help to calm my nerves in some very sticky spots trying to navigate the big boulders with my pack on. There were patches of ice and snow around in the rocks slowly melting away to form a raging stream below them which you couldn’t see but could definitely hear.
Finally I got to the bottom around the same time as Ryan and our new friends. We ate a lunch and I did my best to relax again after such a scary climb down before setting off for the easier rest of the way to the Titcomb Basin. It was strange to see so many hikers on the other side after crossing such a difficult pass! They came up the way we are going out and probably won’t be climbing over the col.
The Titcomb Basin and lakes following it were super crowded. We ran into tons of other hikers and had good conversations with many of them. It was weird to hear the distances they were covering each day, usually around 8 miles, while Ryan and I have been aiming for at least 20!
It took some time but eventually I fell back into the groove and we walked into the afternoon. Knapsack Col had taken hours to cross with very little mileage reward, so we decided to try some night hiking out. We walked until sunset, made dinner, then adorned our headlamps and stepped out into the night.
It was a lot of fun! We covered a couple more miles before setting up our tent in record speed and crawling into our sleeping bags exhausted from the day. Ahhh. I had some nausea after going on so little food and then eating dinner, but eventually that passed and we passed out.
Day 40 – August 20
Waking up in a place you couldn’t see when you when to sleep is a fun experience! We were in a very low foliage spot on top of a climb, different than any other point in the day before. It was a short hike to water so we waited to have breakfast until descending to the creek below where we devoured a mountain house scrambled eggs and talked to some friendly hikers who were thinking of doing the CDT too. We met a lot of cool people today since we were once again off the beaten path after leaving Titcomb Basin and Island Lake.
The scenery was gorgeous and we were SORE. SO SO SORE. Despite this we walked hard all day long and ended up covering almost 22 miles. It was no small feat. We hit a couple points of wondering if it was worth this hard work and discomfort but when we reached our destination it was glorious.
Today we also had smoke roll in. I texted my awesome dad to get the scoop on where it was coming from and he informed us that it was most likely blowing in from California! It was sure a lot of smoke and had us wondering if we should hike the Cirque of the Towers with such poor visibility.
We ate double rations at dinner and got to call Ryan’s parents with the little bit of cell service we had at our spot! What a treat. It was quickly off to bed… after an episode of Community which was a great escape after such a challenging day.
Day 41 – August 21
It was a good surprise to find that my soreness had subsided substantially over night! Amazing! Ryan and I ate a mountain house granola and took down camp slowly this morning. We left our spot at a little, warm and algae saturated lake in the Wind River Range around 8:30am.
The persistent smoke swayed our decision for hiking the cirques and we decided to hold off. The official CDT offered a less scenic, flatter route, but less scenic didn’t matter one bit with such poor visibility. We are definite bummed but now we know where to return to hike someday when we are done with this trail.
After hiking a few miles we started encountering swarms of backpackers. We had many short and some long conversations crossing paths with lots of interesting people. It was fun seeing all of the dogs out there with their owners and it sparked conversation between Ryan and I about when we would get a dog. Someday when we are a little more settled down! The idea has come up a few times though to get a puppy on the trail… we will see.
Our favorite hikers we met today were Kimchi and Rock Ocean who spotted us quickly as through hikers. They had hiked the PCT and AT and gave us excellent advice and a ton of encouragement. I was inspired by their generosity and instantaneous kinship. It sounds like they are quite the DIY adventurers. They left us with their phone number in case we jump up later this season to hike Glacier. They said they would drive us to and from where we needed to be up there! Once again the bond between through hikers is showing. It’s a real thing. Respect is immediate when you’ve done something so challenging yourself.
Later that day while breaking for lunch we met another SOBO CDT hiker, Skipper, who had just come in from Sandy Lake trailhead on a hitch out of Pinedale.
Turns out that Skipper left Maria’s pass a day before us after being stuck there waiting for a resupply box. How cool that we finally crossed paths today!! He had been hiking as a group of four with Tink Tank, Money Maker, and Mantis who we have yet to meet. We are hoping to meet them someday soon too after they finish their backtrack to hike the cirques.
We chatted while we hiked and all ended up camped about 21 miles from where Ry and I started at the algae saturated lake this morning. We set up with plenty of space between each other’s sites on our request so that Ryan and I could shower. We cleaned up, ate, and now I am writing the blog post way too late in the day. Time to SLEEP!!!
Day 42 – August 22
There is something about the last day or so of a long stretch of hiking that sucks. We think it is that this time isn’t considered before hand since it is right at the end, or is considered but as a stretch that will be “light” or “easy.” In truth, the last day or so of a long stretch is sometimes the most grueling as you slog along very tired after working as hard as you can to get close to town. Being close to town means still hiking for many hours. These hours you had figured would feel like nothing because there were fewer of them than normal… but they are just as difficult, if not more, than a normal day.
Today Ryan and I SLOGGED. We got up late, took down camp slowly (it was a fun and silly morning though which was nice), then set to hiking which was not an easy task. For whatever reason my body was not up for the challenge today and it felt like I was just dragging along half asleep. We did very few miles in the morning and ended up piling on long stretches of walking in the afternoon, hiking into the dark with our headlamps all to fall a mile and a half short of our goal for the day. Whew.
It was a great day for audio books though! Ryan finished A Distant Mirror and I finished Oryx and Crake. It was also a good day for food as we are now plowing through whatever is left in an attempt to arrive in Lander tomorrow empty handed. The scenery was pretty nice and we enjoyed the desert which graced us later in the day with an overcast, cool sky.
We also met Lorax this morning. He is a hiker who now does trail maintenance and was working on carving a 12 link chain with a chainsaw into a big fallen tree as we passed him. He said it’s art, and plans to leave it there for hikers to admire on their way through. It’s fun how the people on the trail love it so much. There is a fondness for these through hikes that a niche group of people share, that creates an instant bond when you find someone else who has hiked one of them. It’s a strange sport with eclectic participants.
Tomorrow we arrive in town after 11.5 miles of hiking. Time for some grueling anticipation and then some delicious fooooood!!!
Day 43 – August 23
It was a relief to wake up feeling pretty refreshed after such a tiring day and night yesterday. Ryan and I made awesome time getting from our little campsite to the highway into Lander. We left around 8:35am and hiked the 11.5 miles to the road by around 1pm. Not too shabby.
Hitching into town was a little bit of work but we had some entertainment of sorts while waiting. First a baby moose appeared inside of a property fence, crying and trying to find a way out. We were at a total loss of what to do but needless to say it was a sad sight. Poor baby. We hope it’s momma shows up soon to help it out, or that it belongs to those property owners and is just bored but has plenty of food and water.
Second we witnessed a fully loaded vehicle, carrying two precariously perched kayaks on top, loose its load! Ryan commented on the looks of the situation as it passed and about 200 feet later, kayaks were tumbling down the highway. We ran to help them regain their orange one which had slid all the way down the steep bank of the road.
Finally we were picked up by Juan, thank you Juan! He was driving four hours or so to a work site and was so kind to give us a lift on the way.
In Lander, we settled first at the bar that we were told while on the trail had great food. The tip delivered and we ate delicious burgers and fries with a local beer on the side. My lack of alcohol consumption while in the woods showed because after one beer I was ready for a serious nap. Instead though we set off looking for some food and shorts and sandals for me. No luck on the clothes, but we did great with the food and are now supplied for another 6 day stretch.
While we sat outside of Safeway, eating more than any person who isn’t exercising all day would find grotesque, we met Lotte and Dan, two climbers traveling through in their van.
We talked for a long while and really hit it off. Lotte is from Belgium and met Dan, who recently converted his van, while camping and traveling around the US. She isn’t sure how long she can stay here since her visa will expire, and with covid it might take a while to renew. They offered us a ride to the City Park where camping for up to three nights is totally free and we all set off to settle in at around 11pm.
Ryan and I, stuffed to the brim on cake, ice cream, milk, and cottage cheese, set up our tent and blissfully fell asleep in the mild summer night on a grassy bed beside a wise old tree. Ahhh.
Rest in Lander – August 24-25
Our initial plan for Lander was in and out. We were ready to go after a couple chores like laundry and thrift shopping for crocs on Monday the 24th, but with a serious pain in the bones of his right foot, Ryan needed some healing. We decided to take it easy and play it safe, staying in Lander two more days to see if there was any improvement in Ryan’s foot. There was!! We feel good about avoiding a stress fracture that could take 6-8 weeks of off time to heal, and we had a great time enjoying rest and especially getting to know Dan and Lotte better.
On Monday, I found some shorts and a pair of crocs at the United Methodist thrift shop for get this… $1.50 for BOTH!! Now I have pants for shorts to wear on laundry days and shoes for stream crossings, breaks, and camp take down. So good.
We did laundry, bought more food for the day, and hung out for happy hour at the Lander Bar where getting a local beer was only $2.50! What a deal.
We also completed the blog for the last stretch without my phone. This takes an insane amount of work and Ryan and I took turns editing. Thankfully we ended up staying another day because after Monday, I was beat from chores and blogging.
We ran into Dan in the morning at the city park where we stayed the night again. He invited us to come along to while he and Lotte climbed for the day at a spot a half hour from Lander. We accepted the invitation and rode along with all of our stuff in their van. We are so inspired by their setup which was hand built by the two of them and Dan’s family. We are also inspired by their ability to climb! Dan has done several climbs that took literally all day. He has even climbed half dome in Yosemite! It shows too because he has the biggest fore arms of anyone I know and can do a pull-up with just TWO fingers, one on each hand, supporting his weight. We got a great education about bouldering, sport climbing, and traditional climbing.
Today he and Lotte did some sport climbing which is where there are already bolts in the rock for you to clip into rather than traditional climbing where you place your own “pieces” which fit into cracks in the rock and are removed after your climb to secure you to the wall on your way up.
It was a great opportunity to just sit around outside which we have done surprisingly little of despite spending months in the wilderness. I had the opportunity to paint and Ryan lounged while listening to audiobooks and podcasts. Very nice.
After they finished climbing, we piled into the van and set off for the happy hour in Lander. Ryan and I also got food, which I HIGHLY recommend, from the connected restaurant. I’m very impressed with the quality in such a small town of only 7,500 people.
It was so much fun hanging out with Dan and Lotte and getting to know them better. After happy hour we went to the store and bought the fixings for shrimp tacos with pico de gallo. Yes!!! Second dinner was on for Ryan and I as we are trying to put on some more weight. Lotte and Dan made delicious rice and shrimp and we enjoyed the atmosphere pouring out of their van as we sat outside to eat. It really does feel like a little home. We will miss their company as we head back out tomorrow!
This stretch will be unique since we go through the Great Basin / Red Desert. They will be flat, long, shadeless and low water supply days. I’m ready to feel like a cowgirl and enjoy some beautiful desert sunrises and sunsets… let’s go!!
There and Back Again 