Wind River Loop, days 1-3

Gary and I met Nam while on the Muir Trail in 2018. Nam was with his friend Joe, and it the JMT was like their 2nd backpack in their lives! These were tough guys! Nam suggested we do another, and we added Gary Fujino and Nam’s friend Corey O’Dell from New Orleans. With these 4 we did a 6 day trip planned by Gary, with the stipulation that at 70 years of age, I was limited to 6 miles a day. Gary found a great route that met that requirement, and off we headed to Pinedale Wyoming. We dropped a car at one trailhead, and headed to our starting point at Elkhart Trailhead, some 15 miles from Pinedale. The maps below show the route, with camps at:

1. Barbara Lake

2, Island Lake

3. Upper Jean Lake

4. Summit Lake

5. Glimpse Lake

6, out to trailhead, short car shuttle

We started at high elevation at 9400’, and probably had 500 or so up and down elevation gain, to Barbara Lake at close to 10,000’. We camped in and around some huge rocks which offered rain and wind protection, and were very nice.

Day 2 took me and Gary to Island, and Corey and Nam heading on to Titcomb Basin, or at least closer to it. They were hoping to do a day hike into the basin, then catch up to us during day 3. We camped west of Island Lake, and there was lots of room for campers there.

On day 3 Gary and I headed for Upper Jean Lake, and ran into Nam and Corey on the way. Nam had experienced altitude sickness and had not gone to Titcomb Basin, but they got ahead of us on the trail and waited for us. It seemed like we passed a dozen deserted lakes, and there was not much elevation gain, and we got to Upper Jean Lake at 10,800’. It wasn’t a hard hike, but at that altitude I was tired. Upper Jean Lake had few places to camp, and another lake might have offered better camping. It was windswept and cold at night.