07/06/07 Backpacking Seneca Lake Trail (20 miles round trip to Highline Trail junction):
Heading out on another 7 day trip into the backcountry, this time from the Elkhart Park Trailhead in Pinedale. I'm heading for, among other places, Titcomb Basin. The Wind River Range is one of the best backpacking areas in the country and Titcomb Basin is about the best areas in the Wind River Range.
I've done the first 5 miles a couple of times before as a day trip. Nothing exciting the first 4.5 miles, just a gentle incline thru the woods and bugs... lots and lots of mosquitoes.
Photographer's Point is at the 4.5 mark and is one of the main reasons I decided to try backpacking. It's 2000 feet down into Fremont Canyon from the point with a lake way down there. Solid bedrock rises up from on the far side to form wonderful peaks reaching for the sky. No wonder its called Photographer's Point.
I made the 4.5 miles and 500 foot gain to about 10000 feet in 3 hours and pretty good shape. The butt muscles and hip joint right there were feeling the pressure of the weight but was not a problem.
1/2 mile farther is a flower filled meadow with more great views of those same peaks. I shot a couple of pictures from across the meadow and also from behind a tarn (pond).
Another 1/2 mile brought me to Eklund Lake. Pretty but occupied by some horsemen. Barbara Lake follows immediately with large peaks looming in the background.
One more 1/2 mile to an overlook of a basin with a small pond. Bedrock slopes rise 1000 feet in all directions and more peaks lurk on the far side. The trail drops 200 feet into the basin, crosses a roaring creek and then climbs back up 150 feet.
And there lies Hobbs Lake, my destination, at 7 miles, for the day and still more peaks. I camped on a small knoll overlooking the lake. Tons of mosquitoes for company. I saw one other person hiking in and about 30 hiking out on this Friday afternoon... singles, couples, groups and horses.
07/07/07:
Took me over 3 hours to go just 3 miles today to the Highline Trail junction above Little Seneca Lake. Several ups and downs thru rocky basins of 150 to 400 feet in .2 to .6 miles each. Most of the ups would be considered moderate to steep and they took a lot out of me. These were the steepest ups I've done with a backpack and I had to rest every few steps to keep the heart rate under control.
Seneca Lake should have been 1.5 miles away but it seemed a lot farther, maybe because of the 400 feet in .6 miles leading up to it. Very pretty but not camper friendly. The trail passes 100 feet above the lake, drops right down to the water and then back up again. No shoreline on this side, all cliff. Some big walls and peaks at the far end. Very rocky on the other side, some shoreline but no camping.
A couple of tarns and 1/2 mile more to Little Seneca Lake. This is the most dramatic of all the lakes so far... Huge ridges rising 200 feet made me feel small. An island in the middle of the lake added to the picturesque scene.
Highline Trail junction is just beyond the lake. A No Name Lake and camping outside the 200 foot wilderness regulations. Also turned out to be the buggiest spot so far. No choice but to don the bug hat. Set the tent up and lay down for a while. More than 100 mosquitoes between the netting and the rain fly wanting to get at me and suck the life's blood right out of this tired old body.
07/08/07 Hiking Highline Trail (to Upper Jean Lake 10 miles round trip):
Left base camp for a day hike up the Highline Trail. That sounds so cool... "Left base camp". Makes me feel like a compatriot of Sir Edmund Hillary climbing Mount Everest. "base camp"... cool! <grin>.
This section of the Highline Trail is supposed to be most dramatic in the Wind River Range. My goal was Upper Jean Lake, the most dramatic of the dramatic, 10 miles round trip from where I was camped.
The hiking guide says the trail undulates. Belly dancers undulate, not hiking trails. They go up and down and this one did, a lot during the first half of the hike, then it just went up.
From base camp (don'tcha just love it?), the Highline Trail climbs 200 feet up switchbacks to a pass and then drops 50 feet to the Titcomb/Indian Pass Trail junction. The pass provided stunning views of the Indian and Titcomb Basin peaks as far as you could see from left to right. I swung left, staying on the Highline Trail and down an easy grade to a No Name Lake with the same peaks still visible but now as a backdrop to the lake.
Many ups and downs thru pretty basins from here to the Fremont River crossing. The basins are all sloping bedrock with spruce scattered here and there, usually with a lake or tarn at the bottom. Some with rugged peaks in the background, others just pretty in their own right.
A steep drop off of 75 feet to the Fremont River Bridge. Nice views up and down the river. There's a big cascade upriver 1/2 mile but I couldn't find the trail then nor when I came back.
A moderate climb of 1 mile after the crossing, then 1/2 mile thru boulders to Lower Jean Lake. 1/2 mile long with distant peaks at either end. A tall granite fin rises right out of the water for a few hundred feet on the far side.
Another mile to Upper Jean Lake. Narrow waterfall crashes 100 feet or more on the way. Meadows full of flowers... mountain bluebells, red ones yellow ones, purple and white ones too.
Upper Jean Lake 2-3 acres. Jagged peaks rise almost right out of the lake. Had to cross several snow banks along the way... a couple were melting from underneath and ready to break thru and dump the unwary hiker into the nearby stream.
Storm clouds broke out overhead as I completed my 5.1 mile hike. I took half a dozen photos and turned back. Raced the clouds back to Lower Jean Lake but had to stop to rest. The temperature was in the 60's with a 10-15mh wind. The clouds caught up to me and dumped about 8 raindrops on me, maybe 10 and that was it. I was lucky because I just had a thin cotton shirt and a duofold T-shirt. I know... cotton kills. I'll do better next time.
Now I was chasing the clouds and the sun was coming up behind me. I was tired. When I got to the ups and downs on the other side of the Fremont River I made several sit down rest stops. No urgency since the storm clouds were moving away. The sun and clouds co-operated the rest of the way and I was able get a lot of photos I had passed by earlier because of the sun position and haze.
07-09-07 Hiking Titcomb Basin (10 miles round trip):
Back up the old switchbacks, over the pass and down into the valley this morning. 1.2 miles to the Island Lake overlook. Wow!! What a view. As I came up over the rise I could see the tops of ragged peaks. As I got higher I could begin looking down into the basin and see more and more of the peaks and other formations. And then there was Island Lake, 300 feet below. Only a couple of acres and a couple of small islands but peaks and mountains everywhere. One of the prettiest sights I've seen anywhere.
A sharp drop of 300 feet to the lake. Tons of mosquitoes on the near side of the lake but they died out as the trail swung around to the far side. This is where most of the camping is. Someone was telling me that during peak season this side looks like a city with tents sprawled everywhere. Doesn't sound like fun.
Trail rises moderately away from the lake, then more steeply. Saw a couple of marmots along this section.
Another 1.2 miles to the Titcomb/Indian Pass Trail junction. Poor trail sign here. One arrow points vaguely to Indian Pass, one to Island Lake and I wondered why the sign was even there. Then I saw a smaller trail but no sign to Titcomb Basin. Finally I figured out the faint trail to the right is to Indian Pass and the larger, unmarked trail to the left is to Titcomb Basin.
I walked boulders more or less in a straight line across the creek and found the Titcomb Trail on the other side. Trail passes several lakes. Huge swarms of gnats made breathing difficult. Went to put my bug hat on but it was gone. Didn't find it on the trail on the way back either.
Meadows filled with alpine flowers, giant walls to one side of the basin, jagged peaks on the other, lakes and a blue sky. Could anything be better? I was just thinking 2 more miles to go when I came to the last lake in the chain. The end of the trail lies at the other end but I didn't see any point in going that far.
It looked like a pass leads up thru the jagged peaks and the big walls. They say the basin gives access to glaciers and mountains beyond so that is probably the access point.
Not a soul in the basin but I started passing them on my way out as they poured in. It's Monday and the weekenders are gone. Guess its time for the weekday folks now. I guessed there would be 25-30 people back there by the end of the day.
Great hike!
Passed a small, thin old guy in his 70's on his way to climb Mount Gannett, the highest peak in the Wind River Range.
I thought I had specific information on Indian Pass with me but didn't. That combined with losing my bug hat, which makes camp life miserable, I decided to call it quits for this trip. The real reason is I didn't want to have to climb the switchbacks coming up from Island Lake again after a long trip to Indian Pass and I didn't want to have to climb the 50 feet to the pass before my campsite either.
07-10-07:
I figured since it took me 3 hours to go the 3 miles between Hobbs Lake and where I was camped it would take the same to get back and I would camp at Hobbs for the night.
I passed a man on the way out who had to be close to 80. We just nodded but I saw he had an ice ax and guessed he was headed for a glacier. These old guys are still going strong. I think they must have backpacking and climbing most of their lives.
I got to Hobbs Lake and saw a couple of guys fishing where I wanted to camp so headed for Eklund Lake. Got to Eklund and didn't feel tired. Photographer's Point was only a mile or so away and from there it would be all down hill so I decided to hike out.
At the trailhead I met 8 or 10 folks in their 20's. It turns out they were a wedding party heading to Island Lake for the ceremony. A great idea but I don't think they knew what they were getting into. It was about 4pm and they'd have trouble getting to Eklund Lake before dark. Most of them were smokers and I doubt some of them would get that far. Hope things did turn out for them.