[pct-l] (Off Topic ) A Brief Guide to the Wind River Range

[Yoshihiro Murakami]

Overview

The Wind River Range is a part of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming.
It is also a part of Continental Divide in U.S.A., and it has a feature of
monsoon climate a little. That is, it is rainy as compared to other areas
in U.S.A. There are many unique granite towers, since the granite was
erased by rain or glaciers. A small number of grizzly bears live in
northern Winds, otherwise, many animals, such as black bears, elks, et al.
lives. Since there are also many lakes, various kinds of trout lives.
Moreover, since it is rainy, there are also many huge edible funguses, such
as Porcini. The CDT thru-hikers walk along this area, because the
Continental Divide Trail passes through this area. Very few Japanese know
this area, since Japanese CDT hiker is very few. No permit needed, since
the Winds is not a national park. Moreover, the permit of fishing is also
cheap. Shroomer said to me that the best places in U.S.A. are High Sierra,
North Cascade, Glacier, and Wind River Range.  I agree with him.

Approach

It is the fastest way to access Jackson Hole by airplane. However, the
altitude of Jackson is around 2000 meters above sea level, and requires
time for adaptation to high altitude. We flew to Jackson from Los Angeles.
The discrepancy of altitude is around 2000 meters. I felt slight symptoms
of altitude sickness, and had caught a cold.  I think that It is better to
fly to Jackson, after staying overnight in a high place like Salt Lake City
(altitude is 1320 meter). It will be more advantageous to approach by car
using  several days, because the adaptation to high altitude or time zone
will be automatically done.

Transportation

The ways of transportation may be a taxi, a shuttle, and hitchhike.

Although Teton Mountain Taxi of is slightly expensive. they were very
punctual and I can trust them. I reserved their taxi between the airport
and Jackson using internet. They required credit card information at the
time of reservation, and replied it by e-mail. I was very astonished. It is
not admittable in security reason.

The shuttle service of Great Outdoor Shop is available. As compared with
the taxi, it is very economical. We purchased the shuttle between Pinedale
and Jackson and trail head. We were very satisfied.

The success rate of hitchhike depends on a time zone.  It may  be possible
at the airport. It may be slightly difficult for the approach to a trail
head. It will take time to get a ride from a trail head to Pinedale,
because of a few hikers.

Pinedale

Pinedale is a center of  hiking. You can get almost anything needed in
hiking at Great Outdoor Shop. There is a large supermarket named Ridley's
Family Market, where you can get any food.  There are  also many motels in
a town.  We stayed at Baymont Inn and Suites Pinedale and Best Western
Pinedale Inn,  which are both distant from the center of town, and enjoyed
the American breakfast. Wind River Brewing was a famous restaurant, but we
felt slightly expensive and too salty for us.

Maps, books, GPS information

As for Hiking Maps, Northern Wind River Range and Southern Wind River Range
are indispensable, since the trails are described in detail.
The Wind River Trails Paperback by Finis Mitchell is a good book. There are
abundant   information on Trail and Fishing.

I had downloaded and used Northwest Topo and My Trails from GPSFileDepot.
 Since there was a few trails described at topo map, I used the topo  with
My Trails. If you wanted to walk trails, which are not included in CDT, you
should carry GPS. We happened to walked New High Line Trail, where there
was no trace, there were only the signs of stones.

Big Sandy Lodge

Big Sandy Lodge is located near Big Sandy campground in the south of Wind
River Range.  It is a very quiet place. The overnight stay for one person
costs 140 dollars, and 50 dollars are needed when one person joins. The log
cabin is warm, but it was difficult to burn the wood stove properly. Many
people smoked themselves. The bed was cold, therefore we used our sleeping
bag on the beds.There is no electricity, only an oil lantern. However,
there is a wonderful lounge in another building and there is also warm
showers and flush lavatories. The breakfast and dinner are in buffet style,
and the menu differs everyday. The meals are made at the lodge. Moreover,
around two kinds of handmade pies appear in dinner. No one cannot resit the
temptation. we stayed for 3 nights, my body weight increased. I cannot
recommend 3 days or more stay, because it is very very dangerous for your
fitness. BTW, the credit card cannot be used, because of no electoricity
and internet. The reservation should be done by cash. We used the money
moving system of Western Union in Japan. Probably, they may have vacant
cabins in late August.

fishing

Fishing licence is needed, but relatively cheap. for nonresident, daily
fishing licence is 14 dollars, and annual fishing license is 92 dollar. The
cost may be within half, if you are a resident in Wyoming.

Wind River High Route

The record is uploaded in the web. We could not go, but if you have an
ability to do cross-country, it may be enjoyable.




-- 
Sincerely
--------------- --------------------------------------
Low Gear (trail name) ---  Low Gear Song was written by Diane with Trail
Hacker and Shroomer  https://sites.google.com/site/completewalker/low-gear

Hiro   ( the short name of Yoshihiro Murakami  村上宣寛 )
facebook  http://www.facebook.com/completewalker
Blogs  http://completewalker.blogspot.jp/
Photo  https://picasaweb.google.com/104620544810418955412/
Backpacking since 1980 in Japan, A foreign member of PCTA;  JMT( 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012), Wind River Range, Glacier NP (2013)

------------------------------------------------------