The Cure for Insomnia: Wind River Backpacking

Nat, Christine, Kuzca, and I took a 4 days last weekend and backpacked in the Wind River Range of Wyoming.

After a late start on Thursday evening, we drove almost halfway to our destination and stopped in Rawlins for the evening. Surprisingly, we found that just about every hotel was full. Apparently it's a popular place to stop along I-80 in the summer, even on a Thursday. We eventually found a room and crashed for the evening at some sketchy motel.

Christine and I went out for breakfast the next morning, and I had what could be the worst scrambled eggs ever. I don't know what they put in these things but it was bad. We rousted Nat shortly thereafter and ran away as quickly as possible from that horrible eating experience.

After a stop in Pinedale for supplies and lunch, we made it up to the trailhead and started our journey. It was a 6 mile hike from the trailhead to our destination (Glimpse Lake), and it was almost entirely uphill. Packed full with a few days of food, our backpacks were a little heavy and it was a grind to get to the lake. I think what kept us going was knowing that we'd be setting up a base camp and wouldn't be carrying our big packs again until our hike out on Monday.

Kuzca was cute on the hike in. She likes to stop and wait for us to make sure we're still there and sometimes she'll even start going back down the trail to find someone. She has also figured out that a good place to stop and wait is in the shade.

We're fortunate here in Colorado to rarely have to deal with mosquitoes when we go hiking. With all the water around the Wind Rivers (there are a ton of lakes in the area), however, there was plenty of breeding ground for mosquitoes. It was a nuisance all weekend but we put on bug spray and dealt with it. After the tiring hike in and battling with bugs, we were all pretty beat. We cooked up a simple meal of mac and cheese and then retreated to our tents for the evening.

I was the first one up the next morning so I did a little fishing and caught a nice brook trout. Following breakfast, we hiked up above the lake to the "crow's nest" for a spectacular view. From there we eyed some possible hiking routes for the following day and then we headed on our 6 mile day hike to Trapper Lake. Trapper lake was nice, but, as the guide book described, it was lacking solitude. It's a popular lake for people to take pack-stock trips into, so we saw people hanging out with big coolers and other items you wouldn't dream of backpacking with. Before heading back to camp, we found a nice place to eat lunch and even take a little swim.

Being sore and tired the following morning, we bagged our ambitious plans to hike to another lake. Instead, we hiked around our camp's lake and did some more swimming. Even Kuzca got in on the action this time. She really doesn't like the water, but she may have had a little help falling into the water. We spent the rest of the day lounging around camp, doing a crossword, and planning a honeymoon.

All good things must come to an end, and on Monday morning we had to pack up and head out. It was a quicker hike than on the way in, but it was still strenuous. We were all very glad to see the car.