hobolog :: CDT 2009

Resting in Jackson is great, but my stomach is not cooperating fully. I should be eating constantly and indiscriminately to put some weight back on, but everything I eat gives me heartburn, and I just can’t consume the volumes I need to. Still, I slowly make my way through a couple of good restaurant meals (more Wyoming Thai food at Thai Me Up!) and half a pint of Coconut Bliss. Other than the heartburn I feel fine, and ready to hike some more. I’m curious about the country between Togwotee Pass and Yellowstone – I expect it might be some of the wildest yet.

Near Colter Bay, WY

A little more cross country gets us onto an old trail that leads us to the road to Togwotee Pass. Lest we have a day of easy hiking, we attempt to find an alternate trail to Brooks Lake and spend half the route bushwhacking to a high, spectacular gap near Sublette Mountain. From there we do find trail to follow to Brooks Lake, where we wait with many mosquitoes while Ann and Bob make their way through massive construction on the Togwotee Pass road to pick us up and take us to Jackson where we have to wait for our Yellowstone Backcountry Permit to kick in.

Near Dubois, WY

The hiking feels uncharted today, despite our complete dependence on maps. We follow blazed snowmobile trails along the divide, then a long trail almost impossible to walk on due to thousands of elk footprints dried in the dirt. A little road provides some relief, then it’s back to elk trail. Finally we walk an old abandoned road until it disappears at Beauty Park, then start cross-country. There are very few landmarks, so I’m relieved when we hit an old jeep trail where I expect. Soon after the mosquitoes drive us to camp.

Near Bondurant, WY

Pete and I set off on this segment on our own, curious what the country will be like north of the Wind Rivers. The trails definitely see much less use, and we get off course once when I don’t pay close enough attention. The best section is an alternate we take at the end of the day, where a small road along the divide provides panoramic views of the Wind River range, the Grand Tetons, and the Owl Creek mountains.

It’s my 37th birthday! I take a rest day with the family, eating cakes and drinking beer. This might help prevent a full recovery of my digestive systems, despite the rest day, but I enjoy it!

Near Cora, WY

Today the only pressure is to not be too late to the trailhead, where my Dad and Sarah are supposed to join Bob and Carol to greet us. The early day goes slowly as we have to pick our way slowly down some frozen snowfields, but once we’re on dirt trail again the hiking is simple the rest of the way. We follow the amazing green water down one of my favorite valleys past Old Squaretop. At the lower lake Pete crosses the river on a bridge, which is not the main route, but I figure it will take us more directly to the Green River Lakes campground. In the end this confuses everyone, and I do a fair amount of extra running around before the group is successfully united. Mosquitoes are still pretty bad down here, and we go about the challenge of spending some good time together without getting eaten alive.

Near Cora, WY

The question of the day is whether there will be too much snow on the far side of Shannon Pass to make it over and down the other side. If so, we’ll have at least three extra miles of rough terrain to cover to circumvent it, and probably more the way the miles have been going.

In the morning Ann is in the lead when she gets off the trail. Not knowing this, Pete and I pass her and continue over a rise. Probably about the same time we both figure out something is wrong and blow our whistles, but we’re out of range. We both shift quickly into emergency mode. Ann is the first to find the turn she missed, so she ventures a ways up the correct trail until she sees Pete, and soon we’re all reunited. Perhaps a good reminder of how serious it could be if our small group gets separated up here.

Lester Pass is our gateway to the north end of the range. From here we can see many jagged high peaks, including Fremont Peak. The rest of the day is spent slogging slowly through the jumbled terrain towards them, always wondering how the day will end. The snow cover increases at Jean Lake, and Upper Jean Lake is totally snowbound. By the time we can see the pass it’s almost 8 pm, but we decide to go for it. The pass is gentle, so we can make pretty good time to the other side, but Pete has to scout ahead twice to see if the descent is possible. His final report is that it is “mostly rocks”, and indeed we’re able to pick our way down to Peak Lake with minimal snow exposure. Vastly relieved, we enjoy a mosquito-free night at this high lake.

Near Boulder, WY

We hike for miles through the lake-dotted, glacially sculpted plateau of the western Wind River range. Long miles – each one seems to take us nearly an hour. Lots of small climbs and descents. It’s getting late by the time we reach North Fork Lake, but we press on toward Hat Pass. It’s 8 pm when we top out, feeling good. The area below is wet and the mosquitoes are the worst yet. We set up camp in a giant whining cloud.

Near Boulder, WY

We had concocted a plan where I would take off on my own into the Cirque of the Towers today, but since I’m still not feeling fully recovered from my illness I cancel it. It’s nice to stay with the group and see Ann’s parents at our Big Sandy resupply.

Swarms of mosquitoes have started to make regular appearances. We dig out the headnets and pray for wind. There are plenty of other people hiking with headnets on in this area – it feels like we’re some new race of mutants nodding to each other in collusion.

The resupply goes well, and we reach our goal for the day early. This is good, because it gives Ann and I time to realize that we’ve miscalculated the miles ahead of us. Instead of a few easy 16 mile days, we realize we need to keep doing 20 miles to make our schedule. It won’t be easy in this country.

Near Boulder, WY

I’m still feel a little sick in the morning, but able to hike. On our way out of camp a Moose crossed the road in front of us.

We meet an excited trail crew on their way out, with news about some almost-finished new CDT tread to Big Sandy. We consider trying it, but opt in the end to go over Temple Pass as planned.

It’s a long slog up Little Sandy Creek to the pass, but the rock formations on the canyon walls are incredible. We finally reach the pass at the end of the day, and find a way up with only one short snow crossing. At the top we can see into the Cirque of the Towers to Pangora Peak. Combined with the intense final climb it’s enough to stop the brain cold.

There are some easier snow crossings on the descent, and we call it a day at a nice flat spot just below Miller Lake. I’m exhausted and aching.