TEXAS
My
revised plan for Thursday was a hike upstream along Washakie Creek to Shadow
Lake, Barren Lake, Billys, Lake, and Texas Lake. From the far side of Texas Lake
I’d climb up to Texas Pass and the Cirque of the Towers. Christy’s knees were still sore and swollen,
so she decided to take another rest day.
Washakie
Creek was a tricky rock hop, but I made it across dry. I picked up the trail to Shadow Lake on the
far side. I headed upstream for a half
mile or so before rock hopping the creek again.
Farther on I passed a couple of groups of backpackers heading the other
way. At Shadow Lake I found many
campsites. Some of them are quite nice,
with great views over the lake to the peaks surrounding the Cirque of the
Towers. This would definitely be a great
place to camp in the future. The lakes
farther upstream are above treeline and exposed. Shadow Lake definitely has the best campsites
in this valley.
The
weather was iffy on Thursday, but better than it had been the previous
day. There were a lot of clouds and some
smoky haze, but also some blue sky. The
official trail ends at Shadow Lake, but there are several well-beaten paths
continuing beyond the campsites surrounding it.
I followed one of them, and it eventually merged with the others just
above treeline.
I hiked past the scenic upper lakes, enjoying the constant views of the
peaks ahead. The icy wind was less
enjoyable. Along this stretch I noticed
New York Pass high above. The route to
it didn’t really look passable to me, but it could be better than it looks. Maybe.
I
stopped behind a huge boulder at the far end of Texas Lake for lunch. While I was eating, I spotted a pair of
hikers silhouetted at the top of the pass.
The route to the pass has no official trail. It follows a rocky gully the whole way. From my lunch spot it looked daunting, but in
reality it wasn’t that bad. It was really just a steady, steep, rocky
climb. Although it isn’t an official
trail, I thought it was an easier and better route than the east sides of
Hailey Pass and Washakie Pass. Go
figure.
Texas
Pass is a wind tunnel, and hiking through it was grueling. Once I reached the far side and dropped down
the wind eased. I was now within the
Cirque of the Towers, a famous destination for rock climbers. I was surrounded by sheer, jagged peaks as I
strolled across the tundra. I decided to
head for Skunk Knob. It wasn’t far below
me, and it looked like it would provide a fantastic vantage point for the
entire cirque. The hike was pretty easy,
and the knob offered a great spot to relax and enjoy the view. I was directly above Lonesome Lake, and
straight across from Jackass Pass. I
eyed up New York Pass and Bollinger Peak, as we had originally planned to climb
Bollinger on our layover day. My
favorite view though was of Pingora Peak. That peak is a sheer spire towering over the
cirque.
The
Cirque of the Towers was a tough place to leave. I wandered around for awhile,
checking out the late season wildflowers and taking photos. Eventually I forced myself to return to Texas
Pass. The wind was still howling, but it
dissipated as soon as I started down the gully towards Texas Lake. The sky actually cleared that afternoon, and
by the time I returned to Shadow Lake the views were gorgeous. I returned to camp and rejoined Christy. She had enjoyed a relaxing day at our
campsite. We had another campfire and
the last of Christy’s meals. Sunset was
once again a dud, and we went to bed early.
We
woke to frost on Friday morning. It was
cold enough that we had a tough time getting up. My thermometer said 26! I even made another campfire, which made
breakfast more pleasant. We broke camp
and rejoined the trail. We rock hopped
Washakie Creek, which was more challenging with a big pack on. A couple of miles of easy hiking brought us
to Marms Lake.
Here, we rejoined the route we’d followed on day 1. The final 8 miles were all backtracking as we
passed Dad’s Lake, Mirror Lake, Fish Creek Park, and Divide Lake. We passed lots of backpackers just starting
their trips. I was a little
jealous. Did we have to leave?
We
reached our car by mid-afternoon. The
day had warmed up nicely after a cold start.
Incredibly, despite 8 days in the sun, the water in the Yeti was still
cold. That meant that the beer was still
cold. We enjoyed two cold beers and
chips and salsa in the parking lot before heading back to Pinedale. We stopped at the Pinedale Recreation Center
and paid $7 each for admission. We took
showers, enjoyed the swimming pool and water slide, and soaked in the hot
tub. Then we hit the Wind River Brewing
Company for dinner and beers.
Afterwards, Christy drove us back to Jackson and over Teton Pass to the Trail
Creek Campground. I’d made reservations
for two nights there to avoid having to search for a campsite near Jackson on a
Friday evening.
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