Wyoming Trip Reports
Wyoming Photos
Teton Wilderness Area
July 2022
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In July, 2022, Christy's Uncle Larry joined me for a 12-day backpacking trip in the Teton Wilderness south of Yellowstone National Park. We spent the first two days hiking from the Turpin Meadows Trailhead up the North Fork Buffalo to North Fork Falls. (Photos). The next day was a layover day. We spent the day hiking the upper North Fork Buffalo to see the waterfalls in the river's headwaters. (Photos). The next morning we backtracked to the North Buffalo Two Ocean Trail and turned north. We hiked down Trail Creek to Pacific Creek and up to Two Ocean Pass. We camped there and took a short side trip up to the Parting of the Waters. The next day we continued down Atlantic Creek to the Yellowstone River and on to Bridger Lake. (Photos). The next day was a layover. We took advantage of the free day with a hike from Bridger Lake into the Thorofare section of Yellowstone National Park. Our goal was Mist of the Trident Falls on Cliff Creek. (Photos). From Bridger Lake, our next goal was to hike upstream along the Yellowstone River to its source. On day 6 we hiked to the mouth of Woodard Canyon. From there, we continued upstream past many waterfalls and through alpine meadows to the Continental Divide. (Photos). The next morning we attempted to climb Younts Peak. (Photos). That afternoon we visited Marston Pass and camped near a beautiful waterfall. On Tuesday morning we started the final segment of the trip - three days of off trail hiking along the Continental Divide to Brooks Lake. The first day we climbed to the Continental Divide from Lost Creek and camped above an alpine lake at the head of Bliss Creek. (Photos). The next morning we continued south and west along the Continental Divide. (Photos). On the final day we enjoyed spectacular views of The Pinnacles and incredible wildflowers at Bonneville Pass. (Photos). We finished up the trip by visiting the Torrey Creek Petroglyphs and dayhike to Holmes Cave. (Photos).
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North Fork Buffalo |
Wind River Range
July and August 2020
Christy and I returned to Wyoming in the summer of 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic forced us to scrap our original plans to visit the Pacific Northwest. Fortunately we were still able to drive to Wyoming. Our first night of camping and our first hike was in the Sherman Mountains in southeastern Wyoming. We spent a few hours exploring the Devils Playground. (Photos). Next, we drove to Lander and spent a couple of nights car camping on the edge of the Wind River Range to acclimate to the altitude. The next day, we visited Sinks Canyon State Park and hiked to Popo Agie Falls. (Photos). The next day we started a 3 day backpacking trip from Worthen Meadow Reservoir to Stough Creek Basin. The highlight of that trip was a ramble on the plateau of Roaring Fork Mountain. (Photos). After that first backpacking trip, we visited Lander and then car camped and did a couple of easy hikes on Limestone Mountain. (Photos). From there, we headed to Green River Lakes at the northwestern end of the Wind River Range. We spent two nights at the campground there. On Sunday, we hiked to Upper Green River Lake and Porcupine Creek Falls. (Photos). Next up was a 3-day backpacking trip to Slide Lake. We spent two nights there and climbed Lost Eagle Peak. (Photos). After a rest day in Pinedale, we tackled a 5-day backpacking trip into Middle Fork Lake and Bewmark Lake from the Scab Creek Trailhead. (Photos) Next up was a solo 3 1/2 day backpacking trip in the New Fork Lakes area. (Photos)
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stough creek basin |
Yellowstone and the Wind River Range
August 2018
We took another road trip to Wyoming in August of 2018. The focus of this trip was a 6-day backpacking trip in Yellowstone's Cascade Corner and an 8-day backpacking trip in the southern Wind River Range. After driving from North Carolina, we arrived in Yellowstone on a Monday evening. We started with two nights at the Bridge Bay Campground. That first evening we did a short sunset hike at the West Thumb Geyser Basin on Yellowstone Lake. (Photos). The next day we hiked through the wildlife-rich Lamar Valley to Death Gulch and Wahb Springs, a remote thermal area on Cache Creek. (Photos). The next morning we visited Old Faithful and the Upper Geyser Basin, Biscuit Basin, and the Artist Paintpots. (Photos). Next, we tackled a 6-day backpacking trip Cascade Corner - the southwest corner of Yellowstone. On the first day we started at Cave Falls on the Falls River and hiked to Bechler Falls on the Bechler River. Then we hiked across Bechler Meadows to our campsite on Boundary Creek just downstream from Dunada Falls. (Photos). From there, we hiked up through the Bechler River Canyon to spend two nights camped at Albright Falls. We spent the day in between exploring waterfalls and hot springs along the Gregg Fork and Ferris Fork of the Bechler River. (Photos). We finished up the trip in the Falls River drainage with a visit to Union Falls on Mountain Ash Creek. (Photos). The next day we dayhiked to another incredible waterfall in Cascade Corner - Terraced Falls on the Falls River I also bushwhacked down to Rainbow Falls while I was in the area. (Photos).
Next on our trip was an 8-day backpacking trip in Wyoming's Wind River Range. I planned out a loop from the Big Sandy Opening Trailhead. We spent the first two days backpacking into the alpine lakes at the headwaters of the East Fork River. (Photos). From there we hiked cross-country to Pyramid Lake and followed the trail to Hailey Pass. We descend the far side and then hiked up to Baptiste Lake . to camp. On day 4 we attempted to climb Mount Hooker, but those plans were derailed by a late start, a slow pace, and deteriorating weather. We spent that night camped near a beach on the east end of Grave Lake. (Photos from days 3 and 4). Day 5 was a layover day. Christy took the day off, while I dayhiked to an overlook of Trail Lake, Roberts, Lake, and Roberts Mountain in the Wind River Roadless Area. (Photos). We had planned to hike out over the Lizard Head Plateau and through the Cirque of the Towers. However, bad weather on the morning of day 6 forced us to take an alternate route over Washakie Pass. (Photos). We spent our last two nights camped along Washakie Creek. On day 7 I hiked solo up Washakie Creek past a chain of alpine lakes and up to Texas Pass on the rim of the Cirque of the Towers. (Photos). On the last day we finished our trip with the easy hike back out past Marms Lake and Dads Lake.
We spent the next two nights at a campground outside of Jackson, Wyoming. On Saturday Christy worked while I did a solo hike to Delta Lake, Surprise Lake, and Amphitheater Lake in Grand Teton National Park. (Photos). The next day we drove to Billings, Montana. Along the way we stopped at Upper Mesa Falls in Idaho and drove through Yellowstone and the Beartooths. (Photos). After a short visit to Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota we spent an evening camping at Devils Tower National Monument. (Photos).
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Yellowstone Lake |
Wind River Range, Yellowstone, The Tetons, & The Snowy Range
July 2011
Christy and I returned to Wyoming in the summer of 2011. This time we brought our 3-year old Weimaraner, Boone, with us. For this trip we once again drove cross-country, this time through Nebraska. Originally we planned to start our trip in the Snowy Range west of Laramie. Our first real hike of that trip was a dayhike in the southeastern portion of the Wind River Range. We hiked from the Worthen Meadow Reservoir to an unnamed pass east of Stough Creek Basin. (Photos). Afterwards we did a 5-day backpacking trip in the Wind River Range from Elkhart Park to Island Lake and Titcomb Basin. (Photos). From there we drove to Yellowstone National Park and did a backpacking trip to Heart Lake and climbed Mount Sheridan. (Photos). After backpacking, we spent another day touring Yellowstone, sightseeing and doing short hikes. (Photos). From Yellowstone we headed to Grand Teton National Park. We spent a couple of nights at the Teton Canyon Campground, on the west side of the range, and I hiked to the summit of Table Mountain (Photos). We took it easy the following day, visiting Mesa Falls, near Ashton Idaho, before I hiked to Terraced Falls in Yellowstone. (Photos). From there we headed back to the Wind River Range. We camped at Brooks Lake near Dubois before I hiked to the summit of Whiskey Mountain. (Photos). That evening we camped at Ryan Park on the west side of the Snowy Range, in southeastern Wyoming. The next day was our last in Wyoming. I spent it hiking to the summit of Medicine Bow Peak. (Photos).
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Heart Lake |
The Wind River Range
July 2006
Devil's Tower & Bighorns Photos
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In the summer of 2006, Christy and I took another trip out west, driving from North Carolina to South Dakota, Wyoming & Colorado. After spending some time in the Badlands and Custer State Park, we headed into Wyoming. We spent the first couple of days there visiting Devils Tower National Monument and dayhiking in the Bighorns. |
Devils Tower |
Wind River Range 2006 Photos
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Afterwards, we joined up with Dave S. for a 9-day backpacking trip along the length of The Wind River Range. We had met Dave S. a year earlier in the Canadian Rockies. We started the trip at Green River Lakes, at the north end of the range, and hiked south to Big Sandy. |
The Green River |
Yellowstone National Park
July 2003
Yellowstone Photos
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In the summer of 2003, we took advantage of some free time and spent five weeks hiking in the Rockies. To read about our trips, click on the links that follow. We spent the first week in Colorado, visiting friends and backpacking in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness near Buena Vista. The remainder of our trip took place in Wyoming. Fungirl had wanted to visit Yellowstone for years, so we made the park a priority. We spent the first four days sightseeing and dayhiking in Yellowstone. On the first day we climbed Avalance Peak and toured the famous waterfalls of the Yellowstone River. Highlights of the second day included Mammoth Hot Springs and abundant wildlife. We spent the next two days exploring the geyser basins near Old Faithful. |
Bison on a Steaming Hillside |
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We continued our Yellowstone adventure with an eight day backpacking trip in the southwest corner of the park. The first part of our route took us through the vast meadows of the Pitchstone Plateau. We then descend to the Falls River, visited Union Falls, and hiked west to the Bechler River. We hiked up the canyon, passing many stunning waterfalls. We completed the trip by hiking around the south side of Shoshone Lake. Along the way, we visited the Shoshone Geyser Basin, one of the few undeveloped thermal areas in the park. |
The Bechler River |
Grand Teton National Park
July 2003
Teton Photos
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We spent the final week of our grand tour of the Rockies backpacking in Grand Teton National Park. Our hike took us to many of the highlights of the park. We made a 5-day loop, connecting the Valley Trail, Death Canyon, the Teton Crest, and Cascade Canyon. Highlights included spectacular mountain scenery, gardens of wildflowers, and an exhilarating wildlife encounter. If you want to hear more about that, you'll have to read the trip report! |
Mountains in the Mist |
Wind River Range
September 1999
Wind River 1999 Photos
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Fungirl's first serious backpacking trip took place in the Wind River Range . Somehow she was able to get a week off from school in mid-September. We flew to Jackson,
and Myron and Dorcas picked us up, fresh off a week of dayhiking in Yellowstone and the Tetons. We spent 6 days backpacking in the southeast portion of the wilderness. We started at Dickinson Park and hiked up the Popo Agie River to the Cirque of the Towers. We then crossed the scenic Lizard Head Plateau and camped at Valentine Lake. Before we hiked out on the Bear's Ear Trail, we visited Grave Lake and hiked to Hailey Pass. It was a great trip, and a perfect introduction for Fungirl to serious backpacking. |
Lizard Head Meadows |
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