Wind-o-Rama

“The short yellow bus - that sounds like the one for this group.”

“Gone for the weekend and when I come back, the trip is all planned. The short, yellow, Green Tortoise bus, painted with flowers and peace signs and carrying a bunch of would-be-old-except-for-attitude folks to the Winds or the Tetons. Sounds great, can't wait to go. I was reading this thread to Landscaper and he suggested the Green Tortoise before I got to that part. Guess he's one of the great minds.”

“Landscaper is in charge of the bong! :)”

“rockman...i dont know, your a big dude, it will take a lot to get you high LOL”

“Don't know about the bong for my hubby. I can imagine all sorts of problems, not the least of which is that he might lose it.”

“Going to start studying the maps seriously. Today. And keep walking up and down hill every day.”

“Too funny. Not nice...but too funny. Are you just going to take that Landscaper? He never posts so I take that as a yes.”

“I told him and he laughed. I suggested he post somehting, but he lost his password..............”

“LOL at navi--you hippy/valley boy!

big yellow bus--yeah that's the ticket!”

“Hippy, yes.
Valley boy, no. That came way after me.”

“Lattaoutdoors sent me a notice that Kelsey's book is in for $24.95. Is this trip likely to be a go?”

“YES!!!”

“wannabp I was drunk when they were talking bout it in cheveys but from what i can recall it will very likely be a yes trip. i am definatly gonna sign up for it no matter what :)”

“My eye is on this one. Keep me A-breast! Mohaaaaaaa! Yo bear!
Hey Chief!”

“Any of you guys that ordered the guide books for the Winds, can you pass on any of the trips that sound good. Maybe we could follow along with TopoZone and check them out.

Myself I'd like some thing in the 25 to 30 mile range to allow driving time there and back. I really want to see South Pass and Escalante - Grand Staircase. Or am I being too selfish?”

“I'd like a 5 or 6 day trip with 40 to 50 miles.”

“I don't know Wing. I heard some grumbling from the 5 dayers about too many miles each day. Whereas the 7 dayers seems to like the lower mileage days.”

“Could I have possibly been a grumbler? No way. I just mentioned that I lost both my big toe nails. Or was it my feet?

Although it was really hard at the time, I am totally up for a repeat of the 5-day/50 mile version.

I have started studying the maps and will keep everyone posted. I'm looking for a long loop with high altitude and maybe a peak or two to climb.”

“No. You were just mumbling. 8^)
If we're planning 10 miles plus a day, I guess I'll be planning a different trip.”

“8 to 10 miles a day works for me. We all don't like the same amount of mileage, so the same trip isn't for everyone. I'd like to get to the Wind River Range, but I do still have lots of the Sierra Nevada to explore.”

“I still say the first few days of what we did would be good.
Day 1 was 6.5 mi
Day 2 was 7 mi
Day 3 was 9.5 mi
From Graves Lake you can go over another pass (forget the name, don't have the map in front of me).

The 10+ mile days on some of the trails were tough (not clearly marked).

Daily details are on my webpage on the trip report if you're interested.”

“SierraPalooza 7-day itinerary was just right for me.

I'm am happiest with 6 miles/day average. I plan to reduce my pack weight by 10 lbs. for next summer. I will probably be more open to longer hikes with a lower pack weight.”

“I'll look at the maps. And Snow's and LDHiker's (AKA Shawn's) trip reports again. Sounds like long days and poorly marked trails don't go together.”

“I'm with navi and phil - 5 - 8 mile days is about all I really want to do. I want to enjoy the scenery and hanging out in camp with the gang.”

“A good 25-30 mile hike:

Start at Dickinson TH. Travel either 5-6 miles to where the trail splts the snow field/s. Go to the righ up on the ridge and there's some good campsites there. Or keep on going 11-12 miles over Bears Ears Pass to Valentine or Dutch Oven Lake.

From here you have to go back up to the Lizard Head Plateau trail and across Lizards Head. Down into the Cirque of the Towers (crowded mtn climbing area).

Then you follow the stream, which I can't remember the name of, down and up and back to Dickinson campground and another 1.5 miles to the TH.

Or...you can wander around from Valentine lake area into what looks like a big basin where a bunch of trails, streams, and lakes are (Graves, Baptiste, and on and on and on...). Then go back out the same trail you came in on.

If different people want to do different mileage, the latter is a good way to go. People can hang out at Dutch Oven for a couple days and dayhike, while others can keep going and come back and meet again for some more hiking.

(Wish I had my map here now)”

“If I didn't stress it already, Dickinson Park TH is less crowded. You may not believe it at the TH, but as soon as people get out on the trail, they disperse and separate rather quickly. I've done this area twice and once on the trail, we rarely saw anybody.”

“Chief, that's pretty much the area I have been studying. My maps are in the car (gotta have something to do at those pesky stoplights!!!), but I remember those trail names and lake names.

What about peakbagging in the area.......... Can non-climbers scramble up some of those mountains for a nice view? Would Kelsey's book cover that?”

“I agree with Navi and pepper. I would like to do 5-8 miles per day. That way you're not too tired to party at night with everyone! We need some energy for the night time activities....dancing, drinking, gambling (who's bringing the chips?)& playing frisbieeeeeeee! I plan on having a lot more energy than I did at sierrapalooza! Watch out you guys! I'll carry the frisbie this time Ladyhiker and hodge!”

“wannabp,

The answer to your question is yes.

I prefer to do no more than 6-7 miles a day and no more than 2500' in elevation gain. After that I start cramping up pretty bad.

We did the in and out thing twice from Dickinson TH, and spent 6 nights doing it. We stopped at the snow fields on the way in and out. We went to Dutch Oven the 2nd time as it's a little off the main trail and hardly saw anyone else.

We stayed near Valentine the 1st time, but it can get pretty busy.

We did find an excellent campsite near Valentin, but off the trail, over a little hill, and further into the forest. It had a great overlook where you could see many of the lakes that I mentioned earlier. Both times we went, we stayed at Dutch Oven/Valentine for 3 nights. From, there we would dayhike to wherever. We went to South Fork Lakes to fish one day. (Read my report in the articles section) Other days we would just wander up a Mtn. to see the views. We've seen herds of elk, moose, and 1 time, we had a big eagle buzz us while we were in our camp near Valentine. It's a really wonderful place to go and just hang out.

We even found a snowbank in some trees for our "refreshemnts"”

“Chief - are you thinking of coming on this trip? Thanks for all the inside information. I will read your article.”

“I think I'm going to drop off this trip and start looking at which sections of the JMT I'd like to do.”

“Pepper,

I wish I could, but not enough vacation.

Glad to help out where I can though.”

“I'm in for the 5-8 and seven days however it works out trail wise. I want to remember where I was and especially who I was with. We had lots of campfire time at nite even if I was the first one to bed everynight.”

“One of the things I love about the Winds is that you pretty much start at a high elevation, and you stay there your entire trip. I think the Dickinson campground is around 9000'. A good place to stay your first night to get a big meal and acclimate, if you like.

We had a large cooler we kept in the back of the pickup, inside the topper. We packed beer in and around both ice blocks and ice cubes. When we came out 7 days later, the beer was still ice cold.

We were enjoying it so much, we stayed that last night at the campground again. Then the next afternoon, we drove to Lander and spent the night there in a motel. Of course we had to go to Hudson for the best steaks in Wyoming, too!!! Only about 15 minutes away.”

“Oh man!!! Chief we need you as a guide.

I'm starting the "Draft Chief" Party right now.”

“Went to Dickinson Park in July. The road to the TH is kinda rough. You don't need four wheel drive or anything but it is pretty rocky so make sure your tires are in good shape.

We bagged several peaks in the Smith Lakes basin very easily.”

“The maps are frustrating, no info around the edges to assist in putting the north map and south map together. Today, I plan to put them together along the Continental divide and use TopoZone to see if there's anything between and also what's to the west.”

“your maps and tell me what you think of this loop. It's probably more palooza-like than everyone would want, but I like how it's forming up in my mind.

The loop could start going west out of Dickenson TH or northeast out of Big Sandy, but Big Sandy is integral to the loop while Dickenson is not.

So, the Big Sandy option is ....

NE on Big Sandy, N on Big Sandy Pass, E on North Fork (night 1), N on Lizard Head, W on Bears Ears (night 2, possibly at Valentine Lake, possibly meet up with others coming out of Dickinson), N on Twenty Lakes (night 3 around Trail Lake), do the U-turn south of Raft Lake, do the U-turn around Wykee Lake (night 4 at Kagevah Lake if we could get that far, Wykee Lake if we couldn't) pick up the Kagevah Pass trail and cross the Continental Divide. Although the trail does not connect from one side of the map to the other, it seems possible to go south from Bewmark Lake to Middle Fork Lake and pick up the Middle Fork Trail to one of the Highline Trails, and thus back to Big Sandy. From the pass back to Big Sandy would probably take two nights on the trail.

Probably a bit optimistic on the mileage per day, but take a look at it.”

“I'm still interested. Anyone else?”

“Aroooooooooo!”

“I am interested. You lead, I follow.”

“I ditto bigpoppa!”

“We briefly discussed some kind of throwback, hippie-era, rent-a-bus deal of some sort from Nothern CA at our last beer-drinking fest (oops... I mean at our last backpacking-trip planning meeting).

All I remember is volunteering to drive, as I have a (gas-guzzling, pollution-causing) SUV, which happens to have a trailerhitch hook-up for lights & can pull anything that we would want. That offer still goes, as I REALLY hope to make this TT trip!

Who's organizing this for us Northern Ca ttr's? Was it Hikerdrink (I mean Hikerchic)? Maybe JVZ??

Should I? I don't mind, actually. Lemme know.”

“When are we going to get together to drink beer and decorate wanderer's gas-guzzler????”

“Anytime!!!”

“Hey I hope he dun mind peace symbols on his SUV :D!”

“Am I the only person with maps? That could be a problem because I really, really, really relish the idea of a loop that crosses over the continental divide. Just think of look down both sides just by turning your head.”

“This is the trip I'll plan one of my vacations on so I'm watching all of your map work postings wannabp. I'll plan the extra days off to paint your SUV. Maybe if enough of us go we can rent a motor home and share the cost. Just a thought. I really look forward to a good drive though as I've not seen any of the country after Ely,NV. I have a p/u truck and can take three others comfortably if it comes down to maybe all we need is a couple of cars. The trip is just a long ways off so other than kidding around about short busses we have time to get serious later.”

“The country after Ely looks a lot like the country before Ely...

We need to start narrowing down on dates to see who can make it when. I will work my vacation time around this trip!”

“Me, too, on vacation time worked around this trip.”