Backpacking Wind Rivers 2013

 One of our yearly traditions is to do a backpacking trip every summer.  We went backpacking over Labor Day weekend and we had a great time!  It was so gorgeous and such perfect weather, and not many bugs at all, we were really blessed with a great time.  Our friends Rodney and Clydelle went with us and 3 of their kids.  Will has backpacked in the Wind River range before, but not this exact area.  He really enjoyed it and has wanted to take me for a long time.  In fact I think every year we consider going to the Wind Rivers, but hadn't yet due to a few reasons.  It's far away, about a 5 hour drive from Preston.  Having Labor Day off made it a bit nicer to have a little extra time for travel.  Also in years past we haven't felt like we were in very good shape to go hiking that much.  But this year we were feeling pretty good.  And also we have to buy out of state fishing licenses, which is more money on top of the Idaho licenses we already purchased.  Did you know that Will and I are Lifetime license holders?

 Along the trail.  We had fun visiting with each other and also our friends Rod and Clydelle. 

 By the waterfall.  I borrowed the red pack from my employer.

Bear Spray.  See that little red can on the back of Will's pack?  We weren't originally going to have bear spray with us, but in Pinedale Wyoming we stopped at the visitor center and the guy working there pretty much scared us into thinking we had to have bear spray if we were going to make it out alive.  So we stopped at a store there in Pinedale and bought some.  $40 later....and we didn't even see one single bear.

 Tying up the food into the tree.

 Breakfast time.  We camped in a nice little area that obviously gets a lot of use from other campers/backpackers.  It had a fire pit and these logs around to sit on.

 Our tent

 Sleeping situation

 Saturday we day-hiked up to Twin Lakes.  It was nice to hike without heavy packs on. 

 Got to partake of this amazing view!  Isn't it breathtaking? 

 Made me think that we were on top of the world!  Looking down on creation...

 We ate our canned meat (another tradition of ours).  And it wasn't too bad.  We ate some of Clydelle's crackers with the canned herring and it was pretty tasty.  Of course your taste changes a bit when you're in the mountains.  Some things taste so good that you never really like when you're at home and have tons of food choices.  Makes us all the more grateful for the fact that we do have tons of food and choices and a bountiful harvest.  We should remember crackers next year.

 Fishing at the upper lake.  It was so pretty!

 I do think this is one of the most beautiful places we have hiked into.  Will was having fun playing with all the cool settings our camera has.

 Got to hop on these rocks around the lake

 A cutthroat!

 Fish On!

 Here's my monster fish catch.  It was so awesome to catch this fish!  I caught it on a renegade dry fly.  I love dry flies.  I was having a hard time hanging on to it, I need to learn how to hold the fish better so my hand isn't blocking the back half.  This was at one of the Twin Lakes.

 On the way back down after fishing Saturday

 Group photo!

 The boys did a little bit of tree pushing. 

 The 3rd night we camped at a different spot, by one of the lower lakes.

 My shoes fell apart!  I hiked so much that the soles almost came off.  Luckily Rod had a roll of black tape and we used.  Will doctored up my shoes pretty good so that I could hike back down.

 Campfire!  This is the first time we have done a campfire on one of our backpacking adventures.   It was fun to have other people with us.

 Monday morning before hiking back to the trailhead.  What a gorgeous view.

 Keep your balance

 It rained a little bit of a light sprinkle on Monday during the hike out, but it actually felt pretty good because it was pretty muggy and so a little cool water felt nice.

 Overall we hiked about 15-16 miles. 

My shoes made it!  They went straight in the garbage can when I got home.  I guess now I'm in the market for some new hiking shoes.  Good thing I have a year to find a good deal before I should need them again.