I did the train loop with my youngest daughter back when she was in high school......your pics bring back memories...thanks!
I did the train loop with my youngest daughter back when she was in high school......your pics bring back memories...thanks!
In retrospect, I was more enamored of the bigger and wilder feeling of the Weminuche. One guy I met in the Sierras referred to them as being "user-friendly", which was certainly true, though it's a beautiful area, for sure. Gonna have to see how the Grand Tetons strike me next...
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Probably the Teton Crest plus some short stuff I was looking at just over the line in ID, but I haven't really looked at the logistics to see if that last part's going to be practical or convenient. Depends on whether I have a rental car and all, but I figure why miss a chance to hit another state I've never hiked in
I don't play fair.
The Teton Crest Trail or Bust!
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/t...14/#post-61153
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/t...5-part-2.5218/
http://backcountrypost.com/threads/t...-chapter.5219/
Have fun!
Wayne
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Nice! The pic from the Winds at the beginning of part 1 reminded me that I had a TR of the "Wind River High Route" in my favorites.
I need to get some maps and look at the logistics of this incredible looking trip:
http://www.adventurealan.com/WRHR/index.htm
The video is a little painful to watch due to repeated footage of totally uncoordinated use of trekking poles(good grief, learn how to walk!) interrupting things, but the scenery is off the chain.
Owen this is an awesome pictorial. yeah that sun can really be intense up there huh? I guess we'll swap out trips....I'll have to hit Weminuche and you'll have to hit the Elk Mountains...
My pastor and I have a rerun of Owen's trip planned for September, 2016. I'm so ready to go now. I feel like the Thrus who get on here in 2014 or 2015 and talk of hiking in 2016 or 2017.
I want to go and I want to go NOW!
I have the Wind River Range penciled in for 2017. Hopefully I can include the Teton Crest Trail on that trip. It would be insane to go that far and not hike in both places. Might as well add Yellowstone too.
Wayne
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Wayne, hmmm... summer 17 is also Wind River for me! Summer 16 will hopefully be attempt #2 at Glacier NP (depending on wildfires I guess).
Yeah I hear ya on the excitement....same here!
Too many trails. Too little time.
Wayne
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Timing will be everything for being in Wyoming the summer of 2017....
Total solar eclipse swipes diagonally right down the state (and on to the SE USA) on August 21st, 2017!!!
http://www.astroadventures.net/2017/...-Durations.jpg
Yes indeed. I have two options: Wyoming or North Carolina. Wyoming would be a lot neater. North Carolina a lot closer. Hmmmmm.
In the meantime, my own Elk Park/Needleton trip has gone from next year to THIS! year. Gee, I almost have Thru-Hike anticipation. I will be close to the AT in June. I suppose I should think about my second AT section hike.
Wayne
Looking at Houston in the rear view mirror. There might be a song in there.
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Thanks for the pictures and the journal. I am preparing to thru-hike the CT in 2017 and these kinds of pictures just keep inspiring me. I lived all over Colorado for years so know how gorgeous it is, but I am definitely excited. It would be awesome to find someone to start out with, especially as it would be my first LD thru-hike.
You still going in September?
I decided another trip to the Weminuche was in order instead of going somewhere new, and should be headed that way on Sept. 20th.
7 days again, and will probably be doing the loop from Needleton this time, taking Rock Creek and going up by Rock, Twin and Ute lakes, out to the Window and Rio Grande Pyramid, then back toward Hunchback Pass on the CDT by Middle and West Ute Lakes.
Yes we are going. We should be coming out as you are going in. Can't wait!
Your plan is ambitious. My first trip in the Wimenuche was up to Rio Grande Pyramid and The Window. I would like to go back.
There will be 4 of us now. I'm sitting in the mountains of NC practice hiking on Grandfather Mountain.
Good luck! Have fun.
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Haha! It's a small world, and I love little coincidences
My friends, who I also invited to go to CO with me, live in Sugar Mountain, NC and just dayhiked Grandfather Mountain on Saturday-AND tomorrow morning, unless I switch to something more local(debating), I'm heading up to TN to overnight the same loop at Savage Gulf that I was hiking when I first met them a few years ago.
Sorry I didn't see that before. That was my first time hiking at that kind of altitude, and yeah, the sun was no joke! It got up to 80F, which might as well be 55F when there's no humidity to speak of, but my exposed skin was getting visibly red in a very short time, and I was not pale to begin with.
Small world. My first hike was up to Shanty Spring. The second hike I went up the Profile trail to Grandfather Trail and up to the first ladder. The wind was howling. I figured that was a major victory for an old geezer. The round trip through the boulder field was interesting.
After those two days I figure I can handle Colorado.
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
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Great stuff Owen! Read this when you first posted. Had to revisit. I'll be there in 2 weeks. Purgatory Flats to Molas lake 6 days. Then I'll hitch back to my car. No Train. I'm taking 3 young adults and doing all the planing myself. What the hell did I get myself into!
I did the CDT through the Weminuche last year and I want more. I could have gone any where out west I wanted to this summer but those San Juans are calling me back! Really want to see Chicago Basin/Columbine Pass area. We'll be starting on a Sunday so hopefully avoid some of the weekend crowds.
We'll be in hanging Durango Saturday night acclimating. Can't wait!
Y'all are killing me. Blast off from East Texas on or before September 1. A night in Bandalier NM. Then Highland Mary Lakes to acclimate before the train ride about September 12.
Have a great hike Y'all.
Wayne
Old. Slow. "Smarter than the average bear."
Eddie Valiant: "That lame-brain freeway idea could only be cooked up by a toon."
https://wayne-ayearwithbigfootandbubba.blogspot.com
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