View of the Wind River Range on the dirt road from Big Sandy Lake
trailhead.Day 5. Wednesday, July 20, 2005
We got up at 6am, hoping to be up before the mosquitoes got bad, but that was
just wishful thinking as they were out in full force. It was another
beautiful sunny day with nothing but a big blue sky above us.
We packed up and headed out at 7:38am. We had our head nets on
the whole way until we got past North Lake. We stopped several times
along the way to chat to people who were heading to the Cirque of the
Towers and others that were just out there hiking. The mosquitoes
weren't bad at Big Sandy Lake, just a few here and there. When we
were about an hour away from the trailhead a lone hiker came by us with a
handful of fresh grapes. He gave us a few which we thankfully
accepted. It's amazing how good anything fresh tastes after only
eating dried food for days.
We got back to the trailhead at 1:40pm so it took us 6 hours to hike
out. We dumped our gear in the car
and went down the dirt road a mile or so to the first bridge that goes
over a stream where we had a wash. Then on south to Farson where we
got some fresh fruit and juice. We then headed for Lander to sleep
for the night. We got some nice Wind River maps at the outfitter in
Lander. The store is quite well equipped with all sorts of gear and
clothing. We had a shower and got all cleaned up and went for dinner
at Cowfish, which seems to be quite a popular and even famous restaurant
in that area.
Day 6. Thursday, July 21, 2005
We left the motel in Lander at around 9am heading north to Thermopolis.
We had lunch at the warm springs and lazed around on the lawn for a few
hours. It's a very pretty area to spend a few days. Then we
headed through the town of Ten Sleep and eastwards to camp
in the West Tensleep Lake area. The mosquitoes weren't bad at all.
We found a nice spot by a creek and set up camp.
Our camp along the West Ten Sleep Lake road in the Big Horn Mountains.
Day 7. Friday, July 22, 2005
We packed up and headed out at 8:30am, heading for Buffalo, WY. Then we
got off I-90 at Exit 33 and took SR 335 through Big Horn to Twin Lakes. This
wasn't spectacular so we continued along that road then took Route 14 to
Shell Falls. The falls were lovely and well worth the visit. Then we headed to the
Porcupine Falls and Bucking Mule Falls. To our surprise there were new pit
toilets and a water pump with drinking water at Bucking Mule Falls.
We set up camp and made dinner. It cooled off fast after 8pm and at around
11pm a fierce thunderstorm rolled in. The thunder was very
load and close and kept us awake until it passed. Fortunately it
didn't rain much.
Day 8. Saturday, July 23, 2005
We got up at 7am and packed up. By 8am we were heading out on
Bucking Mule Falls trail. The trail was gradual ups and downs on a
well maintained path. It took us about 55 minutes to get to the
overlook to the falls. We took photos and headed back to the car. By
10:30am we were on our way to Lovell and back down to Thermopolis.
This time we stopped for a swim in the thermal pool at the bathhouse,
which is free. That night we slept in a motel in Green River.
Robert and the bears with Bucking Mule Falls in the background.
Day 9. Sunday, July 24, 2005
Homeward bound. We drove to Salt Lake City, had a great pancakes,
eggs and hashbrown lunch then took the car back and off to the airport.
Our plane was delayed about 10 minutes and we were on our way back to
Atlanta.
The End.
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