Gannett Peak - Wyoming - USA

Day 7, 8 & 9 - Lost Lake / Hobbs Lake / Hiking out

Robert on the Crossing over Freemont Creek.

Day 7:  4th of July - Lost Lake.  No fireworks for us, just beautiful waterfalls, breathtaking views and lots of mosquitoes.  We set out from Pothole Lake at 10:30am.  We went by Island Lake where we got another glimpse of Gannett Peak from its sandy shores.  Then up the hill to where the Highline Trail broke off from Indian Pass Trail.  That was where we had our last sight of Bonney Pass and Gannett Peak.  It was a pleasant farewell look.


We took the Highline Trial to the bridge crossing the Freemont Creek.  After about 1/10 mile we turned downstream onto Lost Lake trail.   Then after about a 15 minute walk (after the lake) we dropped our packs and took a little trail to the left which took us to the waterfall seen above.  In hindsight, we should have picked our packs up and headed back for Sceneca Lake Trail because the next many hours of trudging up steep switchbacks and scrambling down steep slopes and the millions of bombarding mosquitoes were not worth it.  However, we went towards Lost Lake.  The trail was unmaintained so we kept on losing the trail, having to just guess our way along the incredibly steep, exhausting trail.  The trail went through a lot of tall trees so there were no views to enjoy while we were panting for breath with every step.

Once we got to Lost Lake we had to wade through two broad but shallow rivers which went up to above our knees, and one smaller river.  We all had wet boots after that crossing.  Not fun. Not a nice trail at all.  We finally set up camp at 6:30pm.  Lost Lake should be called Mosquito Lake as it was a blur of movement around us whenever we stopped moving faster than the breeze was blowing.  We quickly had dinner, washed some clothes, and zipped ourselves into our tents to get away from the bugs.

One thing that can be said for these mosquitoes is that they don't seem to bite, or they bite but don't leave the itch that I normally associate with a mosquito bite.  I am normally a mosquito magnet, but I didn't have a single bite on me that itched.  Robert said they were biting him through his shirt, but also didn't feel the itch.

Day 8:  Hobbs Lake.   The mosquitoes were really bad when we got up after a cold night at Lost Lake.  There was a layer of frost on everything.  Even the water filter froze.

We set out west along the south shore of the lake at 9:40am.  After skirting the water's edge for 20 minutes we looked at the map and realized we were going in the wrong direction, so we backtracked all the way to where we had camped.  Right at the place where we crossed the 3rd small river the trail went off perpendicular to the river, heading south.  So with a 40 minute detour we finally got on the trail and started heading away from Lost Lake.  Once again the trail had lots of UP and more UP with few flat spots or downhills.  After about 10 minutes on the trail we lost the trail completely so we just headed up the north side of the stream.  The trail was so bad that we lost it many times, on occasion making the three of us each take a different route scouting for it.  That's how it went until we finally reached the top, 1 1/2 hours after leaving the lake.  We all decided Lost Lake is not worth it.  There is almost nothing of interest to see along the way, the trail is unmaintained and it has more switchbacks than any trail should have.

When we got to Seneca Lake we stopped for lunch and an extended break.  Then we pushed on to Hobbs Lake, where we found a nice camp site on the south side of the lake.  There are several nice sites around that area.  We got to camp at 4:30pm.

Looking east somewhere along Pole Creek Trail.

Day 9:  Hiking Out.  Or I should say, Quick March Out.  We got up at 7am.  While trying to have breakfast with nets over our heads due to the millions of mosquitoes John came by to say he couldn't take the bugs anymore and was going on ahead of us.  Until now John had always had his own, slower pace with us having to wait for him to catch up, but not on this day.  We left camp at 8:20am and never saw John again until we got to the car at Elkhart Park.  We also had a much accelerated gait than we had on any of the other days on this hike... like donkeys headed home.  We got to the car at 11:30am.  That made it about 3 1/2 hours from Hobbs Lake to Elkhart Park.

We weighed our packs again and found that Robert's was 55 pounds, John's about 50 pounds and Jane's at 40 pounds.  In total we had 38 pounds of climbing and snow gear.

We headed for Salt Lake City, where we booked into a hotel, had a much needed bath and went to Macaroni Grill for dinner.  We still had Monday morning to hang around Salt Lake City so we went to the dinosaur museum until we had to head for the airport to catch the 2pm flight out to Denver and on to Atlanta.

In all it was a fantastic trip.  We were glad we went in late June, early July because the snow was still thick which made summiting easier, but the mosquitoes were a real issue.  Going in late August would mean the bugs would not be bad, but then again you have bergschrunds and crevasses to deal with.

Afterthoughts:

Bring some good sunscreen.  Our lips, ears, under out chins and inside of our noses got badly sunburned. You hike on snow for a few days and the glare really gets you, so also bring some good glacier glasses.

Guide books used: "Hiking Wyoming's Wind River Range", Falcon Guide, Ron Adkinson.  "Highpoints of the United States" by Don W. Holmes

The mosquitoes were terrible in early July so bring nets and thick clothes.  Deet did not really work for these mosquitoes.

Do not forget to take your helmet/hat off for your summit pictures.  Robert wishes he had.  He will remember on Hood & Rainier.

Bivy sacks may be better for camping on Bonney Pass than a tent.  The wind blows all the time, flapping the tent all night.

If you have trouble hiking from the parking lot to Titcomb Basin due to sinking in snow, you might consider hiking at night when the snow is frozen.  We had trouble in the afternoons with breaking through the soft snow that was easy hiking in the morning.

Pack as light as you can, but bring the ice & climbing gear you may need. You will be a 2 day hike from the parking lot (and help).  After thinking about "what if one of us gets hurt?" we decided the fastest hiker would immediately hike out with no gear except some snacks and clothes, then beg other hikers for water along the way. That way they could probably get to a ranger & help in several hours. Remember it is a 22 mile hike from the summit to the parking lot.

If you are in great shape, you could probably do this trip in three days, but the rest of us mortals will need 5 days or more.  Since we live in Georgia we had a few extra days in case of bad weather. Robert has read too many trip reports where the hikers had only x days, they get bad weather, could not wait and had to hike out to catch a plane home to return to work.  That is just no fun.  Give yourself some extra time to enjoy the hike.

This is a scan of a postcard we got at one of the outfitters in Pinedale.  Here you can see the route to the top more clearly than our photos from the ground.

The End.

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