Voiceless it cries, wingless flutters. Toothless bites, mouthless mutters. Gollum's second riddle.
Wyoming's Wind River Range, something out of middle earth. 2.25 million acres in the Rockies.
Headwaters for the mighty Green River. Seven of the ten largest glaciers in the lower 48.
2,300' lakes and ponds. Granite rock, alpine forest, golden meadows, and oh, so much wind. If you're gonna do it
do it big. That was our thought. The 45 mile Cirque of the Towers in the Popo Agie and Bridger wilderness.
9,500 feet of elevation. Steep climbing through glacier-cut mountains, the fall cold,
and oh, that wind. Welcome to the Cirque.
Oh my god that is ice. Oh that wind's really good on it too. I like that added bonus.
So here we are. You, me, Mom, and the dog Mackenzie. In Wyoming. Yeah. Yeah. We sure did hike over
a hell of a pass. We hiked over Jackass Pass which is aptly named because it was a jackass yeah.
Side note, I understand where the Wind River Range gets its name. It's windy.
It's windy as hell up here but luckily i had such a nightmarish time on my last hiking trip with the
wind so i feel like i'm very prepared. This is night one, we are 12 miles in. We are at Lonesome Lake
we're gonna be out here for five days doing 50 miles. We're doing it in September, it's a little
cold we're seeing snow. I brought the Nemo Dagger two-person tent but i also have the Nemo Hornet
which is a one-person tent. Like it saves me a little bit of weight, but this is the best tent i
love this tent. There's a lot more room. I've got my full, big, insulated sleeping pad. I am gonna get a
good night's rest tonight. Mom is talking to people which she has been doing all day. Not my style
but it's cool i'm glad mom's out here i'm glad she's uh she's outgoing like that.
Good how are you guys, good. So Mom came up a day before me and stayed at Jackalope Motor Lodge
in Pinedale Wyoming. Pretty much the closest town to this. It's about two hours from Pinedale
up to the trailhead because you know it's a dirt road. It's the Big Sandy Trailhead and at
the Big Sandy Trailhead is this lovely little lodge. It's the Big Sandy Lodge.
Really rustic you know, no electricity, a little pricey, a little pricey for the for the two of
us. But it's right by the trailhead and they feed you. Apologies if you can hear the loud
chirping off in the distance. Kenzie has a squirrel pinned down in a tree.
Mom's got the z-pack set up which is looking cooler than mine. She went with poles this
time because of the wind. Also with her trekking poles in here and then she's also got the z pack
sleeping bag in here. A nice 10 degree, oh yeah look at that she's got the Thermarest Air
in a kids version since she's so small. She's gonna be super comfy with that. What's for dinner?
I did the burritos, the cheesy fundido burrito. Okay.
Let me stir that.
Mom's new gourmet burrito recipe.
Mm-hmm that's good. Yeah it's like the best backpacking meal i've ever had.
That is really good.
Yeah this was worth walking for.
Here we are at the end of day two and
mom's getting dinner already and there's no real easy way to put this but day two kicked our ass.
The problem was is that it poured rain last night. We dilly dallied to try to make sure the tents were
all dried out. We ended up leaving at noon which is a little late. A lot of the mileage was at over 11,000
feet, very exposed where there is no escape. You can't be like, oh i'm tired i'm gonna stop,
i'm gonna set camp up here. No, you have to get it done. Dark clouds and we're exposed, we're in trouble.
If you get altitude sickness and need to stop you're in trouble. So we kicked ass in the fact that it's
6:30 now so we did a full like 12 miles, some crazy elevation, all in six and a half hours. But never
a level piece of ground under your feet it was all rock. All rock, all uphill, and by the way the
wind hurts up here. It is not regular wind. It blows you sideways, up and down, it chills you to the bone.
Gusts blow you over, it dries you out, it dehydrates you, it just kind of makes you nervous
too it's an element that you battle here all the time. But it's not all doom and gloom we
are at Dutch Oven Lake it is a beautiful lake. A lot of people stay at Valentine Lake right
down the road, i think that's because a shorter 30 mile loop passes that way. But about a mile
away from Valentine is this Dutch Oven Lake which is absolutely stunning it's got this
very distinct little island out in the middle and we have it all to ourselves. I'll definitely leave
in the description below a link to the article and the itinerary that my mom found it's really
good it's what we're following. What i'm starting to do now on the channel is after every hike
do a live stream a couple of days after where i really break down actually how to do the
hike. Tips and just little things that i learned along the way. So i'll definitely be doing that in
a couple days. If i've already done it there's also a link to that in the description and if you're
a subscriber you know that bell notification will alert you when those live streams are gonna
gonna happen. I'm sure there's a lot more that i could say right now. A lot more on my mind but
i'm tired, it's late, temperature's dropping, sun's going down, i better get camp set up.
I love Schitt's Creek. I love that show too.
We just came across a bear black bear. Should i pull my stuff out? Yeah pull your stuff out. It ran
off away but in the opposite direction, but it's in here. Hhhheyyyyy beeaaarrr! So here we are day three.
Today was by far the easiest of the three days. We did 7 miles a little over 1100 feet in elevation.
Probably the most difficult part of the hike today was the river crossing. We had to cross the
Little Windy River today and it doesn't look intimidating but it was slippery as hell. Mom had some extra
shoes that really helped, really helped me too when i had to carry Kenzie over because he was, i don't
know too scared or something. And now we've made it to this ginormous finger lake called Grave Lake.
There is plenty of camping around this lake and great camp spots with great views. I was hoping
to get some fishing in here but that wind is so strong. Like if you take anything away from this
video and you come do this hike just be prepared for the wind. They call it the Wind River Range
not because it's cute, that is a warning. You can get gusts like 80 miles an hour.
Just think of that, your tent poles are built to withstand a max of about 40 miles an hour so
really try to protect yourself from the wind. We have camped about 75 to 100 yards away
from the shoreline where the wind is coming off really strong right now, in this really enclosed
space of trees with this hillside behind us. Last night throughout the entire night and then all day
today we could hear elk bugling. The hunting season here starts in two days and the fall rut is in
full swing. Kenzie, Kenzie's here to say hi. Hello Kenzie. I did bring the cribbage set though so
maybe Mom and i will be able to get a cribbage game in.
I thought it couldn't get any harder than day two. This was definitely the hardest day for Mom.
Obviously you're four days in, your body's starting to break down and even more so if you're older.
You know it takes courage to come out here. I know it looks like this lovely stroll, this walk
through the woods. But this is the wild, this is the wilderness. This is not sitting on your couch
watching Netflix. It's rough, it's harsh, it's unforgiving, things change, unforeseen obstacles
weather, lots of miles, gear on your back, it's tough. And i give props to anyone that's willing to
to come out here and give it a shot. I think that's why i don't, i'm not one to hide these places from
people. If you've got the the guts to come out here, then come on out. The things you'll find in
yourself, you'll be surprised. This place will kick your ass, but god damn it, you'll be better for it.
You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures were managed by mere luck, just for
your sole benefit? You are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!
Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.