After a much needed break in Dubois we finally hit the trail after an early morning hitch with a local dude and his basset hound named Stella. We were waiting in town for a break in the poor weather but it didn’t appear we would get it. Knapsack Col was our next target–a 12,000 ft pass on an alternate high route through the Wind River Range–and we chose not to carry enough food to climb it. It seemed our best bet was to make forward progress to Pinedale and briefly wait there in hopes of better weather. If the weather didn’t improve we would have to skip the high route. Thunderstorms at that elevation with a technical climb could be very dangerous and might force us to take the main CDT around the high peaks instead.
As we traveled across the broad, desert-like foothills toward the heart of the mountain range we turned onto a detour over a broad plateau to get better views of the mountains around us in the morning. We found an established camp along the dirt road and decided to stop. Someone went through the effort of clearing the standing dead trees, building a table and stools, and digging a pit toilet! This was incredibly welcomed since burn scars and beetle kills left widowmakers everywhere in these hills and a safe, sheltered camp was very hard to find.
In the morning, Switchbacks came hiking by our camp as we ate breakfast and packed. With company in tow, we climbed the plateau and hiked into the sunny morning. The Tetons were visible far into the west and the weather was beautiful. We met a local ATVer who advised us of a missing hiker somewhere in the mountains and gave us a brief description in case we came across any clues to his whereabouts.
That afternoon we began to outpace Switchbacks and hiked ahead to finish the day and find camp. We found a pond nestled against Gunsight Pass, pitched, and settled in to eat dinner. Just after Sunset, Switchbacks came along with another hiker named Blueberry and they both joined us for dinner and camp. Over dinner they both informed us of the improvement in the weather and told us they planned to climb Knapsack in two days. This meant we would probably part ways at Green River Lakes where we planned to hitch into Pinedale. The weather window was opened and we didn’t have the provisions to make it. Rattle and I were both pretty disappointed as we went to sleep.
The next morning we broke camp and left early. As Rattle and I hiked along, I mentioned that if we were lucky we might Yogi some food from other campers at the lakes and get enough food to complete the high route. It was a long shot, but it could work. The only drawback was that it was Friday and the weekend hikers hadn’t even arrived yet, and we’re probably unwilling to part with their food. The Sunday hike-out was always the best chance to get any leftovers from weekend trips. Just as we thought, the campground was fairly empty when we arrived and we resigned to hitch into town and hope for the best. We made a bad bet on the weather.
We stood by the road for a while, thumbs out and a bit resigned. After a short while, a van stopped and Dave, the driver, told us he was going to Pinedale. As we started positioning to load our packs into the van, Rattle asked Dave if he had any food he wanted to sell. He poured a pile of freeze-dried meals from a sack onto the ground and told us to take what we needed at cost since he was going into town anyway and could resupply while there! After a little calorie math, I picked what I needed and loaded my pack. We were going to make it! We were going over Knapsack Col! He even turned back after leaving and offered us a fuel canister before driving away to Pinedale! We politely declined since we had stopped cooking meals in grizzly country and started back toward the trail.
Dave, you’re a hero, man!
We sat on the trail overlooking Green River Lakes and I gratefully ate dry, crunchy, freeze-dried beef stew from the pouch, reaching a new level of thru-hiker feral.
As we climbed higher into the mountains above the lakes, the Green River snaked through the canyon, turquoise and milky from the glacial silt it carried. The rain fell lightly for hours, cold and misty. Our goal today was Vista Pass and finding a flat, sheltered camp near the first climb of the high route.
Thunderstorms could roll through the mountains tonight and we needed cover, but also needed to be as close as possible to the treeline to complete the tallest climb before afternoon storms had the chance to form. The sky cleared just at sunset and mist rose from the high peaks around us as we approached the crest of the pass.
We hoped to find Switchbacks and Blueberry camped at the pass but arrived to find nobody at all. We pitched in the grass and slept beneath the rugged peaks, excited for tomorrow.
