FWWE

Fort Washakie Wilderness Expedition
Wind River Indian Reservation Roadless Area
June 11th - 18th, 2008

Day One: Washakie Park

Eastern Shoshone Recreation cabin at Washakie Park.

This is the second year I've worked with NOLS to provide our high school students a wilderness experience in their own wilderness. The Wind River Indian Reservation is home to some of the most pristine wilderness in the country. It's a treasure, and an honor to visit it with students whom someday will be responsible for it.

We started at Washakie Park. This year the snow pack was much deeper. We weren't sure what the weather would do, or how much snow we'd encounter. We brought snow shoes just incase. The first night out was right at the trail head. We spent most of the first day prepping at NOLS. We arrived at Washakie Park around 3pm or so. Just enough time left in the day to set up camp in cold, windy weather.

Day Two: The Trek to Twin Lakes

The view from Washakie Park.

It snowed the first night, this is how the second day started.

A look across a meadow I camped in last year. This year things were looking a bit more like winter still.

My 65 pound monkey.

Back to work!

I did this trip with eight other folks- five students and three NOLS instructors- all female. They were awesome! Stronger than many of the guys I went with last year.

After hours of post holing and bush wacking we get our first peek a Twin Lakes.

The monkey rests above some neat falls.

The sun even creeped out.

After nearly an eight hour day of hiking, we finally reached and crossed the bridge over twin lakes. This would be home for the night.

Day 3: Twin Lakes To Raft Lake

Twin Lake

The weather took a huge turn for the better- nothing but blue skies!

Making our way up a canyon towards Raft Lake.

The canyon was very narrow in places.

Almost there!

Our first look at Raft Lake. It was still frozen!

Raft Lake

Day Four: Hangin' at Raft Lake

My condo above Raft Lake.

This day was a layover day. While the NOLS Instructors taught a variety of courses for our students, I had a chance to do a little exploring.

A view of Raft Lake from the shore. Beautiful country!

Beach bum.

Raft Lake beach.

Up higher looking down on Raft Lake, Wykee Peak in the background.

Wykee Peak and Raft lake.

Kickin' back with a view!

Quite a view!

Day 5: Raft Lake to St. Lawrence Basin

The girls hit the beach!

On the way by, I dropped my pack and tried to catch a wave or two. Yea... it was cold.

The view from my favorite campsite, near 10,000 ft, not far from the pass that would take us down into St. Lawrence Basin.

A look down on camp. Can you find the tents?

Did some more exploring around this area too- Wykee Peak still dominating the background.

St. Lawrence Basin- the upper/ alpine part of it.

A glacier.

Another panoramic of the area.

Day 6: Antigo Peak and Snowshoeing 101

Hard to beat a view like this for breakfast!

Wishin' I had skis.

We dropped our packs near the pass and decided to take stab at climbing Antigo peak- mostly since it was close and had a name.

On the summit of 11,000 ft. plus Antigo Peak.

Panoramic view from the summit.

After the peak ascent, we saddled up, and headed over the pass.

Got into lots of deep snow on the other side of the pass. Finally had to break out the snow shoes.

Snowshoeing our way down into The Meadows, where we planned to camp for the night.

Day Seven: Heading for the Low Country

It was pretty challenging to find dry ground around The Meadows, but there was some.

A look out across The Meadow towards the country we came from. Probably the last look I'd get for a while.

Packin' up camp. Our plan was to descend a few more miles and get ready for an early pick-up the next day at the St. Lawrence Basin trailhead.

More snowshoeing.

In the company of carnivores.

Out of the snow, blazin' down open trail.

Day Eight: Coming Out

A nifty, early morning hike down to trailhead wrapped up our final day. Most of the rest of the day would be spent checking in gear, debriefing and getting used to people again. Rats!

One last look back as we drove out.

The Route (click to enlarge). Red flags signify campsites.

The profile.

All in all, the trip was great! We had some cold weather to start with, but after the second day things quickly warmed up and weather became stellar for the rest of the trip. Can't compalin about that. Snow was not really as much of an issue as I thought it might be. It did keep us from going as far as we had hoped, it slowed us, but it was all pretty manageable. Absolutley NO bugs either- that was awesome. I'm sure that's not the case now. Another wonderful experience in some of Wyoming's most wild wilderness. Gotta love it!