The Continental Divide Trail: Wind River Range. Col Backpack

Dust in the winds

“The mind is its own place, and in itself
It can make a Heaven from Hell, a Hell from Heaven.”

– John Milton, Paradise Lost

tWind River Range doesn’t care if you’re ready; They just wait to see what you’re made of. They can test anyone: average hikers on the red line, stronger hikers with Knapsack Col or Cirque, and the most difficult high routes for those who want to find their absolute limit.

Paradise is not lost in the West, but it is burning. Half the nature we had seen was charred: blackened pine trees with wildflowers blooming beneath. The earth is recovering, but it is worth asking: is this natural or are we observing climate change in real time? South of Dubois it was the same: burned forests, purple wildflowers against charred trees. Ice Cream, Chupadogra, and Quasar stopped to stare at it. To the north we caught the last view of the Teton Range we would see; to the south, the Winds, which from here seemed modest compared to the Tetons.

Ice Cream and I stopped for lunch at the top of the hill overlooking the Winds. We had taken twenty thousand steps in the day and this was the normal lunch time. We said goodbye to Chupadogra and Quasar, as, like everyone else, they were naturally faster and, in their case, had 50% more legs overall.

We enjoyed his company, but after days of constant conversation, I felt alone again. Ice Cream knew it; You can always do it.

That night we camped near a long lake with no campers or signs of people except for the dirt road that had taken us there. A duck with ducklings entertained us by spinning around in the water as if it had a broken wing. During the performance, the ducklings ran away and hid among the reeds near the shore. Later, I found some wild currants, some of my favorite wild foods, and picked a few handfuls of sweet and sour berries.

Gunsight Pass arrived the next day. FarOut comments praise Gunsight as the official end of grizzly country. One enthusiastic commenter suggested ditching the bear spray here. «I’m not sure where we could,» Ice Cream mused. «There aren’t many hiker boxes or trash cans here.»

Still weighed down by our canisters of bear spray and our bear bags/cans, we headed down the scenic trail toward Green River Lakes. A huge black bear was munching on currants several yards from the trail and ran away when he saw us. Good bear.

Once we got back onto state lands, we camped near the lake shore and watched some kayakers paddle toward the Green River Lakes Lodge. We could hear the screams of children at play echo through the emerald water, and a small flock of mergansers fished until the kayakers got too close, then took to the air and moved away, leaving wavy trails across the lake’s surface.

SOBOs enter the Wind River Range via the Green River. Some routes continue to its source near Peak Lake, and this is the way we chose. Over time, the river loses its characteristic color and is reduced to a stream high in the rock-laden alpine zone. We first heard the chirping of the pika, a small, rodent-like relative of rabbits, found only above 9,000 to 10,000 feet on rocky slopes.

After a steep boulder field lies Peak Lake, a small, deep and beautiful alpine lake nestled between sharp granite mountains. We cowboys camped there and watched the sunset turn the granite orange and then pink. Another hiker had launched a few hundred meters below, but we ignored each other, giving each other Scandinavian privacy, that Nordic thing where you pretend not to see each other.

In the morning, we skirt the steep rock slide that leads around Peak Lake toward Knapsack Col. Knapsack Col, along with the Cirque of the Towers, are two of the most popular alternatives on the CDT, and even Red Line fans often choose these instead of the official trail. The path from Peak to Knapsack is a gentle climb through wildflowers and streams ending in a deep bowl. Ahead was the hiker who had camped nearby. It was too far away for me to see anything other than a woman with a white Hyperlite backpack.

We lost it when I stopped to dig an emergency well. I urgently needed one; Everything seemed too impeccable to me, but the only alternative was my pants. Desperately, I pinched my growing sphincter as I searched for acceptable dirt. I finally found the right place. I made sure to mark this one with a flag, since the spots were weird and I didn’t want a following hiker digging up the same spot anytime soon.

At the base of Knapsack Col, we caught up with her. He was talking to a helpful NPC, a guy in his fifties without a backpack and casual gear, who was giving him step-by-step instructions on how to ascend and descend the col. I took out my phone and recorded in case I needed the information, which turned out to be perfect advice. «To go down, go left under the first ledge, then turn right and go down the scree field. The old trail is on the left, but it has slipped. Don’t go that way.»

Knapsack Col is too high and wild to leave a trail, and the entire face is mostly composed of boulders or scree. Each year the trail changes and it is generally up to each hiker to decide how to do it safely.

We officially met the other hiker, Law & Order, and were delighted to learn that, like us, she had hiked the Appalachian Trail in ’22. We had never met her; she was too fast. At 60 years old, she looked like a marathon runner. Although she claimed no, she had finished the AT in four months, which is marathon runner quality anyway. Law & Order was a retired New York City lawyer and the show had directly used cases from her office as source material. He found out about Knapsack Col through ChatGPT, which told him it was a simple day hike. She had her doubts, which were dispelled by one of the employees at the Pinedale store, who told her that as long as you made it in August, it would be fine. As we looked at the steep, trackless Knapsack wall and the surrounding bowl, his doubts returned with a vengeance. Mine were bubbling a little, but only a little. I knew I could probably figure it out. After introductions and a little chat, L&O said, «Can I come with you? Would you mind? I’ve never done anything like this.»

We didn’t care. Ice Cream and L&O talked while I continued ahead and explored paths. I had to decide two things. First, which of the prominent peaks in front of us was Knapsack. Second, how to approach and ascend. I reviewed both Gaia and FarOut, looking at sketches and comments, and decided that the col was to our left. As confirmation, a small human-shaped spot briefly appeared in contrast to the sky above. It stayed there for a minute or two and then disappeared on the other side.

The climb is not as bad as it seems from below, despite being almost hands and feet near the top. I missed the actual col by a few hundred feet, but it was far enough away to point Ice Cream and L&O in the right direction once I found it. We enjoyed our victory, took some photos, and then had to figure out how to get down. The scree was steep and rugged. Maybe not for experienced mountaineers, but for us. I took my time finding a path and walked carefully as with each step the rocks slid and moved my feet with them. The main thing to avoid was a fall, as it would be difficult to stop. I imagined screaming LIKE YOUUUUU WISSSSH! to Ice Cream as he bounced from rock to rock to death, or at least pain.

The NPC instructions were helpful here and for the most part we did exactly what he said, with a little improvement. I risked sliding across a snowy field, with no platform to sit on, just my butt in the snow. I half expected to be raped by a sharp rock, but the snow was still deep. I slid a hundred meters, saving us a lot of scree.

Once I reached the bottom, I called out to Ice Cream and L&O, who were now standing still, looking at me and contemplating my genius or my stupidity. «It’s safe!» I called.

«I’m catching my breath, man!» Ice Cream responded with unusual sass.

«Just letting you know.» I yelled back.

He settled into the snow and began to slide down the loot. When he got to me, he stood up and started rubbing the back of his legs. «Damn, it’s cold! My butt is numb!»

I nodded empathetically. «The same thing happened to me. Come back quickly.»

L&O was next. She followed him like a champ and applauded from below. «Whee! Wait until I tell my husband that! He’ll kill me!» she laughed. On the other hand, he said, «Man, I’m glad I found them. This would have been really scary alone! You’re so good at this stuff. Where did you learn?»

I shrugged and Ice Cream said, «He’s a magician.» It was one of our personal jokes, a nickname she had for me.

L&O smiled. «You two are cute. Ready to go down the rest of the way? I’m hungry!»

We were hungry too, so I kept going. The rest of the way was comparatively easy. A few glances at the sketch, make sure you don’t end up on the cliff, and there we were, looking down at the glacially carved valley filled with lake after lake after lake. We had lunch near the edge of the first of the larger lakes we reached and gathered to continue. The winds tested us, scared us a little, and left us smiling. Lihat juga pdf view. Paradise was not lost; It was right here, if you were willing to work for it.

Unless I am given express permission to use them, all names and path names in my articles have been changed. Any resemblance to real people is a coincidence. If you like my writing, feel free to subscribe or buy me a coffee using the Suggest the Author button below.