Wind Rivers 2009 - Big Sandy

HomerJ

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2012
Messages
1,199
We went in at the same trail head (Big Sandy) as we did last year, but we went past Big Sandy Lake to Clear Lake and camped above it. The trail is relatively easy going except for a few short steeper areas. The bad part is, is that we all thought we needed more food than we did and had close to 60 lbs packs! We sure did eat well though.

Day 1:
We left on Thursday around 7:15am and drove to Big Piney and bought our fishing licenses, bought lunch, and then continued on. The last part of the road is on dirt roads for about 45 mins. The road was a lot rougher than last year and I was glad I wasn't driving my car (drove it last year). We got to the trailhead and quickly ate our lunch and was off by 12:30. We finally made it to Clear lake and setup camp. Afterwards we ate then ran down to the lake and did some fishing before it got dark.

Day 2:
We hiked up the canyon we were at to Deep Lake and fished it most of the day.

Day 3:
We got up ate and headed out to hike into "The Cirque of the Towers" (about 4.5 miles from our camp). It's an extremely popular area for mountain climbers and I had missed seeing it last year. The trail is a really steep and rocky one, luckily we were a lot more acclimatized by now and could keep moving. I sure did pity those hikers with their big packs full of camping gear AND their climbing gear. The pity soon left me and I decided they were all insane for packing all that weight up and down such steep and rough terrain. Well, come to find out we missed where the trail switched back and went above the massive rocks and boulders. We saw some cairns out in the rocks and assumed it was the trail. Their must have been some boy scouts up there earlier putting the cairns up marking a trail through the boulders as a joke... and we fell for it! :mad:
Anyway, we made it to Jackass pass that looks down into "The Cirque" and decided there was no way we were going to hike down into the valley below and turn around and hike back up. We all were un-impressed with The Cirque! Maybe it's a lot prettier from Lonesome Lake, but from the pass it didn't live up to all the hype I had heard about it. That evening we caught a bunch of nice sized cutts for dinner. There's nothing like fresh fish!!!

Day 4:
It was cloudy and windy in the morning and soon started to rain. During a break in the weather we took off and headed to Rapid Lake. We fished Rapid Lake for a while (lots of small brookies), and the stream above it. On Rapid Lake it's more of a challenge to NOT catch a fish than to catch one. I'm sure you could through a bare hook out there and they'd take it! They are all really small fish though. Then we headed back to camp as the weather was moving in again. Luckily the weather went North and South of us and we only had to deal with the wind, which played havoc with the smoke from the fire as the direction kept changing requiring everyone to keep moving to avoid it.

Day 5:
It rained a little bit during the night and there was rain predicted for the day so we got up and quickly packed up our tents, sleeping gear, and clothes in case it decided to rain. We then ate breakfast, and headed out. We moved really fast and I had hot sore feet by the time we got to the truck. The weather was overcast and cool and was perfect for the hike out! We then drove to Big Piney, ate a greasy burger and was home by 5:30pm.


Big Sandy Lake - Haystack Mountain
IMG_3169.JPG


Brook Trout in Clear Lake
IMG_3178.JPG


Deep Lake - East Temple Peak.
IMG_3184.JPG


Columbine
IMG_3212.JPG



Deep Lake looking into "The Cirque"
IMG_3227.JPG


Deep Lake - East Temple Peak
IMG_3233.JPG


Clear Lake at sunset
IMG_3251.JPG


Clear Lake in the morning
IMG_3268.JPG


IMG_3282.JPG


Cheese and bacon quesadillas! What a great breakfast!!! I think I actually gained weight on this trip!
IMG_3283.JPG


Haystack Mountain from trail to Jackass Pass
IMG_3290.JPG


Looking south from trail to Jackass Pass
IMG_3292.JPG


Arrowhead Lake
IMG_3319.JPG

Pano of Cirque
Cirque of the Towers.tif.jpg

IMG_3351.JPG


Above Clear Lake
IMG_3378.JPG


Above Clear Lake
IMG_3445.JPG


Above Clear Lake
IMG_3467.JPG
 
You got some killer shots man. Very, very nice. I didn't hike up to the cirque but I don't know how it could be any better than the area up around Deep and Temple Lakes. Hype for sure. BTW, it's East Temple Peak and Lost Temple Spire above Deep Lake. Temple Peak is on the other side above Temple Lake. It really says something about the Winds that two such impressive and separate peaks didn't end up with unique names. Hell, there's a trail that goes right between them!
 
You got some killer shots man. Very, very nice. I didn't hike up to the cirque but I don't know how it could be any better than the area up around Deep and Temple Lakes. Hype for sure. BTW, it's East Temple Peak and Lost Temple Spire above Deep Lake. Temple Peak is on the other side above Temple Lake. It really says something about the Winds that two such impressive and separate peaks didn't end up with unique names. Hell, there's a trail that goes right between them!
Your right, thanks for the correction. :twothumbs: I hate giving wrong info. I'll go edit my post.

I just love the area up there around Clear and Deep Lakes!!! I'd like to hike East Temple some day....

Thanks for the compliment!
 
Have you ever been into Black Joe Lake? It's up the drainage just north of the drainage that leads to Clear and Deep Lakes. I have heard there are some nice Cutts in Black Joe but have never been there.
 
The topo and the photos make it look like you could just walk right up to the top of East Temple. Anyone know about that?
 
Have you ever been into Black Joe Lake? It's up the drainage just north of the drainage that leads to Clear and Deep Lakes. I have heard there are some nice Cutts in Black Joe but have never been there.
I have, but it's hard to get past the bottom of the lake. The north side has a cliff you have to scramble up over and the south side is boulder hopping the whole length of it! It's pretty, but I think the area around Clear, Deep, Miller, Temple, and Rapid lakes is the cats meow!
 
The topo and the photos make it look like you could just walk right up to the top of East Temple. Anyone know about that?
I think you can. My buddy talked with some girls from NOLS that were camped near Temple Lake. They had come over the pass from Little Sandy trail head and they said they'd hiked it.
 
Similar threads
Thread starter Title Forum Replies Date
Upgrayedd Union and Gunsight Passes - Wind Rivers Trip Planning 4
Bob Wind Rivers - Short Trip to Cook Lake Trip Reports 9
OldBill Roaming the Wind Rivers, September 2022 Backpacking 8
Mountain Wanderer First time in the Wind Rivers Backpacking 4
Bob Wind Rivers - Lee Lake Loop Backpacking 6
Bob Sand Creek Fire - Wind Rivers General Discussion 0
A Wind Rivers: Clear Lake, Faler Lake and Roaring Fork General Discussion 7
OldBill Short Bear Basin exploration, Wind Rivers Trip Planning 7
Bob Wind Rivers ..... for those getting the itch ........ Backpacking 2
S Backcountry camping tips for Wind Rivers - upper Green River valley via canoe Trip Planning 5
Kullaberg63 Wind Rivers, Circling Downs Mountain Backpacking 16
Burrito Wind Rivers - Titcomb to Knapsack Col to Peak Lake Trip Planning 3
Lincsco Wind Rivers - Texas Pass Trip Planning 5
OldBill Introducing the Wind Rivers to the next generation, Sept 2016 Backpacking 3
Nethos Eclipse in the Wind Rivers Trip Planning 52
danger02ward Wind Rivers - Titcomb and Indian Basins Part 4 Backpacking 1
danger02ward Wind Rivers - Titcomb and Indian Basins Part 3 Backpacking 12
Nick Highest elevation buffalo jump found in Wind Rivers General Discussion 7
danger02ward Wind Rivers - Titcomb and Indian Basins Part 2 Backpacking 3
danger02ward Wind Rivers - Titcomb and Indian Basins Part 1 Backpacking 1
J Avoiding Weekend Crowds - Tetons vs. Wind Rivers Trip Planning 11
Bob Slice of Heaven Part 2 ...... Wind Rivers NE corner Backpacking 4
Burrito Looking for moderate route in the wind rivers Trip Planning 8
Bob Wind Rivers NE Corner - 9 Days of Heaven ...... Backpacking 20
Blake Merrell Wind Rivers 2016: Green River to Elkhart Backpacking 8
Bob Shoshone lk - wind rivers fire Trip Planning 0
Bob Wind rivers and fire Trip Planning 7
OldBill Wind Rivers in Sept - how to hook the next generation? Trip Planning 9
Mountain of Youth Southern Wind Rivers in July - Suggestions Welcome Trip Planning 2
Dave Winters Wind Rivers 2015 Backpacking 5
steve Wind Rivers Traverse - Backpacking 90 miles in the Wind Rivers Backpacking 102
trasmuson3 Wind Rivers - Shadow Lake Backpacking 4
Eugene Wind Rivers from Elkhart Park to Titcomb Basin Backpacking 12
Nico Windy Lake - Wind Rivers Backpacking 7
Artemus Sweetwater Gap Walkabout - Wind Rivers Backpacking 18
trasmuson3 Wind Rivers and dogs General Discussion 9
Kyle P Hike to Grave/Baptiste lakes in the Wind Rivers Hiking & Camping 14
Bob Wind Rivers - 2014 - Part 2 Backpacking 11
Bob Wind Rivers - 2014 - Part 1 Backpacking 3
Bob Wind Rivers Backpacking 16
MtnMatt Wind Rivers advice Trip Planning 14
outnabout Solo Wind Rivers - Need some advice Noobs: Introduce yourself! 3
Dave Wind Rivers, Sept. 2013 Backpacking 23
cobbiel Wind Rivers, WY & Bear Containers Trip Planning 11
as Wind Rivers Traverse Backpacking 11
HomerJ Wind Rivers - Big Sandy Backpacking 7
Nick Atlantic Canyon, Wind Rivers Backpacking 8
Mike K Indian Pass Question (Wind Rivers) Trip Planning 12
Kyle P Hiking and Fly Fishing the Wind Rivers Backpacking 6
Nick The Temple - Wind Rivers Backpacking 21

Similar threads

Back
Top