Trip report Wind River Mountains, Wyoming

[JayS]

Awesome! I've wanted to go to the Wind River Range for a while and this just makes me want to go more.

The family and I were in the High Sierra Camps at Yosemite the same time you were in Wyoming. Got pictures of that same moon over different peaks. We were sleeping in canvas tent cabins so we didn't even take a hammock and only saw one - a Hennessey being hung for the first time. The guy had a windshield reflector and a sleeping bag and it got to the upper 20s that night. Hope he stayed warm. I told him about the forums.

Again, awesome report & pix. Thanks for sharing.

[BillyBob58]

JayS,
Oh Yeah- the High Sierras are plenty awesome also. Really, the Winds and Sierra remind me of each other in many ways.

[hikingjer]

Great to see this TR. Always wondering what it'd be like to hang in the cold, high, dry part of the Western US. Now we know.

[photomankc]

Man, what I wouldn't give for those views on a camping trip. The Missouri Ozarks have a charm of their own but that is some spectacular camping there. Hanging within view of Zion Canyon on the west rim trail is about the closest I have been to something like that.

[Shug]

Wow. Cold weather and storms, that is so fun. Adversity beautifies a trip and if your warm whilst nappin'... all the better. Sounds like a terrific trip. Thanks for the details and pix.

[BillyBob58]

Wow. Cold weather and storms, that is so fun. Adversity beautifies a trip and if your warm whilst nappin'... all the better. Sounds like a terrific trip. Thanks for the details and pix.

Shug, thanks for the tip about putting the vest on backwards. You may recall that I had some concern about the PeaPod without the top quilt or blanket recommended by Speer. I was theorizing that the pod would be warmer used with the Claytor, as the more narrow hammock allowed the Pod to hang down close to my body, much more like a separate quilt would do. As opposed to the way the Speer hammock raises the Pod several inches above your body, causing the top to be not as warm as would be expected for the loft. Anyway, I did not want to take the weight of an extra quilt, but was a little paranoid, not having been able to test how much warmer it might be when used with the Claytor than the Speer, but hoping it would enable me to get by with just warm clothing.

But putting my vest on backwards, or both my vest and jacket, just worked like a charm. It only got to 27*F( though I did not have a tarp that night, maybe causing a little more heat loss), and I think it was not quite comfy enough just wearing my clothes like normal, unless I closed the Pod all the way. Which I prefer not to do unless absolutely needed. But putting them on backwards provided enough loft to fill any small gap that remained and dealt with any draft problem just fine. That way, I was way more than warm enough, actually allowing me to open up the pod in the head area quite a bit and still stay toasty.

[Shug]

Shug, thanks for the tip about putting the vest on backwards. You may recall that I had some concern about the PeaPod without the top quilt or blanket recommended by Speer. I was theorizing that the pod would be warmer used with the Claytor, as the more narrow hammock allowed the Pod to hang down close to my body, much more like a separate quilt would do. As opposed to the way the Speer hammock raises the Pod several inches above your body, causing the top to be not as warm as would be expected for the loft. Anyway, I did not want to take the weight of an extra quilt, but was a little paranoid, not having been able to test how much warmer it might be when used with the Claytor than the Speer, but hoping it would enable me to get by with just warm clothing.

But putting my vest on backwards, or both my vest and jacket, just worked like a charm. It only got to 27*F( though I did not have a tarp that night, maybe causing a little more heat loss), and I think it was not quite comfy enough just wearing my clothes like normal, unless I closed the Pod all the way. Which I prefer not to do unless absolutely needed. But putting them on backwards provided enough loft to fill any small gap that remained and dealt with any draft problem just fine. That way, I was way more than warm enough, actually allowing me to open up the pod in the head area quite a bit and still stay toasty.

That is terrific that it worked .... always does for me. As a winter hanger it is nice to be able to contribute a thing or two to all on this site.

[BillyBob58]

Well, you can see why I don't go here much later than mid Sept. Note the weather forecast for this week, Oct 9. I'll also post this in Jeff's thread about winter storms. Imagine what this place will be like once it is actually winter! This is a fall trip that could kill you if not well prepared.


http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick...=140&map.y=142

Tonight: Snow likely. Cloudy, with a low around 18. Breezy, with a west southwest wind 19 to 22 mph decreasing to between 9 and 12 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Total nighttime snow accumulation of around an inch possible.

Friday: Snow. High near 26. West southwest wind between 5 and 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches possible.

Friday Night: Snow. Low around 13. Wind chill values as low as -1. East wind between 5 and 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Saturday: Snow. High near 19. Wind chill values as low as -4. Windy, with a east northeast wind 17 to 20 mph increasing to between 27 and 30 mph. Winds could gust as high as 39 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Saturday Night: Snow. Low around 6. Blustery, with a east northeast wind between 18 and 26 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%.

Sunday: Snow, mainly before noon. High near 24. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

[WanderingKansas]

Great photos and trip report. We had looked at the Wind River area a couple of years ago. Did not go that time. However, it is on my list of a place I would love to hike. It's not to bad a dirve to get there from Nebraska.

Did you ever go to the winds? (also coming from NE)

[xMagnolia]

Reading this thread with all the talk about Peapods, etc. Some things have changed a bit in the last decade and a half, but we all still long for the adventure.

Charlotte