WalkingCarrot

Deb and I are back home, at least for the time being. We left Togwotee Pass (pronounced “TOE-guh-tee”) on Sunday with the intent to spend 9 days hiking through the Wind River Mountain range.

“Togwotee” means “from here we can go anywhere”, so named for its promise and possibilities. The Absoroka Mountains to the north are eroded volcanic formations, the Wind River mountains to the south are granitic. Dubois and the Wyoming “badlands” lie to the east, while Jackson Hole and other large valleys with lots of water lie to the west. Togwotee pass is more than a geologic crossroads, it’s at a convergence of wildlife habitats, forming both natural …

Greetings from Dubois; that’s “Dew-boyzs” unless you want to get sent packing back to Paris by the local cowboys, in which case go ahead and say “Du-bwah”.

We’re closing in on 1,000 miles. But, one lesson the trail teaches is to not get too set on an expected outcome. Surprises are always in store, so it’s best to remain open to all possibilities and let the hike unfold.

During this last week, since leaving Old Faithful, we’ve continued to have cold nights, frosty morning and frozen water bottles. It’s rained, hailed and snowed some, but that’s all to be expected in September at our 7,500 to 10,000 foot elevation playground.

Southeastern …

It sounds repetitious, but, once again we woke to frost on tent and frozen water bottles. Ughh. In fact, the drinking tube on the platypus took over 2 hours of hiking to thaw out. A low.

But the day was all clear, brilliant blue skies, and stayed that way. A high. With 20 miles to go to the highway we needed a nice day for hiking to get there in time to get a ride to Dubois.

We came within 50 to 60 yards of a herd of elk, including a bull with a large rack, several young bulls and 15 to 20 cows. A real High.

As the sun melted the mud …

A cloudless night meant a very cold night. The moisture laden night air we felt around the campfire turned to heavy, hard and huge ice crystals on the ground, plants and shrubs.

The day started with a climb to Two Ocean Plateau, a white, otherworldly place. Wide open space, distant views and ground with frost shimmering and reflecting the early morning light.
To the west the Grand Tetons rise above the clouded valley. To the east lie the rugged tops of the Absarokas.

We drop into Two Ocean Pass, also known as the Parting of the Waters. Much of the plateau drains into two ocean creek which drops into the pass. OK, …

With thick cloud cover, we slept warm night last nigtht - a nice change of pace. At first daylight we heard loud hooves outside the tent, probably moose or elk. Not wanting to “spook” them, we stayed inside and let them fade into the nearby willows.

The trail followed a different route than described in the guidebook, not too unusual. This time it was a nice walk up the upper Snake River valley, full of fall colors: red fireweed, yellow, orange and red of the various understory shrubs. It’s an interesting irony that the ‘88 fires have left more color to landscape. With less evergreen canopy there are more broadleaf …