The last few days have been breathtaking – both ways: The views on the Wind River Range and the climbing required to get to the views were taxing.
We went into the Winds from Pinedale through the New Fork Lake Trail and took the regular CDT that we were bypassing for a while since we went through the Tetons. We could have done the Knapsack Col Alternate but decided against it as we had no snow gear and the climb is very tricky. That decision was likely pretty wise, as we met a few thruhikers that went through and told us how sketchy that high pass actually was.
The regular CDT does not disappoint either and runs through rugged terrain with a lot of granite mountain walls and a very high number of lakes. The biting insects of all makes were still very active, but at least by the fact that most of that section was above 10000ft the weather was not that hot in the sun.
We had a few really nice camp sites and decided to do the Cirque of the Towers alternate which included two tough Passes and a lot of non existing trail and bush wacking but rewarded is with some of the most beautiful scenery of the CDT
We got into Lander yesterday morning and are no preparing to walk through the Wyoming Basin, which will be very dry and hot – and not as spectacular but in its own way unique with a lot of Sage brush to look at.
