Mileage: 27.9 miles (1701.4-1729.3)
The mosquitoes were horrendous yet again this morning. I thought they couldn't fly when it was as cold as it was this morning, but they sure could! I passed Moss about 30 mins in and she startled me, camped under a tree right next to the trail. I said, "good morning" but couldn't shake the awkward feeling of the night before so just kept moving.
There were an incredible amount of lakes here, big, small, named and unnamed, all offering great opportunities to bathe and cool off, which I took advantage of after a few hours of walking that morning.
A cold front rolled in late morning, and it was kind of cloudy all day. All of a sudden it started hailing, or 'groppeling' which the only difference I can tell is 'groppel' sounds German. Big quarter-sized balls of hail that stung as each pelted my head and arms. I hid under a dense clump of pines to shield myself. The storm passed after about 15 minutes and I resumed walking.
I saw a ton of flyfisherpeople, all seeming to have pretty good luck. I was lucky I ran into one group who knew the area well, about 500 ft after I'd taken a wrong turn. They pointed me in the right direction and the older gentlemen was so adorable and knew everything about everything - from every trail I'd hiked, to be weather, and anything else that came up.
I met another group of fishermen who explained to me why all these lakes have fish. Apparently, originally only one or two of the deepest lakes had fish, but back in the '20s a guy whose name I've already forgotten made it his mission in life to put fish in the lakes - more than 300 of them by the time he was done. Lake Trout, Browns, Cutthroats, Rainbows, and even Golden Trout which are native to just one watershed in the Sierra Nevadas in California near Kings Canyon National Park. He sure was dedicated. I suspect it devastated the local ecosystem, especially native amphibians like frogs who had evolved without that predator and likely saw their demise because of them.
But now I guess you could live off fish the whole summer if you had to up here. It's crazy to think how much we manufacture ecosystems to be what we want them to be - even in places as remote as the Winds here in Wyoming.
I ran into another group who'd seen Banana Pants, the Austrian guy I'd be hiking near for probably two months, but whom I've never met. They said he wasn't going up to the Titcomb Basin so I doubted I'd see him this time either!
I dcided I'd head to Knapsack Col, another alternate, because everything I'd heard from folks who I've run into is that it is one of the most spectacular places in the Winds. I sure can't pass that up. The Winds might be one of my favorite places not only on this hike, but in the whole world. They're huge and you could spend a lifetime and never see everything. In fact, I've met plenty of folks in the last few days who've said just that. Guys who've been coming here since the '70s and '80s and still finding new things. So cool. I'm definitely coming back here.
I got into Titcomb Basin to camp, saw a few people along the way, some with campfires that I really wanted to get in on. But I wanted to get to Titcomb Lakes so I'd minimize the approach to Knapsack Col tomorrow. I met some brothers who went over it today from the other side and described it as "chaucy, but not super exposed." This translates to "there's loose rock but it's not like you're on the precipice of a cliff." I'll just have to check it out tomorrow - if it's too sketchy then I'll just come back down!
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