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Thread: Wyoming

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Davis
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    756

    Default Wyoming

    In 1992 I was flying to the east coast and from the plane window I saw a rocky range of mountains with a ridiculous number of lakes. My thought was what is that and why am I not going there? I later figured out it was the Wind River Mountains. I went a couple times in the '90's and recently decided I needed to go back.

    I did a 10 day hike from Green River Lakes to Big Sandy and got a car shuttle so I could do it as a thru hike. I followed The Highline and Fremont Trails which parallel the crest of the range and broke away from that route a few times to get up into the higher areas. Very few of the lakes have viable spawning streams so they are reliant on stocking. My guess is the stocking has diminished since I was there in the '90's because it seemed like there were a lot of barren or nearly barren lakes. I caught some brook trout, cutthroat and some small goldens but the fishing was not great. I have had much better in the Sierra. The hiking on the other hand is pretty fantastic so you need to go primarily for that. There are a lot of off trail routes that take you to high passes, peaks, plateaus, snowfields, etc. People do some real serious climbing there but that is not my cup of tea. I draw the line on anything that requires a helmet, ropes or crampons. It was a solo trip so safety was a priority as it always is. I saw a few moose and a porcupine that had been killed and picked pretty clean. Hikes like this are getting harder as I get older. Oddly I find that I am becoming a more ambitious hiker as my ability to hike is diminishing. It might be that I am pushing the limits and just now learning what I am capable of or that I am just trying to do what I can before I no longer can. Either way you have to follow your passion every day and see where it takes you.

    I took a bear can and my pack was pretty heavy so there was only room for a point and shoot camera. I got a few nice panorama shots. The camera does a good job with those. It is a big day of driving each way but with self serve gas it is pretty easy to stay away from the evil covid virus. Needless to say, there are far fewer masks being worn in Wyoming than here in California. Good trip. It is nice to be home sweeping up the ash and breathing smoke.


    Old timey trail signs


    My shadow at the first campsite


    The problem with this picture is there are no fish rising.


    This is called Billy’s Lake and it had some brookies. That ridge is the continental divide.


    This is the Cirque of Towers looking down from Texas Pass. The highlight of the trip was walking through here. There is a beautiful lake at the bottom with two great spawning streams and plenty of cutthroat cruising the flats.


    Mr. Brook trout


    Mr. Cutthroat


    The release
    Last edited by John H; 08-30-2020 at 10:04 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Carson City NV
    Posts
    461

    Default

    Wonderful Wyoming trip you had there John.
    Incredible scenery.......................

    I wonder why those fishy looking lakes weren't packed with willing fishes ???

    The picture of Mr. Brook Trout.......................he certainly has a large tail.

    I hear you on the "or that I am just trying to do what I can before I no longer can".
    My realization of the above happened about 5 years ago.
    Seems like I'm sliding into that..................... UNWILLINGLY.

    As always John, THANK YOU for the mental medicine.

    Welcome back to the California ash and smoke.



    Bob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    Placer County
    Posts
    1,135

    Default

    You obliged by presenting the under-water pictures! Awesome, as always. The past week has been particularly tough to decipher. Your pictures and story telling is greatly appreciated and is a nice distraction from the madness.
    Last edited by OceanSunfish; 09-01-2020 at 09:09 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Right Here!
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    374

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    Awesome! Great photos and write up. I've only been to the Winds once and I definitely need to go back. The fishing was OK for brookies and grayling on some east slope lakes, but I've heard some good things about others deeper into the range. Perhaps it was too warm? I dunno why the fish are so willing some times and not at all others. Hard to figure that out.
    "Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man." --Jeff Lebowski

    Some pics of native salmonids: http://flyguydave.wordpress.com/

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Fresno, CA
    Posts
    2,749

    Default

    wow, some great photography. I gotta get back into the game... Back in the late 70's early 80's I was really involved with photography and producing a few video productions. Prior to that, back in the mid to late 60's that's all I did. I attended Brooks photography school in Santa Barbara prior to going into the Army. During my state side duty, I ran the photography shop on base and then when I returned from Viet Nam and got stationed in Germany, I work in the photo shop on base. After leaving the military, I got into shooting weddings, (something I wouldn't do again). Back then we shot film and hope to hell all the shots came out. I'd walk around the church with a light meter making sure I had enough light, checked all my batteries and chargers, etc.. The only problem I had during my adventures were with mothers and mother-in-laws. One of my big things was the 8x10 bellows camera I use to use for the group shots. I made perfect prints. I had bought a 8x10 linhoff bellows camera in Germany. I also use to develop and print all the photo's from each wedding.
    One thing I just found out recently, like two days ago from my daughter, my uncle who lived in SF was the gardner for Ansel Adams when he lived in the Bay Area. His is shown with Ansel Adams when Ansel was shooting with a Polaroid instant camera.. This was a documentary that Ansel made when testing the camera for the company. I mean he had every little detail written down in a log book. Funny thing is even my first cousin didn't know anything about this until my daughter was talking to his daughter about this.
    My daughter is really into to this family tree stuff. She knows more about sides of my family than I do. She's also big into photography.
    She just completed presentation on the history of the Japanese Americans on the west coast that was organized by a large company. So far out of 2,000 entries, she is in the top 3. She'll know sometime in September if she placed first.
    So I guess I better break out the camera gear and start shooting. I live near Yosemite, sequoia national park and kings river canyon. Lot's of opportunities.
    John, you got me motivated
    Jay Murakoshi

    Commercial Fly Tier

    Travel Coordinator

    Web site: http://www.fliesunlimited.com/

    Email us at: jaysflies@me.com

    Call us at (831) 809-4221

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Davis
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    756

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    Jay -

    You have some photography history. Thanks for sharing that. I have to believe the wedding shoot is a nightmare. Everybody is tense and looking for something to be upset about and they all think they know more about it than you do. I don’t think I would have liked the film SLR game. Too much gear and process. I like seeing good light or a good shot and trying to catch it. A couple of the panoramas I got were about twenty minutes of good conditions. You have to see it and get it before it is gone. Sometimes you watch the sky and can see it coming so you are ready for it. On one I was eating dinner and watched it develop. When conditions got good, I got some shots but then the wind came up putting chop on the lake and the sun went behind some clouds and it was over.
    Last edited by John H; 09-01-2020 at 11:19 AM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    San Diego
    Posts
    1,765

    Default

    John,
    Thanks, as always. Likewise with your bass adventure.
    Best,
    Larry S
    Sun Diego

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    SJC
    Posts
    68

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    Awesome. Have never been to the Winds, and keep telling myself I should go sometime.

    Yes, there are supposed to be some nice alpine climbing routes out there. I got too old for that a number of years ago, though. These days my backcountry trips in the mountains are just about fishing, hiking and the occasional scramble.

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