Hi Will,

Thanks for the nice words and your question. You’re right, the Winds are much more conducive to seeing by backpacking for at least a few days and not very easy to explore on dayhikes. I have only backpacked in the Winds (and done some climbing on multi-day hikes into the Winds).

But if dayhiking is your only option, one of the best access points is the Elkhart Park trailhead, reached on a drive (on a good road) of about 30 minutes from Pinedale. At the Pole Creek Lakes Trailhead, you can hike out about 4.5 miles one-way (nine miles round-trip) with perhaps 1,000 feet of gradual up and down to a famous overlook of the Continental Divide called Photographers Point. Continuing past that on the Seneca Lake Trail, you’d get more views of the mountains and pass some small lakes, reaching Hobbs Lake as a possible turnaround point at 6.7 miles from the trailhead, and an overlook above Seneca Lake about 8.7 miles from the trailhead.

Also, while Big Sandy campground and trailhead is not convenient to reach (90 minutes from Pinedale, mostly on gravel roads), from there, it’s a relatively easy 10-mile out-and-back hike to Big Sandy Lake, a scenic spot surrounded by mountains; and continuing past the lake, it’s just under 16 miles out-and-back to Jackass Pass (with elevation gain and loss approaching 3,000 feet, a big day, for sure), one of the classic viewpoints in the Winds, overlooking the Cirque of the Towers.

Those are on the west side of the Winds, accessed from Pinedale. On the east side, out of Lander, another accessible and popular spot to dayhike is starting at the Bruce’s Bridge Trailhead in Sinks Canyon, hiking up the trail along the Middle Fork Popo Agie River to a common turnaround point at 1.6 miles from the trailhead (for a short hike), although you can continue up the Middle Fork Trail as far as you like for more views of the peaks along the southern part of the Continental Divide in the Winds.

Good luck and enjoy your trip. Get in touch anytime.

Michael

Hi Tom,

Good question, thanks for asking it. Of all the places you mentioned hiking before without feeling the effects of high elevation, only the Tetons have trails that rise as high as trails in the Wind River Range, certainly if you hiked to Static Peak and Paintbrush Divide (above Lake Solitude). IF those higher elevations in the Tetons did not bother you much, you may not have any trouble in the Winds, where many trails lie at over 10,000 feet and many passes are over 11,000 feet.

That said, keep in mind that how we react individually to high elevations can vary greatly even for the same person, for reasons we may not think much about, like whether we’ve gotten adequate sleep lately or have been eating well, one’s underlying health, or more obvious reasons like how much time we’ve taken to acclimate to the highest elevations we plan on reaching. Feeling great at 11,000 feet today does not guarantee feeling the same way tomorrow or next week or month or year.

I always try to follow recommended prep and precautions, most importantly not trying to gain elevation too quickly (without acclimating). Ask yourself: Are you trying to test the speed at which you can acclimate? Or are you trying to maximize your chances of feeling good and staying safe at higher elevations?

I hope that helps. Good luck.