Before school started, Sally and I went off to the Wind River mountains of Wyoming to escape the heat of Salt Lake. I've spent a bunch of time in the Winds back when I worked for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides and lived in Jackson...but was again amazed at their wildness. We did a 55 mile loop through the southern half of the range, spending most of our time above 10,000' and under clear skies.
One of my favorite parts was once again walking below Mt. Hooker. Back in 1998 Kirby Spangler and I completed a new route on the high and shady north face, and I hadn't seen it since then. Sally and I took a side trip to check it out.
Below is a classic Wyoming plains landscape...
Sally on the trail...
a pine martin...
Sally on the Lizard Head plateau, ca 11,600'
Sally pointing to East Temple Peak. We scrambled to the summit earlier that day...
Sally and me on top of East Temple. Behind us is the Cirque of the Towers and the rest of the Wind River Range.
Below is a better view of the two thousand foot N. Face of Mt Hooker, 12,504', with me and Kirby's route The Northwest Passage (VI 5.9 A3) drawn in red. There's a write up in the 1999 American Alpine Journal.
