WIND RIVERS HIGH COUNTRY LOOP TRAIL

Check out Hike #30, page 200, in the book "Hiking Wyoming's Wind River Range" by Ron Adkison, a Falcon Guide.  This hike will take you through mile marker 24.7 below.  This is where I make the variation of going over Texas Pass and through the Cirque of the Towers and then back to the Big Sandy trail head.   This eliminates the back tracking of Adkinson's hike and puts in Texas pass which takes you right through the Cirque of the Towers, making a total of three traverses of the Continental Divide.

Use the Earthwalk Press Map - "Hiking Map & Guide, Southern Wind River Range, WY"  The loop hike starts at the Big Sandy Trail head at the Big Sandy Campground.

 Mile Marker:

0.0        Big Sandy Trailhead

0.6               Junction Meeks Lake/Big Sandy trails, bear left

1.4               Junction Diamond Lake trail, bear left

1.5               Junction Fremont trail, turn right

4.1               Fish Creek Park

4.4               Mirror Lake

4.9               Junction Donald Lake trail, stay left

5.1               Dads Lake

6.8               Junction Freemont/Pyramid Lake trails at Marms Lake, bear right

8.7               Junction Shadow Lake trail, stay left

9.7               Junction Washakie Pass trail, stay left

10.0           Skull Lake

11.1           Junction Pyramid Lake/Hailey Pass trails, bear right  ( Pyramid Lake is about a mile on a spur trail )

13.1           Hailey Pass

14.4           Junction Baptiste Lake Trail, bear right

             Grave Lake

16.2           Junction Onion Meadows trail, stay right on Bear's ears trail

17.3           Junction Valentine Mountain trail, stay right

18.4           Junction Moss Lake trail, stay right

19.7           Washakie Lake      Macon Lake and Washakie Lake

21.1           Macon Lake

21.9           Washakie Pass

23.8           Junction Pyramid Lake trail, turn left

24.7           Junction Shadow Lake trail, turn left

26.8           Shadow Lake

27.7           Billys Lake

28.3           Barren Lake

28.7           Texas Lake

29.1           Texas Pass (as seen from Cirque of the Towers)    Texas Pass as seen from Texas Lake

30.6           Lonesome Lake

31.4           Jackass Pass

31.9           Arrowhead Lake

32.7           North Lake

33.4           Junction Big Sandy/Jackass Pass trails, bear right.   Big Sandy Lake.  Big Sandy Lake

35.4           Junction Diamond Lake trail, stay left

37.6           Junction Meeks Lake trail, stay left

38.2     Big Sandy Trailhead

A couple of the websites from which I borrowed these photos:

http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~jcallen/   Click on WIND RIVER TRIP PHOTO PAGE - 2001 & 2003 near bottom of page

http://www.windriverrange.org/

http://www.jacobweb.net/trips/2003/winds/winds.htm