Day 1 Aug 3rd
Flight from ROC at 7:30am. Arrived
in Casper, WY at 1:30pm. Wait time for connections was minimal Car camped off dirt rd on the way to Worthen Meadows. Dinner was from grocery store. Fire ban in Wyoming so we needed to pick up three 16-oz fuel cannosters for the trip. As we pulled into our campsite, car light came on indicating low tire pressure. A bit worried, will deal with it in the morning.
Day 2 Aug 4
Cold cereal breakfast. Packed up and decided to play it safe and bring car in to get it checked out. Exiting the woods after twelve days to find a flat tire would not be a good idea. A few minutes down the road we spotted a truck with a mountain bike. We stopped to ask if he had a pressure gauge. He had a tire pump with a pressure gauge. Only one tire was 1 psi lower than the rest so we turned around and headed to the Sheeps Bridge trailhead in Worthen Meadows.
Wow my pack is heavy. Going to be a tough first day on the trail. We have multiple options for the trip as a whole with opportunities to adjust as needed. Our Plan A for the day is to stop early but we could continue further if we desired. Stopped for lunch at Sheeps Bridge and made some soup. Was good for rehydration. The air is very dry. We were only 2.5 miles in. The next 4 miles would be tough, gaining over 1200' in elevation from 8500 to 9700'.
Yep it was tough. The legs felt like jelly Just like last time. I stopped regularly and took it slow. Took 3 hours to cover the distance. Only 4pm. Dan went to get water. We had 2.5 miles to Shoshone Lake and even at the slow pace, we would have plenty of time. The next two miles would be through the valley along an atv road/trail. Pressing on we opted to take the equestrian trail straight through the valley instead of following the atv trail. A few wet spots, but not too bad. About 100m after the horse trail combined again with the atv trail we could see the inlet stream of Shoshone Lake. Dan spotted some fish. Getting closer there were a ton, all stacked up in a small pool. Dan crept over with his fly rod and was pulling out brook trout with almost every cast. It was almost comical. He saved a few and we opted to camp nearby. Of course we had trout for dinner. Took a bath in the creek, it was cold, really cold. Tomorrow morning we will make it to Shoshone Lake.
Day 3 Aug 5th
Awake early like normal. Camp bread a nd fish for breakfast. Late start on trail. Short break at the inlet of Shoshone, then a longer one at the beach. We both took a short nap. Hid our packs and took a day hike up Cyclone Pass. 1,6 miles w/1000'. Even without the packs it was slow going (for me) Dan has been out here for a month already. He is hiking like a mountain goat. Nice view from the top. A short rest and then back down. On the way downm the sky grew dark. A few drops of rain as we returned to our packs. We found a relatively protected area, I set up my tent's rainfly so we would have a dry spot to cook and eat lunch (at 4pm). The rain subsided and we crossed the dam and found a site on the far shore of Shoshone Lake. Took a swim, had leftovers and snack before bed.
Day 4 Aug 6th
A group of ATV'ers across the lake had music playing when we went to bed. All we could hear was the thump thump of the bass. Either it did not last too long, or I fell asleep. A little rain overnight; slept great. I must have been quite tired. Hoping for a nice sunrise over the lake. The sky was threatening so I hung up my tarp just in case and packed up my gear. Made buckwheat pancakes for breakfast.
We set out down the trail, a lot of down; about 1000ft. Then headed off trail going up steeply through a burn area. Took a break part way up where we had a decent view from where we had been. It was nice knob to take a break. Dan had some pack repair to take care of so we made it a longer break. Sky turned threatening just as we set out again so we put on pack covers. Very quickly came the rain and hail. Some more steep woods until we finally hit our next trail. Dan was a couple of minutes ahead of me as I was moving slowly. As I arrived a family was walking down the trail past Dan. These uphills, especially off trail are brutal. We followed the trail to the next trailhead where we took a short break and had a snack under a tree.
We then followed the atv road a short ways until we headed again off trail. There were plenty of horse and game trails here we were able to use. It was also rather open woods. We hit Bears Ears trail which we followed a ways then dropped off it to head towards our next destination. Soon we came across a path marked with cairns heading in our direction. Bonus! It led us directly to Funnel Lake although it was challenge sometimes to find the next cairn as there was a lot of blowdown int ha rea. While searching near a boulder field field, I headed down while Dan took the higher route. Dan called out whenb he found the next cairn, so I headed up towards his voice. Hopping across these boulders will certainly make my ankles sore tomorrow. We arrived at Funnel Lake, the terrain and ice/snow made a beautiful backdrop for the lake contrasting to the cold wind and light rain blowing directly across from the other side. Due to the wind and rain I set up a tarp area as well as our tents. Took a bath in the cold water, had dinner and now crashed in the tent. Listening to a red squirrel nearby making quite a racket. Hope to sleep well again.
Day 5 Aug 7th
Beautiful morning. Red sun to the East shining on our campsite and surroundings. Our earliest start yet. After breakfast we rounded the lake on a boulder field, then climbed 500ft to the saddle from which we descended the same. These boulder fields always wear me out both physically and mentally.
Arriving at Sand Lake, it was nicer to view it from above. Dan caught a few fish. From here we would climb a drainage to Bears Ears Lake. It started ok on a game trail, but then it became thick and rough terrain. A few times I needed to back track to take a different route. Dan was somewhere up ahead. Came to a nice waterfall which was the outlet of Bear's Ears letting me know I had significantly more elevation to go. Took a little break here. Eventually made it to Bears Ears Lake. It was gorgeous.
I was tired. The bushwhack really sapped my energy. I relaxed while Dan fished a bit. He landed a few cutthroats. The elevation and rough off trail travel was really wearing me out. I would find out just how much soon enough. We departed the lake and worked our way around to climb the next saddle.I was moving slow. Even at the top of the saddle with open terrain I was inching along. We descended to the valley in which we camped nearby in 2017. We crossed below the glacier to intersect with the Bears Ears Trail. From here we were going up some more. I was dragging along the well maintained stock trail, more or less just shuffling my feet. I said to Dan I running out of gas. He would get quite a bit ahead of me and then stop for me to catch up. After climbing this trail, the plan was to turn off and head up to another saddle and down a drainage. I was getting worried that I was not going to make it. If there were boulder fields to descend, safety would compromised for me.
I saw Dan waiting up ahead. By this point I wasn't even really walking; just leaning forward and my legs would fall forward to catch me. I stopped next to Dan and sat down. I told him of my physical predicament and worry. I could barely talk, my energy was so gone. As I sat and tried to communicate my body would shake a bit and tried to cry but it couldn't even manage that. Dan was very supportive, all those years as a social worker. I don't even recall most of what he said. He picked out a spot in field up ahead protected by some boulders and said we would camp there. After some time, I was able to get up and make my way to the spot. It was work to even traverse those 100 yards. Dan made dinner, filtered water for us. Was a real champ taking over all of my chores. I had some lemonade and was able to set up my own tent. I was able to help a little by cutting up the cheese for our dinner which we ate at 8pm. This likely would have been the time we might have arrived at our scheduled campsite; assuming I would even have made it which is doubtful. I cleaning the cook pot and we we went to bed.
Day 6 Aug 8th
Awake with the sun.
