August 2019 - Day 5/21 Wind River Range (2/3)

Monday, Aug. 12, 2019 - Day 2/3 in the Wind River Range - hiking up to Upper Wall Lake (green line), then over Lester Pass to camp at Little Seneca Lake (red line):

This morning's hike up to Upper Wall Lake looks great in Google Earth:



Hiking at 8:25, with a nice look at Upper Cook Lake:


A really nice dayhike up a valley to Wall Lake (can you see my stuff?):

and turn around to see where I just came from:


20 minutes later you cross over the "granite hill" (i.e. no path) and see beautiful Wall Lake:

Looking down "from the mountaintop" in Google Earth, you can see that there is only once-in-a-while a defined trail alongside Wall Lake:

It is slow-going, not because of the difficulty, but because you have to keep choosing: Do I go up-and-over these rocks, or circle-down-around them? Almost always, it doesn't matter - except for those few times when it does. I took "the upper route" going out, and "the lower route" coming back.

I don't know if it is named Wall Lake because of the granite mountain on the west-side of the lake:

or because of the granite wall you hike under on the east-side of the lake:

and there are wildflowers in all the green areas:


The upper-end of the lake is sublime (meaning both beautiful and dangerous):

and you turn the corner to see the waterfalls/cascades:

which drain the waters from Upper Wall Lake:

(As, of course, I'm writing this a few days later, I do have to admit that it is PRETTY STUNNING up there.)

Looking back down Wall Lake on the return:


Back at camp I filter-filled all my water bottles, and hit the trail back down from Upper Cook Lake (a final 1:20 PM look):


Half-an-hour later I was looking down on Lower Cook Lake:

and kept hiking the trail:


Over a pretty creek:


At 2:30 I intersected with Fremont Trail, and headed northwest to Lester Pass:


Looking down at the creek I had had to cross:

- you know the drill: shoes off, socks off, pants off, Merrells on. Cross DEEP water (above my knees). Reverse on other side. A pain because today it took 25 minutes to do all the changing and find a shallow-enough place to cross.

Pass an unnamed lake, and keep hiking up-and-up:

until I got to Tommy Lake at just before 5:


That is about where you "officially" start going up to Lester Pass:

which is up there somewhere:


Right before hitting the Pass, the view back down behind me is Pretty Cool:


That is Lake Nelson on the far right, which is so high up that you cannot even see it from the Highline Trail which I have been hiking!

I hit Lester Pass at 5:49



You get a beautiful view going down the northwest side of Lester Pass:

The trail is going to go right between those 2 lakes.

At 7:16, a nice view looking back over an unnamed lake, right before the intersection with Seneca Lake Trail:


At 7:26 I found my perfect tent-spot:

with its nice view out over Little Seneca Lake:


Thank you God for these Beautiful Places! This was Really Hard ...