Temple Peaks…
Another wonderful trip into the Wind River Range, Wyoming. This time we planned to summit Temple Peak (12.972’) and East Temple Peak (12,590’). We took the Midnight Raven because driving to and from Wyoming is half the adventure…but for now we’ll just talk about our time in the mountains of the Winds.
The best weather day to bag these two peaks was Tuesday. We left the Big Sandy trailhead on Sunday mid-afternoon and found nice camp at the NE end of Big Sandy Lake, along the Black Joe Creek. It was a good spot with lots of water and the best Pika viewing we have seen for a long time. Monday late morning we moved camp to the NE end of Deep Lake. Wow, incredible scenery. We were surrounded by tall walls of granite, tall jagged granite peaks, and a beautiful deep lake. We’ll spend two nights here…
Tuesday morning, we set off early to bag both Temple and East Temple Peaks. Pretty good trail all the way to the saddle between the two peaks. Along the way we passed Temple Lake for more incredible scenery. Pikas and Marmots were abundant.
From the saddle we planned to scramble up the obvious gully just south of the summit. We found the gully, but it looked pretty daunting. Once we entered the upper gully (left side), the slope got steeper and the rock/dirt got looser. As I got up nearly at the top of the gully, Deb stayed back behind a wall to protect herself from any falling rock. As I scrambled up, I came to a rock that was barely holding on, that I needed to move. Nowhere to set the rock, I called to Deb and told her I was throwing the rock down passed her…unfortunately after I launched the ten pound rock, it hit another rock a ricocheted about 90 degrees and nailed Deb’s knee. After some brief communication, and a quick assessment, we decided to bail. Fortunately, the rock hit flat, and on the muscle of the inside of her knee, so while bruised and in pain, Deb was able to make it back down to the saddle…and even continue up to tag the summit of East Temple. After enjoying the views from East Temple, we descended back to camp.
The next morning we took our time packing up camp, then headed back to the trailhead.
Another great trip into the Winds, with my favorite adventure partner, Deb.
Bah!, paperwork…
Hiking along the Big Sandy River…
First look at the Cirque of the Towers…
Haystack Mountain…
The route between Clear Lake and Deep Lake, lots of slabs…
At the shore of Deep Lake, near camp.
In the sun, Pingora Peak and Wolf’s Head…
Filtering water…
Evening reflection on Deep Lake.
Our route up the gully…to the “X”, where we bailed.
Three lakes in the distance called Frozen Lakes, elevation 11,500′
This is the rock that hit Deb’s knee…
On our way up East Temple. Temple Peak in the distance…
From the summit of East Temple (12,590′)
The rock in the foreground is called The Diving Board. The rock beyond is Haystack Mountain, then all those peaks in the distance are all part of the Wind River Range…
The lakes below are unnamed. The lake beyond is Black Joe Lake…
Looking down into the Little Sandy Creek drainage…
From the saddle, looking over at Frozen Lakes…
From the saddle, looking down at Temple Lake…
From camp, lookin up at East Temple…
Temple Lake…
Back to civilization…
Our track…
