NOLS Wind River Wilderness

An enjoyable NOLS course was recently completed by 3 instructors and 8 teenage boys (one left early). We hiked about 110 miles over 30 days in the beautiful Wind River Range, under mostly sunny skies. We had some layover days in spectacular places. One of those places became our climbing site for 2 days. Heading over a mountain pass one morning we came upon a herd of over 50 elk. Other wildlife sightings included moose, bald eagle, osprey, mule deer, nighthawks, and lots of beautiful trout. I was not able to catch any of those trout during my 20 minutes or so spent with fly rod in hand. But I do hope to spend more time fishing soon. The boys had moderate success and were able to cook a few delicious trout meals in addition to our huge rations. Our last ration period was 13 days long. We probably took a little less than 275 pounds of food with us. Travel days varied widely. We had some relatively flat days on-trail, made peak ascents up 3rd class terrain, negotiated some boulder fields, traveled up and down hills through dense dead-fall, crossed mellow rivers, and walked through countless meadows. Sometimes travel took us 2 hours, sometimes 11 hours. A little after the mid-point of the course the boys decided to give each other Mohawks. Don’t worry, all of us instructors declined. They boys looked great though, especially since they were a pretty dialed and efficient crew. Courses usually end with a small group expedition where the students travel and camp away from us. These guys earned a pretty long one – 5 days. During that time the instructors found a wonderful waterfall near camp to “shower” in. It had a perfect pocket behind it, and even nicely arranged rocks to sit on for awhile. Wonderfully cold water. Everybody made it though the small groups ok and we were all ready to head back to town. That was the most time I’d ever spent above 10,000ft and it took us awhile to get used to the heat and surroundings at lower elevations. As soon as our mohawked boys got off the bus everybody in town knew we had a successful course. The boys are all back home now, one of my co-instructors is back caretaking a gorgeous lodge in Alta, and the other instructor is back in the mountains doing it all over again with a new group of people. I’m making my way west to prep for a summer of Northwest Youth Corps in Idaho. On my way out I stopped in Grand Teton National Park. I hadn’t planned on staying, but it was too beautiful to leave. I saw a moose and a coyote, and took a dip in a relatively warm Jackson Lake. Next stop of interest was Astoria, Oregon where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. Good to be back in Oregon. Now I’m heading down the coast and then inland to Eugene before heading to Idaho with Youth Corps folks.