I recently went on a backpacking trip to the Wind Rivers in Wyoming with a group of friends. Its an amazing range spanning 80 miles long and 30 miles wide with several wilderness areas throughout. We went to the Popie Agie (pronounced poposha)wilderness about 8 miles in to Stough Creek Lakes. Its a pristine alpine landscape with granite spires in every direction and lakes dotting the amphitheater floor. The trip was one of the best I've been on for several reasons: the trail was shaded the whole way. There were NO BUGS at all. The weather was perfect the entire time and I wasn't mauled by a bear.
We stayed 4 days, hiked probably 20 miles and saw some beautiful country. To quote a phrase from a favorite novel it became "more perfect" daily. On the last evening I slipped away from camp and sat next to a lake watching everything. A muskrat swam around in the middle, back and forth like a lap swimmer in a pool, then dove and reappeared with a fish. The sky was clear and I spotted a falcon miles away, circling a huge cliff face. I felt like Ralphie on Christmas night as he clutched his Red Ryder BB gun (with a compass in the stock).
