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Review: The Best Short Hike in the Winds (9 Miles!)

wind river range

Review: The Best Short Hike in the Winds (9 Miles!)

Review: The Best Short Hike in the Winds (9 Miles!)

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 8 minutesNo hike in the Winds is this so easy for such a payoff. As such, it’s great to take kids to. It does require some acceptance off off-trail navigation, but nothing serious.

Review: 16 Miles Hiking Little Sandy Lake from Block and Tackle Hill

Review: 16 Miles Hiking Little Sandy Lake from Block and Tackle Hill

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 14 minutesLittle Sandy is such a terrible lure. You know you won’t love it, but dangit, you need something easy, so there you find yourself, disappointed all over again. 

Review: 46 Miles Hiking St. Lawrence Trailhead to Twin, Raft, Mova, Polaris, Moraine, Darren, Sonnicant, and Many More Lakes

Review: 46 Miles Hiking St. Lawrence Trailhead to Twin, Raft, Mova, Polaris, Moraine, Darren, Sonnicant, and Many More Lakes

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 64 minutesThis hike took me to all the lakes around Sonnicant that I hadn’t been to yet, but the report is shameful. You’ll see.

5 Hiking Items I Wish I Would Have Purchased Sooner

5 Hiking Items I Wish I Would Have Purchased Sooner

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 5 minutesThings I wish I’d discovered sooner. There is no affiliate marketing, kickbacks, etc., involved with any of these links—just my opinions. If you’re interested, search around for a slick deal!

Topo MTN Racer 3
Gear Review: Topo MTN Racer 3 Shoe (vs Altra Olympus 5)

Gear Review: Topo MTN Racer 3 Shoe (vs Altra Olympus 5)

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 5 minutesTopo’s MTN Racer 3 is cheaper than the competition, feels better, has far better durability, and literally outclasses the Altra Olympus in every metric. It’s the perfect hiking shoe for me.

Gear Review: Creepers Socks or: How I Learned to Stop Foot Pain and Love Hiking Again

Gear Review: Creepers Socks or: How I Learned to Stop Foot Pain and Love Hiking Again

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 6 minutesCreepers socks have been updated for 2024 and are now more resilient. They have become an indispensable part of my hiking kit and eliminated all of my foot problems.

Review: 42 Scorching Miles Hiking Marten Lake and Squaretop Mountain

Review: 42 Scorching Miles Hiking Marten Lake and Squaretop Mountain

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 45 minutesA portion of this hike is utterly worth it. A large section I have no interest in seeing again. All of it is better than a minute spent watching Jimmy Fallon.

Gear Review: Altra Olympus 5, The Perfect Disappointment

Gear Review: Altra Olympus 5, The Perfect Disappointment

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 9 minutesAltra’s Olympus 5 is an absolute treasure in reducing damage foot pain and damage, but it’s let down by an insane lack of durability.

Gear Review: PERFECT Kühl Transcendr Pants

Gear Review: PERFECT Kühl Transcendr Pants

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 7 minutesIntroduction Why did I get some Kühl Transcendr pants and bother to post a review of such length? If you’ve read my hiking reviews (a massive ask, to be fair, and potentially a violation of the Geneva Convention if prisoners of war were made to do it), you know that I’m very particular about my pants. I’ve long struggled to find a really, truly good pair of hiking pants. One…

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Review: 14 Miles Hiking Sweetwater Gap Lakes, Wind River Range

Review: 14 Miles Hiking Sweetwater Gap Lakes, Wind River Range

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 12 minutesThe unnamed lakes in Sweetwater Gap are worth a visit given how easy they are to access, as well as just how surprisingly pretty you’ll find them. I didn’t see any fish there, but it was late in the year.

Review: 22 Miles Hiking Three Waters Mountain, Native Lake, & Roaring Fork

Review: 22 Miles Hiking Three Waters Mountain, Native Lake, & Roaring Fork

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 51 minutesThis hike is one for those who like solitude, stunning views, and horrible deadfall. Not for the easily lost, but I found one on it.

Review: 9 Miles or More to Jim Creek Lake, Wind River Range

Review: 9 Miles or More to Jim Creek Lake, Wind River Range

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 20 minutesJim Creek Lake avoids all the attention that the rest of the Wind River Range receives. Should it? And can you even get to the trailhead given the terrible roads in the area?

Night sky over Granite Lake, Wyoming
Review: 19 Miles Hiking Seven Lakes—Granite, Dyke, Horseshoe, Marion, & More

Review: 19 Miles Hiking Seven Lakes—Granite, Dyke, Horseshoe, Marion, & More

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 32 minutesHiking to Granite Lake! I liked this trip enough that I changed plans during it to save some lakes as leftovers for another time. That said, I think if I’d taken any friends with me, they would no longer be my friends. The good news is that I have like 0 friends, so it wasn’t a problem. I wonder why that is?

Review: 19 Miles Hiking Simpson Lake, Plus Dead Horse, Long, and Union

Review: 19 Miles Hiking Simpson Lake, Plus Dead Horse, Long, and Union

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 29 minutesSimpson Lake holds a great deal of value: the walk is easy, the fish are plentiful, and the people aren’t to be found. It also has some fantastic history and decent scenery.

Review: 9 Miles Hiking Gypsum Creek Lakes, Wind River Range

Review: 9 Miles Hiking Gypsum Creek Lakes, Wind River Range

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 14 minutesWhat a blessing. The most value/mile of any short hike in the Winds or Cloud Peak Wilderness.

Upper Silas Lake shoreline
Review: Easy 8 Miles to Upper Silas Lake (Day Hike!)

Review: Easy 8 Miles to Upper Silas Lake (Day Hike!)

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 6 minutesUpper Silas Lake is one of the few hikes in the Winds that can be an honest, easy day-hike. You won’t be rewarded with staggering scenery, but it’s better than being stuck in town, and the fishing is still fun!

Little Sandy Lake's beach during low water
Review: Little Sandy Lake Day Hike

Review: Little Sandy Lake Day Hike

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 9 minutesLittle Sandy Lake is an adventure, but is it a good one? The road to the trailhead doesn’t want you to know the answer to that question.

Mount Geikie sunset reflection
Review: 29 Miles to Twin Lakes, Pyramid Lake, and Mount Hooker

Review: 29 Miles to Twin Lakes, Pyramid Lake, and Mount Hooker

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 16 minutesPyramid Lake was rumored to have golden trout, so we decided to tackle it and look at the Hooker, too.

Fish Creek Park, Wyoming, at sunset.
Review: Fall Day Hike to Donald Lake, Wind River Range

Review: Fall Day Hike to Donald Lake, Wind River Range

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 6 minutesDonald Lake has excellent fishing for brookies and is a very low-use area of the Wind River Range. It’s also one of the easiest hikes you can do and only has a low number of miles. Most people looking for a hike of this distance will probably want to do this as an overnight hike in order to maximize time at this picturesque lake.

Lucas Necessary in front of East Temple Peak
Review: Black Joe Lake Day Hike, Wind River Range

Review: Black Joe Lake Day Hike, Wind River Range

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 7 minutesThis short hike is great if you want to be in the Big Sandy area without the Big Sandy crowds. I describe the best way to access it, which is not via trail 116.

Review: Exploring the Cirque of the Towers in the Snow

Review: Exploring the Cirque of the Towers in the Snow

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 11 minutesVisiting the Cirque of the Towers in the fall is a real pleasure, since all the bugs and instagrammers are gone! I had it all to myself.

Review: Quick Overnight Hike to Deep Lake (Temple Basin with Snow!)

Review: Quick Overnight Hike to Deep Lake (Temple Basin with Snow!)

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 11 minutesTemple Basin is probably the easiest hike in the Winds for an overnight, and it’s also one of the downright prettiest!

Bomber Lake, Wyoming
Review: Hiking Downs Mountain, Bomber Basin, Mile-Long Lake, etc., Plus a Crashed B24

Review: Hiking Downs Mountain, Bomber Basin, Mile-Long Lake, etc., Plus a Crashed B24

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 34 minutesThis hike features stunning scenery and incredible history, but I have suggestions on how you can make it far more worthwhile. My favorite part is the crashed B24 bomber.

Review: AWFUL—30 Miles to Lake Victor and North Fork Lake

Review: AWFUL—30 Miles to Lake Victor and North Fork Lake

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 14 minutesI didn’t like this hike. It’s long, winding, not made for easy walking, exposed to the sun, dusty, arid, and with terrible views. Its only redeeming feature is the fishing (maybe), which went poorly for me. I didn’t HATE it, which implies actively wishing it to never exist, but I’d certainly never do it again, and you shouldn’t do it in the first place.

kayaking green river lakes artistic background image
Review: Green River Lakes Campground and Kayaking Green River, Wyoming

Review: Green River Lakes Campground and Kayaking Green River, Wyoming

Lucas Necessary

Reading Time: 7 minutesGreen River Lakes Campground is over an hour from Pinedale, Wyoming, on a dirt road, and features semi-improved camping locations both for reservation and for first-come, first serve. It has incredible views of Squaretop Mountain, and many people use the Green River trailhead to hike the Wind River Range. The only hike I recommend out of Green River, however, is Slide Lake. For kayaking to Upper Green River Lake, see…

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Hiking and Adventure Map (Work in Progress)

  • NOTE! Zoom in for full list. Some icons at default view contain 5+ hikes when zoomed in. I'm transcribing these hikes in my own order, but if you'd like to see one moved to the top of the review list, just let me know.


Map Symbology:

  • •Blue—Hiking plus kayaking trips
  • •Green—Day hikes; can be done as overnights.
  • •Yellow—Overnight hikes, typically 2 nights.
  • •Red—Long-duration hikes, typically 5+days.
  • •Purple—Camping, international trips; excursions.

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Top Posts & Pages

  • Christian Fathers and Their Impact on Children
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