Resupply in the wind river

imported
#1

howdy. how does a person resupply along the section from heart lake to big sandy, going through the wind rivers? it’s a fairly chunky stretch of country and not much in the way of towns along the way. i’d love to talk with others who have done it, how long it took them, and if they resupplied where they were able to do it. a person could hitch into dubois or i guess have a mail drop to brooks lake lodge, if they do that. but that still leaves a large hard stretch of mountains to get through. any thoughts will be appreciated. thanks. dean

dkrakel

#2

On our first SOBO hike, we resupplied at Old Faithful, then sent a box to Togwottee Pass Lodge. Unfortunately, it never arrived (issue at home) so we hitched into Dubois. It’s a long hitch, but Dubois is a very good town for resupply. It’s easily walkable and had good motels, restaurants, grocery and laundry. The Lodge at Togwottee Pass was very expensive to stay at, though we got a good lunch there, and by the time we got there, we really needed a break, so going into town would probably have happened even without the problem with our maildrop. It was 118 miles to Big Sandy - so about 6 or 7 days. then it’s another 50 or so to Atlantic City/South Pass or Lander. On our NOBO hike we intended to go to Dubois.

Many hikers go to Pinedale. The trailhead at Elkhart is very busy, so getting a ride to town shouldn’t be too hard. Pinedale is more expensive than Dubois and more spread out, but it can be nice. When we hiked NOBO there was a lot of gas drilling in the area, so motel rooms were hard to get. This summer we passed through and were told that the drilling was not as big a deal right now.

Ginny

#3

When my son hiked the CDT, we sent him resupply boxes to Old Faithful, Dubois, and Landor. We oopsed on the Landor box. We sent it General Delivery to Landor, marked “Hold for CDT hiker.” The P.O. kindly delivered it to the State Park at South Pass. Unfortunately, my son had already hitched to Landor before we sound out. Old Faithful to Dubois was 5 days. Dubois to South Pass was 7 days.

bowlegs

#4

I really liked Pinedale,and had no problem getting a ride from the trailhead. I’ve also been into Dubois. Both are good towns, but if picking again, I would probably chose Pinedale. I liked the outfitter there.

Lucy Lulu

#5

The way most people drive Brooks Lake or Togwotee is less time wise to Dubois than Union Pass, and unlike Pinedale it is the last spot before the long stretch through the Teton Wilderness and Southern Yellowstone by how many days? Dubois is a great town but it has been noted in the past that it can be hard getting rides. Some great food including awesome breakfasts at Mom’s and the Cowboy Cafe. Wind River Gear should have freeze dried stuff, but call/write 'em and make sure. Small but decent Supermarket. Friday Happy Hour at the Rustic Pine could be one of the better social events of your whole trek. In my opinion if you are willing to spend a little time at Brooks you should be able to chat up a ride to Dubois. They also might still have “Grizzly Cabins” at Lava Mt. Lodge not far down the highway from Brooks Lake or Togwotee. A couple of years ago they were I think 40 bucks for 4 bunks you use your pad and bag on. Decent bar and restaurant there, don’t know if they’d do a mail drop for you or not. Brooks Lake Lodge is very expensive and probably requires a reservation and one for a few nights.

There is another option from Togwotee I don’t hear many talk of but gave a CDT hiker a ride to the Grand Teton Climbers Ranch for a few day rest stop I don’t know, six to eight years ago. It’s twice as far from Togwotee but its also spectacular. Climbers and others there are generally pretty kewl so even if you’re big, fat, and ugly like me you get rides to Moose and Jackson, even Teton Village. Unless you’re AAC Members it should cost you considerably more than Lava Mt. Lodge but its an amazing non-profit place and you just might get a really good deal volunteering an easy chore or two, who knows, contact them well in advance.

JohnB

#6

We went from Togwotee-Pinedale- South Pass. Togwotee was great they had our box and their small store. We had their all you can eat breakfast, ate about a ton of bacon and a gallon of orange juice, then for 5 bucks got a private shower with soap towels,etc… and got to use their hot tube all day. After that went into the National Forest across the road and camped. No problem getting into or out of Pinedale, great town.

Macon Tracks

#7

Last year I hiked the CDT nobo and went from lander to dubois. It was approx. 185 miles and we hiked it in 8 days. We also hiked the cirque of the towers alternate which is HIGHLY recommended. I was with two other hikers and we had no problems hitching into either towns. Both towns have good grocery and gear stores and super friendly locals. The only bummer was the retarded heavy pack hiking out of lander.

DATA