thanks to our clients and friends at the goosewing ranch, and our new ranch HAND | photographic business venture, Elle and i spent nearly a month in wyoming this fall.
we headed up a week before we needed to be at the ranch so we could see our friends in pinedale and backpack a few days in the winds.
well, our plans didn’t exactly work out the way we wanted…. but it was some much needed time rejuvenating ourselves in the mountains….
me getting geared up for a day hike…
it’s weird for me to have photos of myself on here now that Elle is shooting too.
she makes fun of me for my new “fanny pack” camera bag, so i decided to pose for her to prove how useful it would be… especially when backpacking!
i do look pretty nerdy though.
the fall colors were just starting to ignite at soda lake and on the trail to little soda.
my girl exploring the light…
the beautiful wind river range in the distance.
we sat for a while and watched a family of bald eagles at little soda. i haven’t seen these guys there since 2005. it was a welcomed sight.
i used to sit and watch them for hours when i lived in pinedale. it brought back good memories to see these majestic creatures again.
we soon decided to do a three day trek into the winds from the new fork trailhead, up new fork lakes to new fork canyon, then up through palmer canyon and back out doubletop.
not a tremendous feat. but for some lowlander city dwellers, an accomplishment for having just driven 22 hours up only one day before.
Elle had been feeling awful that day, but we decided to embark in spite of her worsening condition. and i had already (somehow after only being in hiking country for a little more than 24 hours) developed a few killer blisters on my heels. no problem, i thought. i can ignore them.
we got about two miles in. both of us reeling from carrying too much gear, nursing illness and blisters, and decided to go ahead and set up camp.
Elle tried to sleep off her fever. and i re-taped my blisters and went for a little day hike.
beautiful view from our tent of new fork canyon.
we were both ready for bed. “hopefully, we’ll feel better tomorrow.”
the sun rose with purpose. we did not, however.
we decided to just relax and enjoy our surroundings. we noticed a slew of woodpeckers all around us. what a treat.
after a while, we went for a short day hike…
this bald allowed us to get in really close…
new fork canyon is beautiful, and we were really looking forward to getting up into the high country…. but it wasn’t meant to be on this trip.
so we eventually hiked out to the car and headed over to little half moon lake, one of my favorite car camping spots near pinedale.
dusk at little half moon.
stars over little half moon. that night, the moon never rose… it was VERY dark.
the next day we hiked around, explored a little, made our way to half moon lake, and enjoyed the scenery.
we watched more birds of prey… an osprey this time.
our time around pinedale was coming to an end. but our wyoming adventure wasn’t even half way done.
we had the privilege to go with our friends on an antelope hunt before we were needed up at the goosewing.
we didn’t hunt, but i documented the whole experience… antelope hunt images coming soon!
andrew slaton | blog 