The Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming. An Illuminated Travelogue.

Tachihara 4x5, 135mm, E100VS

I spent the first two weeks of August wandering around Wyoming’s Wind River Range along with my brother Steve, his 17 year old daughter Amanda, another friend named Kirk, and about 600 pounds of gear. You’d be surprised how much a mule can carry.

We established our base camp on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Upper Cook Lake. Complete with a screen tent, a roll-up table, and folding chairs it was quite comfortable, actually. The next day we cached food and other vital supplies like Alcohol, Tobacco, and Film at Spider Lake in preparation for a five day backpacking excursion that would take us over to the east side of the divide and back again.

During the planning stages, I described this plan as ambitious. That’s been quoted many times since.

The first leg of our trek, which came to be called The Broken Tour (broken tent poles, broken water filter, broken fishing rod, but luckily no broken cameras or, Heaven forbid, broken bones) , began well enough with an easy hike up Pole Creek Basin. Well enough, that is, if you ignore the bit about our dinner for the first night floating halfway around the lake. We beached it by tossing rocks in the water on the other side of our floating parcel so the waves would push it to shore.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50

The next morning, we set out for Upper Golden Lake. The hike, if one can call it that, took us over a trail-less unnamed pass (now known as Broken Pass because, as a pass, it’s badly broken). The west side of Broken Pass was an easy stroll up a steep grass and rock hillside that some might call a mountain.

The other side was a bit different. We spent the better part of an arduous day sliding down snow fields, crawling around car sized boulders, negotiating cliffs and generally rock-hopping our way down the mountain.

Late that afternoon it started raining so we stopped here at the aptly named Middle Lake. About a mile or so short of our goal. A steaming cup of chocolate flavored coffee spiked with raspberry vodka kept our spirits up.

It was at this point that it struck me - I was truly in The Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50

I had a fitful night pondering the Mysteries of the Universe. You know, Deep Questions like “The Middle of Nowhere must be somewhere so how can it be nowhere?”

I awoke early in the morning as the light crept down into the lovely little vale that holds Middle Lake. The tiny pink flowers sprinkled about the grasses and forbs were fascinating and made for interesting foreground subjects.

Tachihara 4x5, 200mm (?), Velvia 50

After a quick breakfast we finished the hike down to Upper Golden Lake. This lake is home to the elusive Golden Trout. They remain elusive. We saw them but nobody could catch one.

Tachihara 4x5, 200mm (?), Velvia 50

The crystalline waters of Upper Golden Lake flow into Bull Lake Creek.

Tachihara 4x5, 135mm, E100VS

Bull Lake Creek runs through Lake Louise and Golden Lake before it finds its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50, cropped to pano

The next leg of our journey took us back to the west side of the divide via Angel Pass (seen from the west here) and down to Spider Lake. It was mostly crawling around boulders and rock hopping on both sides.

Angel Pass is a saddle in a knife edged ridge. It’s about twenty feet wide. One can easily spit into the Atlantic, turn around and spit into the Pacific. Not that I have any actual experience with that, you understand.

We spent the evening at Spider Lake huddled under a tarp in the rain. Another cup of my chocolate coffee with raspberry vodka, accompanied by a fine cigar, served to ward off the chill.

Tachihara 4x5, 55mm, Velvia 50, crappy light

The next day found us back at base camp for a well earned day of leisure before we set off on our next Great Adventure - a three day trip to Lake Nelson.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50

After lingering over breakfast - one of Kirk’s enormous quesadillas - we hit the trail again. Or at least we would have hit the trail if there was one.

At some point we took a turn for the worse. We went left instead of right and once again failed to reach our intended destination. We spent the night at a small pond that reflects the rising moon. It proved to be another of those magical spots in The Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.

Tachihara 4x5, 135mm, E100VS

Eventually we located Lake Nelson just over a hill though our round about route took half the day.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50

Lake Nelson is also reputed to hold Golden Trout but we saw no sign of them. In fact, nothing disturbed the glassy surface of the lake.

Tachihara 4x5, 180mm (?), Velvia 50

We made our way back to base camp the next afternoon. That left us one day to rest and pack before the ride down to Pinedale.

Tachihara 4x5, 135mm, Velvia 50

Did I spend the day resting and packing? Of course not, there was photography too. I liked the way the light and shadows played across the willows and grasses. Alas, the wind played across them too.

Tachihara 4x5, 55mm, Velvia 50, cropped to vertical

While Kirk was preparing one last fabulous fish fry I spotted some light developing and, thus, I was brought face to face with The Photographer's Conundrum: Light or Dinner? I ate mine cold that night.

And cold it was. The wind had shifted and a storm was blowing in. We awoke the next morning to howling winds that demolished the screen tent (more broken tent poles) and blowing snow. It made the ride down interesting.

I enjoyed one final Memorable Moment when a stunning vista opened up as I was riding a horse cross country in the snow in The Middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.

Tachihara 4x5, 80mm, Velvia 50, heavily cropped

Last and foremost, we spent the first night of The Broken Tour at Amanda Lake (named for my niece) at the head of Pole Creek Basin.

There was a wildfire burning some twenty miles to the west and the basin was filled with smoke and haze held down by cloud cover. Conditions were so bad that afternoon that I didn’t bother to unpack my camera. Later that evening the sun punched through a hole in the clouds and set the smoke and haze aflame. Naturally I was completely unprepared for it. I had to scramble to find a composition. I set up this shot to capture reflections in a small creek. When I was metering the scene I noticed Steve (he’s that upright speck in the lower right) silhouetted against the fire in the sky and forgot all about the reflections.

I post this shot last as a reward for anyone who made it all the way through my missive.

Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure and these extraordinary images with us, Mark!
Wow! Congrats on making it unscathed and for the haul of images!

Very nice images! Can I ask what scanner did you use? I am thinking about getting back into 4x5 myself.

Awesome! I love "in the middle of nowhere" places, especially the Wind Rivers!!

Thanks for sharing!!

Mark,,,,Excellent! Brought back many memories. The Wind River range is a great place to get back into and enjoy the solitude. I'll be heading up into Wyoming for a couple of weeks in September. Every time I cross the border I feel an excitement come over me as if I'm leaving civilization behind.

You had some great light to go with your meandering adventures. That 2nd to last one is just absolutely gorgeous. The Wind Rivers are really an amazing place - thanks for sharing!

Great travelogue! Wonderful depiction of the Winds, in words and images. The fire image is sensational.

Mark, this is wonderful. Thanks for taking the time to write this up. The Winds are on my list of places to backpack. I really like all the images, but the last two and the one with the moon are my favorites.

Yeah, that is a nice haul of pics. Great stuff!

Very nice travelogue and selection of images!. Your short descriptions really add to the image, and really make them come alive!. I really like the last few images, but they are all very good!.

Great images! Sounds like you had quite the adventure!

Very entertaining story about an awesome trip that allowed you to capture some breathtaking memories.

Great trip report and photos! I'm jealous of your trip. Looks like some seriously rugged terrain you were tromping around in. Congrats on getting so many nice 4x5 shots from such a remote range.

Mark...great job here!!! You are a great photgrapher !! All I can say is WOW regards, Rajeev.