2023: Wind Rivers 1: MF Popo Agie Loop

[marmotsgalore]

So beautiful!! How would you compare the Wind River Range to the High Sierra?

[Wandering Daisy]

The Wind Rivers are about a third the area as the High Sierra but have as many if not more lakes. The range is quite compact - CDT hikers can even go from one end to the other in 4-5 days. Being in the Rockies, you get more summer rain. There are more meadows and grass making more wildlife habitat. Lots of elk and deer. More pika than marmots. Some grizzlies. Quite a few moose. Some mountain sheep. Everyone carries bear spray; a lot of locals carry guns. Backpack season is shorter. Both the Sierra and the Wind Rivers have lots of high cirques, but there are more glaciers in the Winds, and more perminant snow in the cirques. The scale of the sheer walls is less than the Sierra-sort of like you cut off the top half of the Sierra and only hiked in the top half. Less scree and talus - more dominated by U-shaped valleys. Creeks and rivers remain high longer, many fed by melting glaciers, plus all the summer rain. You have to wade a lot. Very few bridges. Lots more horse use. Much more hunting. No permits required except for commercial groups. Crowds can be hit and miss. But just like the Sierra, get off the trails and you can find plenty of solitude. Part of the range is on the Wind River Indian Reservation. You need a fee permit but there no quotas. The Reservation does not maintain trails, so it feels quite wild. Reservation roads to the trailhead are notoriously horrible. The last 15 years or so the bark beetle has devastated much of the forests in the 8000-9500 ft elevations. Between wildfires and large wind events, much of these weakened trees are down and there are not enough resources to clear all trails. The Winds are more "Sierra-like" than any other range I have been in, but there are a lot of places I have not been.

That was not very organized! If you read the trip reports here for the Winds, you will get a good idea. You did not say how extensive your Sierra experience is.