A couple years ago, a very good friend invited me to go with him and some of his buddies on a fishing trip into the Jim Bridger Wilderness area in the Wind Rivers mountain range of Wyoming. I just could not get together with them until this past August (2019). I finally was able to get some time squared away to help them put the trip together and it was well worth the effort!

As it finally worked out, we decided to take four horses, three under saddle and a pack horse. As we were going to be out one week with one pack horse, we had to plan with weight and bulk in mind.  Freeze dried meals and fire-baked fish (hopefully) were on the menu. The three riders, Sterling Beus, Roger Toronto, and myself, would horse pack in, while a couple others, Bob and Dean Bauer, father and son, would have an outfitter take them in and drop them off. Another of Bob’s sons, Paul, was to meet us up there later.

Bob was actually the instigator of this whole thing. You see, he’s been packing into the Wind Rivers to fish for more than forty years. He’s now 86 years old and still backpacking in. For this trip he and Dean decided they’d have a local outfitter take them in on horses and drop them off. Many thanks to Bob for graciously inviting the rest of us along to enjoy this trip.

Now, to camp in the Jim Bridger, it is required that you apply for a backcountry camp permit, which is free of charge. I called the ranger district office at Pinedale and found the rangers to be very helpful. I got the permit filled out and submitted online and it was approved with no problems. In filling out the application, you must indicate how many are in your party, how many horses, and where you plan to camp each night. There are some simple regulations, same as all designated wilderness areas, that regulate how close to the trail and to water sources you may make camp. The application allows the rangers to manage areas, so that they don’t suffer from overuse. If an area seems to be getting too much traffic, they will change your designated camp area on the permit. The permit must be kept with you at all times and must be presented to rangers if asked.

Our plan was to go in on Monday morning and make our way about 17 miles into the mountains to Lake Victor, where we would stay for a couple days, then move down to North Fork Lake for a day, then on down to Lake Ethel for our last night, before returning to the trailhead. The rangers informed us that there was no appropriate area to camp with horses at Lake Ethel and suggested we move a couple miles to Ed’s Lake, were we would find better areas to camp with our stock. We accepted that and adjusted our plans accordingly.

When we arrived at Pinedale on Sunday evening, where we met Bod and Dean. We discovered that a nearby fire had required closure of the USFS road that leads to the trailhead at the foot of Boulder Canyon. After speaking with the Sheriff’s Deputy at the road block, and understanding the road would likely be opened with a couple hours, we decided to wait.

Sure enough, just after dark we were allowed to drive on down to the parking area at the trailhead. There is an area for horses that has a corral and a parking area sufficient for trailer rigs, however, that area is normally used by the outfitters. We chose to drive a little further to the large field, where hikers and campers usually park. There was plenty of room for my truck and four-horse trailer and room to leave the horses tied to the trailer overnight. Boulder Creek is nearby and easily accessed to water the horses.

The following morning we discovered that the outfitter who was going to pack in the Bauers had decided not to bring their stock to the trailhead, citing fire danger. We were quite disgusted, because the small brushfire had been extinguished the day before and had not even come within several miles of the trailhead to begin with. It was apparent the outfitter just didn’t follow through on his commitment.

So, change of plans. We decided Bob and Dean would hike as far as they could and we would return and pack them on in to our first day’s campsite.

Well, that certainly changed our campsite plans. We decided to just do what we had to do and take the consequences, if any, despite the details on our permit (Bob assured us that in forty years he’s never seen a ranger up there). Sterling, Roger, and I got packed up and were heading up the trail by about noon on our horses, for the 7-mile trip up to Lake Ethel. We were riding Tennessee Walkers, with a Missouri Fox Trotter as a pack horse, so we moved along pretty quickly for the first several miles. Not far up the trail, however, the condition of the trail deteriorated to pretty poor condition, so we slowed our gait to spare the horses.

We made it in to Lake Ethel by about 2:30pm, where I left Sterling and Jim and returned down the trail with the horses in tow to retrieve our hiker buddies. I found them about 3.5 miles back. We loaded their backpacks onto the pack horse and headed back up to Lake Ethel. We made it by about 5pm. By the time I unsaddled, I had ridden 14 miles, and made a total elevation change of over 2,700 feet – twice! Our camp was at about 8,700 feet elevation.

Now, I know the rangers told us we would not find good camping areas at Lake Ethel, but it was apparent they either had not been there all summer or they simply did not know what camping with horses was like, because the northern side of Lake Ethel has a large expanse of grassy fields, just perfect for horses, as well as a variety of very nice campsites with existing fire rings. Ed’s Lake, another mile or so farther up the trail, had no areas appropriate for horse camping, beside the fact that the area was covered with standing dead trees, making camping there a dangerous proposition. We made our camp for the night at Lake Ethel.

Not being able to resist, a couple of us wet our fly lines and made a few casts into the lake that evening. I hooked a beautiful little cutthroat, but it was too small to keep.

The following morning, Sterling, Roger, and I loaded up our horses and headed on up the trail toward Lake Victor and North Fork Lake. We made the 8 mile trip in about 3 hours and were settled in camp and had the horses out grazing by late afternoon. Our campsite was above 9,800 feet elevation, but the weather was nice. We decided to just take it easy for the rest of the day.

Our camp was located not far off the trail, between Lake Victor and North Fork Lake, about a half-mile from the shores of each. Again, there was plenty of grass for the horses, as well as a nice stream just down the hill from us. We let them graze freely, keeping a sharp eye out, just in case they should decide to head back down the trail. As it turned out, they were quite content to stay in the vicinity and our fears were unfounded.

Apollo, my Tennessee Walker, and Missy, the Missouri Fox Trotter, became quite a pair and stayed together throughout the trip. They would graze quite far from camp, but would return to me when I whistled for them. That is one of the things I try to train into my horses for times just like this.

The other two horses, Trigger and Bandit, Tennessee Walkers both,  were raised together, so they stayed together as well. We generally kept two horses tied and let two graze, just to be cautious. As I said, we had no trouble.

The following morning, Wednesday, we headed over to Lake Victor for a day of fishing. We made our way cross-country to the south end of the lake, which saved us more than a mile over the route the trail would have taken us. We ended up at a place that I suspect sees very little fishing pressure, to say the least.

We enjoyed our day of fishing. I must have been holding my mouth right (that’s what my grandmother always said was the secret to fishing), because I pulled in 13 nice cutthroat trout, all between about 12 and 16″. We kept several nice ones and took them home for dinner.

On Thursday morning, we decided to try our hand on North Fork Lake. We saddled the horses, letting Missy follow along free, and headed toward the lake. We first tried the northeast side of the lake, but found it unfavorable for fishing, due to a stiff breeze. We then rode around the northern end of the lake, making our own trail, crossing shallow  (some not so shallow) flats, and making our way through rocky passes, until we found the trail that leads to the southern tip of the lake.  It was enjoyable for me, as I consider challenging the horses in this way to be good training for them.  Sterling has followed me through some pretty hairy trails before, but this was Roger’s first time following me. He was quite impressed with what horses can do. I think we all enjoyed it. There is something  truly satisfying to me about trusting yourself to your horse and feeling his muscles and strength under you as he powers and picks his way through tricky trail obstacles.

At the south end of the lake, we found a nice place to tie the horses. This is where the stream leaves the lake and heads down the mountain. It is a beautiful area, but for some reason the fish were not active at all. Sterling got one strike and Jim and I got skunked. It looked like the entire lake was dead. It probably had to do with a cold front that moved into the area that day. It was quite cool, breezy, and cloudy all day. After several frustrating hours, we called it quits and headed back to camp empty-handed, although the ride offered some spectacular views and was very pleasant.

On Friday morning, we packed up and headed back down to our buddies at Lake Ethel. We made it back to our first camp by about noon.

We unpacked the horses, put them out to graze, and decided to head over to an area known as “the narrows”, where the lake narrows a bit before it drains on down the mountain. We each had a few strikes and brought in a fish or two, but it was nothing spectacular. On the other hand, Paul Bauer, who had arrived while we were up at North Fork Lake, went to his favorite spot on the other side of the lake and had a great time. I think he said he landed 22 trout in a matter of about a hour.

We enjoyed ourselves that evening. We stayed up pretty late telling “fish stories” and talking about past good times at camp and on the trail. There is nothing quite like sitting around a camp fire in the mountains with good friends.

On Saturday morning, we all headed down the mountains. The hikers, Roger, Paul, and Dean, headed down first. Bob enjoyed the ride back down on Trigger. We packed as much of the hikers’ gear on our pack horse as possible, but they each still had packs to carry. We figured we’d do the same thing we did coming in, but to our surprise, the hikers made it in to the trailhead before we could get unpacked and return for them. In fact, Roger actually beat us down! They had about a two-hour head start on us, but still, that was making tracks!

For us with the horses, our trip mileage, in and out, came to about 34 miles total, with an elevation change of more than 4,000 feet.

So, after caring for and loading the horses into the trailer, we headed into Pinedale for a very nice Mexican dinner at Los Cabos restaurant. We then said our goodbyes and headed back to Utah.

What a pleasant trip it was! I hope to be able to do it again next year.

Just a few notes for those who might wish to take horses into the area we covered:

There is plenty of room for parking and turn-around for even large rigs in the general camp area near the Boulder Canyon trail head. I would advise not using the corrals, as these are available to the public only when they are not used by the outfitters, from what I understand. Boulder Creek runs right past the general parking area, so there is water available for the horses.

The trails are, in general, in poor condition and extremely rocky. I would highly recommend steel shoes. boots would also do, but I would expect to lose one or two. I would not recommend barefoot horses on these trails. The outfitters keep deadfalls and blowdowns off the trails, though. I consider the trails appropriate for experienced horse people, or for inexperienced riders being led by experienced horse people. There are a few spots that will get their heart rate up if they are not used to it. Having said that, there was nothing a decent trail horse could not handle. There are also several wooden bridges, so make sure your horses are accustomed to crossing bridges over water.

While there are no Grizzly bears known to be in the area, there are black bears and wolves, so precautions are necessary with regard to food storage in camp.

Much of the area is quite high in elevation. This year the snow did not expose grasses until late July. This should be considered when planning for horses. By mid-August there was plenty of good grass for the horses at Lake Ethel and between Lake Victor and Mary’s Lake. While we were in shirt sleeves during our entire trip, snow storms and freezing temperatures are possible at that elevation any time of the year.

Despite the information provided by the rangers at the district office in Pinedale, there is no place to camp with horses near Ed’s Lake. Several of the smaller lakes we passed had either bug-kills or past fire kills, which leaves dead standing trees, making camping in those areas very dangerous.

As for fly fishing, we had pretty good luck with elk-hair caddis, about size 14-16, and other similar dry flies, mosquito nymphs, about size 18-20, and olive damsel fly nymphs about size 14, fished wet. Check with local fly shops before you go.

TH