I'm planning a Wind River, Wyoming end-to-end hike in August or September.

I'm looking for reference books or hiking guides.

So far I've found 3 books. One by Rebecca Woods '94, one by Rod Adkinson '96, and one by Joe Kelsey '94.

I bought the Adkinson and it is poor. I have a signed Finis Mitchell which is a wonderful read, but a little short on details.

Any recommendations or suggestions, especially something a little more recent?

Edited by greg23 on 03/26/2008 16:56:32 MDT.

I believe Backpacker Magazine had an article last year on a north to south hike.

There's a 2d edition of Rebecca Woods' book "Walking the Winds" which was published in 1998.

The back cover of the 2d edition says the first printing of the 1994 version "quickly sold out" and it went into a second printing before 2d edition was published in 1998 with "updated, expanded" information.

I bought the 2d edition to help plan trips into the Winds, but have not yet put those plans into effect.

In case you haven't already seen it, I can tell you that the 2d edition is well organized. Trails are described clearly and illustrated with sketch maps. It includes specific chapters covering the north-south route (High Line Trail) in eight segments.

Unless a mammoth upheaval has affected the landscape of the Wind River Range in the last 10 years, believe that I can get a lot of benefit from Woods' book when I do make the trip (along with good topo maps, of course).

JRS

Richard,
Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was hoping for.

The Adkinson book is trailhead oriented, making it difficult to string together big loop or an end-to-end.

I'll order Wood's book asap.

Greg,
The Kelsey book is a good resource. You don't have to be a climber to use it. It's the book I turn to for hiking in the Winds. I've done four hiking trips in the Winds, and I still can't get enough of that area.

Paul

Greg,

Just checked Amazon to see if I was correct about the 2d version perhaps being available there, but couldn't find it there -- just the first edition. Might want to read the reviews at Amazon for that edition. Quite a spread, with two reviewers giving the book 5 stars, one giving it three stars, and two giving it one star. I'd give it five stars, which breaks the tie.

I did find this info about a possible newer edition (2007) when I googled the author and title:

"This title is currently out of stock. A new edition is due in 2007. If you place an order, we will ship the item once it is available. You may cancel your order at any time, and your credit card will not be charged until the order is shipped."

http://www.globecorner.com/t/t30/15264.php

In her 2d edition introduction, Woods welcomes "comments, suggestions, and recommendations" that can be sent to her at 1255 N. Iron Rock Road #6, Jackson, WY 83001.

Assuming that's still a good address after ten years (the invite is in the 1998 edition), you could always send Woods a letter asking if there has in fact been a newer edition since 1998, or if one is in the works, or at least whether the 2d edition is still available somewhere.

JRS

My wife and I are planning a trip to the Winds for the first time as well. To get the big picture (as well as a bunch of ideas) we got a couple maps: Southern Wind River Range Hiking Map and Northern Wind River Range Hiking map (both by Earthwalk Press I believe). I like these a lot; they are a nice scale for looking at a broad area but still maintaining enough detail to see small lakes and little ups and downs. We still looked at the books, but I prefer looking at the maps when planning a big backpack trip (there is no way a book can cover every possible backpack trip).