On August 21 my wife, I and our daughter Stephanie headed into the Winds from the Elkhart Park trail head. The first day we went 7 miles to the south end of Hobbs Lake where we found a great campsite on the SE corner of the lake. On Sunday we stayed put
to acclimatize. That evening we had a storm featuring hail and high winds which ruined my plans for fishing. After drying out our tents we hit the trail for Island Lake close to noon and got there at around 3:30. We finally found a campsite and got set for the next three days. Tuesday we hiked up to the edge of the Titcomb Basin and followed a creek down to the falls that enter Island Lake. I caught two brook trout in the pools above the falls with my Tenkara Hane. It was a lot of fun playing them with the long rod. The next day my daughter and I hiked to the end of the Titcomb Basin. The scenery was great even though we missed most of the flowers. It was aprx a 9.5 mile hike. Thursday we headed back to Hobbs but after getting there and finishing lunch we continued on to Eklund. Arriving at Eklund at 2:30 we just kept going reaching the trail head a 5:00. We tried quite a few new things on this trip. My daughter used my SMD Swift 10 and really liked it. The first day she used my Ohm and because of her hips switched to the Swift. I like the Ohm and had no trouble with it. Our packs were between 24 and 25 ½#. We also tried a tarptent Moment which our daughter used and really liked. My wife and I used a SMD Haven. I think my tent search is over for now. Both tents did well in hail, a long thunderstorm and fairly high winds. I used a 2/3 length insulated Kooka Bay pad with a Jacks r Better that Tim at Enlightened Equipment modified from a double quilt to one for me. He did a great job and the combo worked really well. Strangely, I slept warmer with a t shirt and running shorts than with my zip t top and long john bottoms. We also switched from a canister stove to a .6 ltr and 1.3ltr pot with caldera cones and esbit. I really like the caldera cone with esbit. I know esbit stinks but it doesn’t spill and the weight of fuel is minimal. We used aprx ½ - ¾ a tab per 2 cups for the small stove and aprx 1 ½ tabs for a full pot of water wit the larger pot. It was Stephanie’s first longer trip and she really did well. I was very happy with our equipment choices and while we could go lighter the weight we carried was a good compromise. The link at the end should get you to our trip pictures. http://www.flickr.com/photos/d1948n/sets/72157624856848654/

David,
It looks like you had a great trip. Some memorable hail at the beginning, and then crystal blue skies with all of that alpenglow...I'm jealous. For some reason I keep thinking that the Winds doesn't have white granite, but it looks like the Sierras.
Thanks for sharing,
Tom

Thanks for sharing your trip both in words and in photos. This is an area I've always wanted to go but haven't made it yet but your photos have inspired me to make it happen.