I will be in Wind River Range for a week at the end of August this year and am just starting to put together my gear list. I am looking for advice, suggestions, etc.

My gear list is in my profile and is in oz.

Thanks,

Brad

Perhaps my comments will be of some help. The last ten + years I have spent anywhere from three to ten days in the Wind River Mtns. at the time of year you will be there. Most of my camping has been at about the 10,000 foot level.
Your list looks very much like mine in many respects, though you are more weight-efficient. My shelter (I.D.) Silshelter seems to be much like yours and I use no additional bug protection, bug bivy, mesh skirt, or the like. I do carry a bug headnet but have rarely used it.
For several years I used various 30+/- degree "rated" sleeping bags and was occasionally too cool at night. About five years ago I switched to a WM Ultralight and was much happier and warmer. Two years ago I made another switch to the Katabatic Sawatch quilt and have been equally warm. Sorry, I have no experience with the Golite Ultra 20. I have kept track of minimum temperatures over the years, and going by memory, the lowest temperature I have seen is 28 degrees in the August 20 to mid Sept time period. It is not unusual to see frost on September mornings. It is also not unusual to see snow flurries. On one occasion snow fell to a depth of 2 1/2 inches.
It can be tough to find good trees for hanging food so in recent years I have used a small Bearvault for the majority of food and hung the excess odds and ends. Be persistent and you will find a good tree. This is one of those YMMV things.
I usually carry 1.5 liters of water though your listed 1 liter would probably be sufficient for most trailheads.
The PRO 90 Balaclava (great piece of gear)is all you will need for your head while sleeping which will allow you to drop the Land's End balaclava. Your other clothing looks good with the possible exception of adding an overmitt for a little more hand warmth or rain protection.
If you are a fisherman bring fishing gear. It is a great place to fish.

Thank you John, your fist hand experience is exactly what I was looking for. I have used the quilt successfully down to the low twenties in the southeast, and down to 26 last Sept on the JMT. I do have a custom Stateless Society Quilt that should be good down to the mid teens if I need it. I I do have a pair of MLD eVent Mitts, I could add if needed. How much rain am I likely to see in a week? I am guessing it will be less than what I am used to here, but more than in the Sierra. Is there a normal pattern, like a thunderstorm every afternoon, or something of the sort?

Thanks again.

Glad to help, Bradford. I would *guess* that one out of eight or nine days has significant "bothersome" rain, the other days are glorious. Storms *seem* to last one to two days. We have timidly left the mountains early on three occasions because of rain or wet snow (and we were close to the proverbial barn near the end of the aloted time, anyway!). On the occasion that it snowed 2 1/2 inches we were too far back into the mountains to easily change our plans so we hunkered down for one day and fortunately most of the snow had melted 24 hours later. Two years ago in early September it rained almost continuously for about one day; I accidentally left my coffee cup exposed to the rain overnight and it collected more than one inch of water. Perhaps someone with more experience can speak better to the weather patterns.
You and I have some gear list overlap! The MLD mitts would be perfect.

I am still debating between a few pieces of gear for my trip the end of this month:

Golite Ultra 20 vs Stateless Society 20* quilt. The ss quilt is quite a bit warmer than th ultra 20 for about 2oz more.

R1 bottoms and micro grid tops for camp n sleeping vs. Silkweight base layers. There would be a lot of weight savings to go to the silkweight layers, but the warmer baselayers might be nice if it turns out wet and cold.

Dri ducks vs OR Zealot. About 3oz differance between the two.

It appears that there is still a fire ban so I may have to take a canister stove instead of the caldera cone.

I'll be there next week, and here are my thoughts based on what I've learned with talking to people here, especially hiking granny.

>>Golite Ultra 20 vs Stateless Society 20* quilt. The ss quilt is quite a bit warmer than th ultra 20 for about 2oz more.
>>R1 bottoms and micro grid tops for camp n sleeping vs. Silkweight base layers.
>>Dri ducks vs OR Zealot. About 3oz differance between the two.

Given what at least anecdotally appears to be a higher possibility of nasty storms in these mountains vs. Tetons and Yellowstone where we've hiked the past two years, I'm bringing my slightly heavier weight bags and thermals. As well, I'm bringing the slightly heavier rain jackets with the dri-ducks pants. If I had pac-lite pants for everyone I'd bring those but I don't, so we'll make do with the dri-ducks.


At the end of the day your choice ends up being ~8-10 oz for greater comfort.

I'd rather not carry the extra weight on my knees, but from what I can gather this is really a shoulder season in these mountains, and I'm going to opt for slightly greater comfort.

I also called the ranger on Friday who, after doing research and consulting with others, said that although the fire ban is still in effect we can use alcohol stoves.

Edited by rutilate on 08/05/2012 14:41:38 MDT.