Lower Jean Lake, Wyoming, United States
Day 5’s hike started with a surprisingly gradual ascent to
Lester Pass, the highest point on the trek at 11,615 feet. At the top was one
of those spectacular long-distance views of high peaks and basins. Jenn pointed to two jagged adjacent peaks in
the distance and said we’d be camping below those tonight. Is it really possible for us to walk that far
in a day? How do the views keep getting better and better? One particularly prominent peak with several
glaciers on it stood out above the others to the right, one which I thought
might be Gannett Peak, highest in Wyoming, but the map now suggests to me it
was probably not in view on the trek and it may have been another.
The descent took too is into a beautiful lake-filled basin
below, then through some forest and more lakes before a short ascent to a
divide with more great views of the spectacular peaks. We passed quite a few
hikers heading toward Titcomb Basin, apparently a quite popular destination for
in-and-out backpacking trips of 4 to 5 days. It was explained to me as a trip directly
into a basin surrounded by some of the highest peaks in the range just below
the Continental Divide, as opposed to our long-distance route which stayed
south/west of the crest with the highest peaks always to our right.
A short distance farther we took rest stop on some rocks
above lake with stunning views of massive Fremont Peak, the third highest in Wyoming
at 13,743 feet. That was followed by a
long traverse with some ups and downs and then a drop to cross a river at a
bridge called Fremont Crossing over the discharge from Island Lake. After a
significant ascent through some more woodsy country between the rocks, we emerged
into another barren area above timberline and a succession of small lakes.
The trail was mostly level along the long shore of Lower
Jean Lake, then rose gradually higher through a beautiful treeless valley to
Upper Jean Lake, whose shoreline is officially at 10,799 feet. We took a right
turn and headed uphill on grass and rocks to a relatively flat spot to stop for
the night at what would be our highest campsite, one with incredible views to
the gray granite peaks across the lake, most prominently Bow Mountain (13,020) and
Arrowhead Peak (12,972) directly across, and similarly sized but slightly more
distant Henderson Peak (13,115) and G-17 (12,840). I found the alpine setting of barren rocks
and grass to be almost surreal. After
dinner I couldn’t stop wandering around the area taking pictures of the
stunning scenery that changed rapidly in the waning evening light.
2025-05-22