Sun_Hiker and I backpacked into a base camp at Lonesome Lake in the Wind River WY wilderness. Starting from the Big Sandy trailhead it is about 9 miles to our Lonesome Lake camp site. You hike north an easy 5.8 miles to the north end of the long Big Sandy Lake. Then the fun begins. Serious elevation to do through rocky terrain past North Lake where the trail forks and you can stay low and go on the west side of Arrowhead lake or go high and pass on the east side. We went in on the west side experiencing a minor nightmare crossing the rocks on the west shore of Arrowhead (the east side was snow covered). On the return trip we did the elevation and went high above Arrowhead on the east side. This was a more scenic and easier route (in spite of the additional elevation) and I would recommend this approach.

After Arrowhead we climbed up and through Jackass pass and dropped down to our campsite at Lonesome Lake (open camping, no official sites and no facilities). We were now in the middle of the Cirque of towers. We spent 3 nights there and had 2 full days for day hikes in the area. On the second day we hiked up to Cirque Lake which was spectacular. I will let the photos tell the story for most of the trip. This is 5-star scenic country and I'm glad I finally made it there.

We were graced with the company of a few zillion mosquitoes. I brought a 6 ounce bottle of bug spray (deet) and used 5 ounces on this trip. The stuff works.