TITCOMB BASIN

SEPTEMBER 2009 & SEPTEMBER 2017

UPPER TITCOMB LAKE

UPPER TITCOMB LAKE

OUTLET TO UPPER TITCOMB LAKE

BOB'S TOWER AND MIRIAM PEAK AT THE TOP OF TITCOMB BASIN

UPPER TITCOMB LAKE AND THE BUTTRESS

MISTAKE LAKE

INDIAN BASIN

INDIAN BASIN

INDIAN BASIN

ISLAND LAKE

ISLAND LAKE

ISLAND LAKE

POND BELOW ISLAND LAKE

SENECA LAKE

The trail to Titcomb Basin begins at the Elkhart Park Trailhead near Fremont Lake, just outside the town of Pinedale, Wyoming. Its about 12 miles total to get from the trailhead to the top of Titcomb Basin.The first six miles of the hike from Elkhart Park to Seneca Lake are through some fairly standard Rocky Mountain Forest. Its pretty, but nothing extraordinary. However, from Seneca Lake on the scenery is amazing.

On my first trip to Titcomb Basin, in September of 2009, I camped at Seneca Lake and day-hiked into the Basin on the second day. About two miles past Seneca Lake you will arrive at Island Lake,  and from there it is just a couple more miles to Titcomb Basin. Titcomb Basin is a very long, flat basin with several large bodies of water in it and a rushing creek connecting them. At the end of the basin are several peaks over 13,000 feet high. I ended up hiking all the way to the end of the basin to near the base of Bob's Tower. It was beautiful. There was a light rain coming down, so the air was clear and everything was wet. Eventually the Basin filled with clouds which blocked the surrounding peaks. I was lucky on this trip, as the rain stayed light during the day, and only came down hard during the nights when I was in my tent.  

When I visited again in September of 2017, it was warm and sunny, and the sky was a bit hazy from forest fire smoke. On this trip I slept at Seneca Lake the first night, and Island Lake the second night. To see some new scenery, I visited Indian Basin on my way to Titcomb Basin. This area was impressive. Its a bit of a climb to Indian Basin, and half way up I wasn't sure if it was worth the extra exertion. However, after arriving at the first lake I was glad I had come. I would have loved to have visited all of the lakes and explored the area more, but we had to save time for Titcomb Basin later than afternoon. After visiting Upper Titcomb Lake, we decided to throw in Mistake Lake, which is located just above Titcomb Lake on a ridge below Fremont Peak, before returning back to our camp at Island Lake.