Island Lake Titcomb Basin
— — the basin opening at the end of a long walk.
Not only on a wall.
“A high lake on the way to Titcomb Basin, in the Wind River Range of west-central Wyoming. Reached on foot from Elkhart Park, roughly twelve miles in along the Pole Creek and Seneca Lake trails. The water sits above ten thousand feet, ringed by granite. The basin beyond opens onto some of the biggest peaks in the range. Most parties camp here for the night before pushing up to the basin proper.
Island Lake Titcomb Basin, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
Island Lake sits at about 10,346 feet in the Bridger Wilderness, on the west slope of the Wind River Range. The standard approach is from Elkhart Park trailhead near Pinedale, Wyoming, about twelve miles in along the Pole Creek and Seneca Lake trails. The lake serves as the staging camp for Titcomb Basin, the long glacial valley that runs north toward Fremont Peak and Gannett Peak. The wilderness was designated in 1964 and covers more than 428,000 acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Island Lake is glacial in origin and still fed by snowmelt and the Twins Glaciers above Titcomb Basin. The water reads cold and clear, with the milky cast that fine rock flour gives high-mountain lakes through the late melt. Small islands of granite break the surface and give the lake its name. Native cutthroat and brook trout hold in the shallows along the south shore. The outlet drains north into Titcomb Creek, which joins Pole Creek and eventually the Green River system.
The route is a multi-day backpack, not a day hike. From Elkhart Park the trail rises through lodgepole, past Photographers Point, around Seneca Lake, and on to Island Lake at roughly mile twelve. Permits are not required for the Bridger Wilderness, but Leave No Trace practice is enforced. The practical season runs mid-July through mid-September; snow lingers on the basin headwall into July and returns by late September. Bear canisters are recommended throughout the range.