A friend and I are headed into the Winds in mid August. After extensive map research we planned out a route:

Start out at Pole Creek Trail outside of Pinedale and hike up to the CDT near Seneca Lake. There we would make a base camp and spend a day exploring Titcomb Lakes. Hike back to the CDT. Follow the CDT to 094 and then to 131 to hike out to New Fork Lakes.

How is this route for scenery? Solitude? Also, it's about 43 miles total with about 9000 feet of gain. Would 6 or 7 days be more than enough to fully take in the area?

If this is not a spectacular hike, are there any other suggestions?

Also, is there a big grocery store somewhere between Pinedale and Jackson?

Unless something has changed, there is a Safeway in both Pinedale and Jackson.

I wish I could give more info, but I don't recall any of the trail numbers from the Winds. Titcomb Lakes is a very scenic area however, and some of the lakes offer excellent trout fishing.

Titcomb Gorge is 6 miles from Seneca Lake. I would base camp at Island Lake for day tripping into Titcomb. You could day trip Indian Basin a second day.

Going out via New Fork Lakes gets you to a different trailhead. Do you have two cars? Another option would be to go south on the Highline Trail after your Titcomb Basin side trip and exit via the Pole Creek Trail, which gets you back to Elkhart Park. You could do a second side trip to Cook Lakes.

Entering from Elkhart Park, your first night will be at well above 10,000 ft. Unless you're already acclimatized to high altitude (as I recall you're from the midwest or east?), plan to take it really slow and easy the first few days. You won't have much choice!

We might cross paths; I'm going in from Green River Lakes on the 10th and exiting from Elkhart Park on the 19th. You'll probably recognize my dog from my avatar. Me--short, stout, elderly woman in a gray-green Sunday Afternoons Adventure hat which makes me look rather like a mobile mushroom.