I first visited Wyoming back in 2009. Before then, I’d never heard of the Wind River Range but was given my first glimpse. I was struck by the beautiful and remoteness of the mountains. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fully explore them as it was too early in the season. All that changed this Summer.

At the beginning of the year, a couple of friends and I began planning our 6 day/5 night backpacking trip. While planning the route was fairly intensive, the budget was relatively simple for this one. The cost only consisted of a few items but we still found ways to lower our cost without having a negative effect on our trip. In total, we each spent just over $500.

Airfare – $295

Wyoming doesn’t have many very large cities, particularly near the area we were visiting. So, we began our flight search with Denver as the destination in mind. The basic economy (no luggage) tickets were around $350. However, rental car prices were unusually high in Denver Not please with the additional drive time, rental car prices and higher than expected airfare we kept searching. We looked at any remotely close city in Wyoming. Eventually, we found that Casper was the cheapest option at $295. The flight to Casper consisted of 2 legs with the first being to Denver. That leg was the exact same flight as the earlier flight we’d found that had Denver as the final destination but for over $50 less.  Other benefits were that rental car prices were much cheaper and Casper was much closer to the Wind River Range.

We booked on United Airlines but the tickets were basic economy.  These tickets don’t include a traditional carry-on bag in the price.  You only get a smaller personal item and must pay $30 each way to check a bag.  Luckily, we had a plan.  Instead of checking 3 bags separately, we were able to fit 2 of our backpacks into a larger duffle bag.  Therefore, we only paid for 2 checked bags going out.  Coming back, we had eaten all the food we had taken for when we were backpacking.  So, our bags were much smaller and we were able to combine all 3 into the duffle bag and only pay for 1 bag.  Using this technique saved us $90 overall and would easily covered the cost of the duffle bag even if we hadn’t already had it.

Car Rental – $78

This category included a 1 week car rental, a tank of gas and a Lyft ride to the airport.  The costs were split between the 3 of us.

As mentioned in the previous section, we saved a lot by booking our rental car out of Casper versus Denver.  The trailhead is about an hour down a rough dirt road.  After some indecision, we opted to risk it and rent a full-size car instead of an SUV.  Luckily, the rental agency didn’t have many cars upon arrival and upgraded us to an SUV for no additional charge.  I declined the rental car insurance as the credit card I paid with provided that benefit.  I will point out that driving a rental car on a dirt road is against the rental agreement and if you were caught causing any damage on such a road all insurance would be void.  So, if anything did happen, I’d recommend driving (or being towed) back to a legal road before reporting the damage.

Permits – $70

In order to access the trailhead for our trip, we had to cross an Indian Reservation.  The reservation requires a fishing permit for each day that you will be crossing their land (regardless of whether you’ll actually be fishing.)  There are stiff fines if you’re caught without such a permit.

Lodging – $33

We returned from the hike on Friday around noon.  Our flight home wasn’t until Saturday afternoon.  We decided to get a place to stay for that night so we’d be able to shower and pack up all our gear for the flight.  Splitting an Airbnb was the best option as there were 3 of us.

Food – $25

After 6 days in the mountains, we were hungry.  We purchased a couple of meals prior to heading back home.

I first visited Wyoming back in 2009. Before then, I’d never heard of the Wind River Range but was given my first glimpse. I was struck by the beautiful and remoteness of the mountains. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to fully explore them as it was too early in the season. All that changed this Summer.

At the beginning of the year, a couple of friends and I began planning our 6 day/5 night backpacking trip. While planning the route was fairly intensive, the budget was relatively simple for this one. The cost only consisted of a few items but we still found ways to lower our cost without having a negative effect on our trip. In total, we each spent just over $500.

Airfare – $295

Wyoming doesn’t have many very large cities, particularly near the area we were visiting. So, we began our flight search with Denver as the destination in mind. The basic economy (no luggage) tickets were around $350. However, rental car prices were unusually high in Denver Not please with the additional drive time, rental car prices and higher than expected airfare we kept searching. We looked at any remotely close city in Wyoming. Eventually, we found that Casper was the cheapest option at $295. The flight to Casper consisted of 2 legs with the first being to Denver. That leg was the exact same flight as the earlier flight we’d found that had Denver as the final destination but for over $50 less.  Other benefits were that rental car prices were much cheaper and Casper was much closer to the Wind River Range.

We booked on United Airlines but the tickets were basic economy.  These tickets don’t include a traditional carry-on bag in the price.  You only get a smaller personal item and must pay $30 each way to check a bag.  Luckily, we had a plan.  Instead of checking 3 bags separately, we were able to fit 2 of our backpacks into a larger duffle bag.  Therefore, we only paid for 2 checked bags going out.  Coming back, we had eaten all the food we had taken for when we were backpacking.  So, our bags were much smaller and we were able to combine all 3 into the duffle bag and only pay for 1 bag.  Using this technique saved us $90 overall and would easily covered the cost of the duffle bag even if we hadn’t already had it.

Car Rental – $78

This category included a 1 week car rental, a tank of gas and a Lyft ride to the airport.  The costs were split between the 3 of us.

As mentioned in the previous section, we saved a lot by booking our rental car out of Casper versus Denver.  The trailhead is about an hour down a rough dirt road.  After some indecision, we opted to risk it and rent a full-size car instead of an SUV.  Luckily, the rental agency didn’t have many cars upon arrival and upgraded us to an SUV for no additional charge.  I declined the rental car insurance as the credit card I paid with provided that benefit.  I will point out that driving a rental car on a dirt road is against the rental agreement and if you were caught causing any damage on such a road all insurance would be void.  So, if anything did happen, I’d recommend driving (or being towed) back to a legal road before reporting the damage.

Permits – $70

In order to access the trailhead for our trip, we had to cross an Indian Reservation. The reservation requires a fishing permit for each day that you will be crossing their land (regardless of whether you’ll actually be fishing.) There are stiff fines if you’re caught without such a permit.

Lodging – $33

We returned from the hike on Friday around noon. Our flight home wasn’t until Saturday afternoon. We decided to get a place to stay for that night so we’d be able to shower and pack up all our gear for the flight. Splitting an Airbnb was the best option as there were 3 of us.

Food – $25

After 6 days in the mountains, we were hungry. We purchased a couple of meals prior to heading back home.