Headed out at noon. Ideal hiking weather - partly cloudy, cool breeze, no bugs. First several miles were mostly in dead forest, not very scenic. After ~5 miles, trail hits vista of Wind River. Stopped there for lunch with a handful of other hikers. Started raining and thundering shortly after getting back on trail. We're all a little nervous about lightning and start walking very quickly. Thunder subsided but kept raining for a couple of hours. Everyone got soaked. Passed lots of beautiful mountain lakes and ponds. Super green. Finally get to Island Lake, which is bigger than all the others we passed. Spent a little time real estate shopping for a campsite, and found one with a view of dramatic peaks plus a waterfall. Made a fire, ate, legs a little tired but feeling good.

Pretty toasty during night. Woke up to a sunny morning and stunning views from camp. Cool to see mountain peaks reflected in the lake. Leisurely ate, dried out shoes/socks, and filtered a bunch of water for the day. Clouds roll in and temperature drops which demoralizes everyone. Slow to leave for day hike because we're tired from grayness, but finally hit the trail at around noon. Easy 3 miles to the basin. Scale is hard to describe. There are tall, jagged peaks everywhere. Looks like the profile of Mordor or something, except there's ice instead of fire. Hung out for a little watching clouds morph. Saw a bald eagle! Got back to camp at 4 and the sun comes out. Ate early dinner and lounged around in tent for a while. Popped back out to catch some alpenglow.

Chilly night in tent. Woke up at 6am but too early to get out so tried to sleep more. Eventually got out to a gray and cold morning. Peaks are hidden by clouds. We slowly pack up camp and hit the trail at 11. About an hour into hiking, it starts raining with a little bit of thunder. Thunder comes and goes but it rains all day with varying intensity. I'm hiking mostly alone. Even though there are plenty of people on trail, I get nervous when it's too quiet and sing to make noise for bears. Last few miles in dead forest is a slog, trail is very muddy and nothing to really look at. Regroup at the trailhead - everyone got drenched and is a bit miserable. We change into dry clothes and stop in town for some yummy junk food.