Wind River Range in July

The road into the Big Sandy TH is closed right now. It appears that a spring welled up right in the middle!

The snow has finally melted at the top of White Pine Ski Area (along the road to Elkhart Park), 9500 feet. Looks really muddy. Trails around Green River Lakes are very muddy.

Above info from http://www.pinedaleonline.com/

Of more concern than the snow are stream crossings. I posted earlier where to check stream flows. Note that USFS policy in the Bridger Wilderness is to build a bridge only if a ford is too dangerous for horses in low water. If it heats up and the snow melts fast, some bridges could disappear, too.

Here's hoping that the window between Labor Day and start of hunting season later in September bears good news for trails in the Winds. Wonder if the late-melting snow might also bring late-blooming flowers? Late-blooming mosquitos, too!

After Labor Day has always been my favorite time in the Winds as typically the days are warm (50-60's), the nights cold (20-30's), the skies are clear, and there are little to no bugs. The past few years have been colder with hit and miss snow fall which is fine with me.

so, i found the shoshone NF does a twitter feed.

Lander,WY: Hiking into Three Forks Park is do-able, but you will not be able to cross the river as it is running very fast and deep.

Access into Stough Creek Basin is limited. You will run into intermittent snow at 9500 feet and solid snow at 10,200 feet.

Shoshone Lk Jeep rd is now open to the chute There is a large amt of snow in the chute Opening date to Shoshone Lake is unknown

Bears Ears trail is not accessible. You can get 1 mile down the North Fork trail towards Smith Lake from Dickinson Park.

Dubois,WY: Brook Lake Rd is open, but Brook Lake is frozen & there is 2 feet of snow in the campground. For more updates call 307-455-2466.

Originally i was planning on going to the stough creek basin, but now im thinking im going to be sticking to a shorter hike near the silas lake area from the trailhead starting at fiddlers lake unless everything melts out quite a bit in the next week.

The Loop Road to Fiddlers Lake is not open yet, but I would think it will be very soon. Its supposed to be almost 90 here in Lander the next two days, so there should be major melting.

Im still headed out there next week, and i'm excited to hear about high temps so i can maybe try out some fishing.

Also, i just read this on mountain project:

"Returned from the middle portion of the range about ten days ago. Entered at Boulder Creek 6/13/11, left 6/17/11 (wasn't headed in for technical climbing but I figured the conditions might be interesting for those posting.) Snow line that week was at 8500-9000 feet, very sloppy stuff. Above that snow was good in the morning but by noon postholing was commonplace, even with snowshoes. Lakes above 9000-9500 feet were still at least partially frozen. Also, the rivers/creeks/trails are running very, very high. Good news was I never saw an insect (or another person!)."

Posted in "Pinedale Online" yesterday, from a 6/28 Bridger-Teton NF press release: http://www.pinedaleonline.com/#landslides

"The Big Sandy Road #37-850 on the Pinedale Ranger District has two sites where water is flooded over the roadway. There is also one large pothole on the road above the flooded sites. All three sites are located approximately 1.5 miles south of the Big Sandy Trailhead, past the turn-off to the Temple Peak Summer Home Tract. "We are monitoring this situation on the Big Sandy Road, but haven’t scheduled corrective action yet, because snowmelt is expected to continue to provide excess water at these locations for at least the next two weeks," Buchanan said.

"This flooded portion of the Big Sandy Road is not suitable for 2-wheel drive vehicles at this time. 4-wheel drive vehicles may drive through the standing water at their own risk, but may not leave the roadway to go around the flooded areas because this causes resource damage outside of the roadway.

"As of this Wednesday, solid snow approximately 3-feet deep can be expected above 9,500 feet in elevation throughout the Bridger Wilderness Area. Most lakes above 9,500 feet are still frozen."

The extra 1.5 mile walk is probably no big deal, but it looks though you won't get very far from the end of the road!

Labor Day starting date, anyone?

Ya just in time for lots of fresh snow. Its a good thing that I can leave on my vacations whenever I want

just in time for my trip. also, there is a lot of flooding and the forest service issued a warning about crossing streams that are in full runoff flood stage, so be careful. im not sure how good the fishing will be, but im bringing my tenkara anyways. i think im going to call up to the forest service office on my way up there, and that will determine which lakes/streams i head towards.

http://twitter.com/#!/ShoshoneNF

Lander, WY: The Loop Road is open in it's entire length. Please be careful of wet boggy areas. Happy camping.

I spoke with the Pinedale ranger office earlier today. They had just spoken with two hikers who had started at Elk Heart Park and just "barely" made it Seneca Lake before they ran into deep snow. Doesn't bode well.

Anyone have further insights on the conditions up there? I'm hoping to get in the week of the 8th, but am starting to look for alternate destinations (e.g., southern Utah) where snow won't be a consideration.

Another thread on conditions in the Winds besides this one:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=50162&skip_to_post=42