Has anyone gone over these passes recently, and can comment on the snow conditions?
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Wind River Range trail report
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I went up Washakie Pass weeks ago and it was fine (see the pictures above). Hailey Pass I guarantee is in the same shape, you should have no problems at all.
Hoping to hear the plague of skeeters up and left over the last 2-3 days. Heading into the PA wilderness the end of this week. Anyone? Thanks
Any new news? I appears that temps haven't dropped enough kill large numbers of mosquitoes but how are the buffalo gnats? I am headed out Sept 2nd through the 17th and have been plagued by bugs or snow at that time. Last year no bugs and nigh-time lows of 10-15f up high. Days were chilly in the upper 30's low 40's but the previous year was warm day and night with few bugs.
Heading out of Big Sandy to the Cirque of the towers and around Lizard head starting Aug 27th. I see the mosquitos are still bad, hopefully they will be gone by next week. Been looking forward to this trip since January and I can't believe its next week. I will let you know what kind of conditions we encounter.
Unless you camp down in a boggy valley, mosquitoes shouldn't be too bad. Camp where there's a breeze to keep the bugs away. The "Wind" part of the Wind River Range is there for a reason! The same steps you should follow to prevent condensation in your shelter will also avoid the worst of the bugs.
Spray your clothing with permethrin before you leave, and take a headnet plus one of those little dropper bottles of repellent.
Unfortunately I had to cancel my trip (again) for this year–family issues and surgery for my dog. Maybe next year!
Does anyone have any recent conditions updates? I'm headed to the Winds in a few days and am planning on crossing Texas Pass, "Pain in the Ass Pass" (Raid-Bonneville Col), Europe Pass, Cook Pass and Knapsack Col. Should I bring my lightweight CAMP ice axe or will I be okay without it? Thanks!
Ethan, hanging is the way to go. You will have no problem finding a cliff hang above treeline, sometimes its even easier than finding a good limb when you need to tree hang.
If you've got sturdy trekking poles, you should be fine on all of those. The only one I don't know about is Knapsack Col, I'm not sure how intense that one will be. I did a lot of glissading and climbing steep snow slopes two weeks ago just with trekking poles, and I'm sure its gotten a lot better since then. Good luck!
I visited with a friend who was packpacking out of the green river TH last week and he indicated that the bug situation in that area was still heavy. There have been a few cold nights that helped but all in all the bugs are still ruling the air. Deet and clothing are still recomeded as important deturants.
Just got back from a week out (ending 8/20).
Bugs are heavier on the west side, lighter on the east side. DEET and headnet worked great for me. They disappeared completely around 8:00, even near lakes and streams.
Washakie, Hailey, Texas, Jackass and the unnamed pass near the junction of Lizard Head and Bear's Ear trails were all clear. A snowfield on the east side of Washakie was manageable without poles or axes.
We brought bear canisters, anticipating camps above treeline. The earlier poster is correct – anywhere with no trees had cliffs. Will definitely save 2+ lbs next time and bring a bear bag.
And there will definitely be a next time.
This time tomorrow I will be setting out from big sandy for my 10 day loop to the cirques and around lizard head trail. Hope to have some good fishing to report and that the bugs have died down. Will post when I return.
Hey guys, I'm heading out to Lander to meet up with a buddy to hike for three days; I was curious if anyone could give us any suggestions on some great scenic routes. I've never hiked the area and he's new to Lander so we're looking for some suggestions from experienced locals. Looking for about a 30 mile jaunt. Thanks in advance.
There are several good hikes into the southern winds with Trail Heads starting off of state road 131 toward Worthan Dam and beyond. Get a map of that area for more detail. Two nice hikes start at the west end of Worthan resevoir. Just off the parking lot at the west end is a TH that lead west over a small pass toward Stough Creek lakes and beyond. This area has great views and can make a loop hike coming back along the snowbridge trail which is the other TH at the resevoir. Most people however do an out and back. A good map of this area would be desirable to get an acurate feel of the trail system. Good luck.
Would anyone have a current bug report (within the past week). We are headed in Sunday via elkhart park, any info much appreciated.
Bugs ?, What Bugs?
We spent the week of Aug. 22 – 27th in the Cirque area, and found very few (imho) bugs. Yes, they were there at times but never to the point where you wanted to scream running down the trail and dive in the lake. My context for bugs is New England. Man they can be bad here.
This is our first hike in the Winds, and we think you have one of the most spectacular places on earth there. Looking forward to exploring the northern winds.
Big Sandy 25 Aug > Hailey Pass 27 Aug > Lizard Head/Windy Mountain Aug 31 > Jackass Pass Sept 01 > Big Sandy Sept 03
Almost no skeeters.
No snow crossing on high, steep parts of Hailey Pass.
Experienced very, very high wind gusts on due to cold front moving in on August 31 (Lizard Head/Windy Mountain) & September 1 (Jackass Pass)
http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/article_f412f182-1ee6-52cb-8834-aebdeb826a9f.html
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