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Sep 4, 2014 at 3:00 pm #1320612
The Wind River High/Low Route
Krishna Dayanidhi and Rud Platt
In August 2014, we attempted the Wind River High Route, an 80+ mile alpine traverse of the Wind River Range of Wyoming, described by Alan Dixon and Don Wilson (http://www.adventurealan.com/WRHR/). Adventure ensued…
Day 1, Mon: Flew in to Salt Lake City, rented a 4×4 Jeep, and reached Green River Trail head late in the evening. Packed, walked a half mile and pitched tent at dusk. A few lazy mosquitoes circled but made no serious attempt to bite. Sunglasses were left in the car — oops. Rud made a nighttime trip to retrieve them, totally unnecessary given the weather that would follow. Saw a full starry sky for the first and last time. Pretty amazing. Shortly after calling it a night, woke up to bear noises… we yelled out to shoo it away… a dog started barking… then silence. After that every tiny rustle of the tent after that sounded like a bear. Would it compromise Rud's lame bear hang or attack food-guarding Krishna in his tent?
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Day 2, Tue: Hiked from Green River Lakes to Peak Lake, making great time. For miles, the trail followed the Green River (green from the silt-filled glacial runoff that feeds it), inching upward only slowly. Then at Three Forks Pass, the trail steepened sharply. At around 10,200 ft Rud started to slow down, feeling the elevation. Then, just shy of Peak Lake, a thunderstorm let loose leaving us completely soaked. Crazy hail. Fog set in for the first time, a sign of what was to come. Found a ridiculously small camp site, but really well sheltered..:-). Flare/gunshots heard from the mountain — climbers stuck? No chopper showed up, so assume all was well. Thai noodles for dinner… mmmmmm.
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Day 3, Wed: Late start, had to wait for *everything* to dry. Did not take the most efficient route through the crazy talus/scree fields on the way to Knapsack Col (12,200 ft). Once over the pass we traversed across the snowfields next to the depleted Twins Glacier. Slipped and slid (Mostly Krishna :-)) across the snowfield but made it through. Amazing, evolving views in all directions up and down from the pass. Once in Titcomb Basin, had to keep stopping to look back at the sublime views. Almost a sunny day. Wait — not so fast — hail again. Krishna found shelter under an overhanging rock. Camped near junction to Indian Pass trail. Rud's dehydrated chicken wouldn't re-hydrate fully (was elevation the culprit?) leaving a crunchy if tasty couscous dish. Rained all night long.
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Day 4, Thu: Started early, then hiked to Indian Pass Base which soon was totally socked in with rain, fog and cold. Met another group of dispirited hikers (one carried a gun for bear protection – “weighs only 24 oz!”). Headed back down and after 4 hours we were again seeking shelter under Krishna’s overhanging rock near the previous night’s camp. Decided to try Alan Dixon’s alternative high routes (ALT1 and when that proved impossible, ALT2). Poured rain all day, with occasional 5 minute intervals of sun. Just enough to slightly lift our spirits and dry our gear. Temps in the 40s and windy. Fantastic Sound of Music alpine hikes through off trail section past Cook Lakes, then beautiful scat-filled X-C travel through Bald Mountain Basin to Spider Lake where we camped. Rain lifted in late afternoon, though mountains remained socked in. This pattern would repeat, giving us (false) hope that the weather system would release us from its grip. Spicy Ramen Noodles for dinner — best noodles ever. If we could cross Angel Pass the next day we still had a chance of completing the high route.
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Day 5, Fri: In the AM, Angel Pass repeatedly cleared for a few tantalizing minutes only to disappear in clouds again. No use trail visible — was it really possible to cross this pass? Wisely made the decision to abandon the high route. For our last off-trail segment, we navigated from Spider Lake to the Continental Divide Trail (Fremont Trail). Made good distance on CDT despite rain on and off throughout the day. Saw a magnificent herd of elk, and huge mushrooms with the coloring and texture of egg soufflĂ©. The stretch of trail following North Fork Lake was bleak – horse shit (though no horses) followed by miles of trees killed by fire and pine beetles. Only saw two people that day on the CDT — both had been out as long as us. One carried only Andrew Skurka-approved gear (Golite, La Sportiva, Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork Poles). The other hiker had Alan's high route maps and like us had abandoned the route. We camped after Howard Lake. Monsoonal rain began the moment we pitched our tents and didn't let up all night. Easier to just fall asleep rather than attempt to make dinner in the rain. Rud’s tent started to leak; rain pants over the top fixed the problem at least for one night.
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Day 6, Sat: Decided to try and make Shadow Lake, setting us up to reach the Cirque of the Towers the next day if the weather cleared. Rain, hail and snow on CDT down to 9,800 ft. In the afternoon, temps dropped about 10 degrees in less than an hour, and slow squalls whipped up. Near whiteout conditions. Snow started accumulating on our packs. Our trail through the high alpine meadow became difficult to follow. Snow coated the Douglas Fir trees — perfect xmas trees. Thunder. Our feet were soaked through. Saw no one the entire day (with the exception of a mystical-looking cowboy tending a flock of sheep). Had everyone cleared out in advance of a blizzard? Should we bail to Big Sandy that night? An hour later the snow stopped, the fog lifted and the sun came out, revealing snow-covered mountain in all directions. Our spirits lifted again, and we were able to dry everything out. Made an unnecessary (and wet) stream crossing, found trail, and committed to one more night. More wild, unpredictable, ever-shifting weather. Camped a mile away from Shadow Lake. Hard to start a fire — too windy and wet — a good dousing of wood with denatured alcohol was the solution. After a magnificent sunset our hopes briefly rose… but then rain/snow started again after 1:30 am…:-).
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Day 7, Sun: Woke to a coating of snow on our tents. Abandoned any notions of hiking through Texas Pass/Cirque of the Towers and walked down the CDT to Big Sandy Trailhead. Saw many shiny clean smelling hikers aiming for the Cirque. Felt perverse happiness that the weather continued to suck — there's nothing worse than it clearing out the day you exit. At Big Sandy our Jeep was waiting for us, keys in wheel well. Though we did not complete the high route, we felt the exhilaration of an intense adventure coming to an end, and the call of a hamburger at a nearby brew pub (which, this being Wyoming, was a 4 hour drive away). Wind River High Route summer 2015?
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