Wind River Route August (Gear List)

I did the Dixon-Wilson WRHR last year in early September.

Knapsack Col held a lot of snow (compared to when I had been there before in 2012) but could be done without spikes.  I wouldn’t have wanted to do Knifepoint Glacier without them though.  It had several sections of blue ice with no runout that would have been outside the bounds of my comfort zone without them.  The south side of Alpine Pass held a lot of snow, and probably could have been glissaded with an ice axe to control your decent, but it was steep enough where I took the talus on the east side instead (I couldn’t see the runout).  There was also a sketchy area of snow/ice near the end of Alpine Lakes Basin that I put on spikes for as it was ice with no snowcover.  Runout would have been the lake.  Snow conditions could be different this year.

Last year we didn’t see the first mosquito, nor have I any of my four trips to WRR.  All of my trips have been in late August or early September though, I hear they can be terrible early in the year.  I normally just sleep under my Duomid with no bug protection, but if you are going early August, I’d probably take the bivy.

I think the rest of your gear looks good.  It’s an awesome trip – I know you will enjoy it.

Hey Brad, Yeah I think I’m gonna bring the spikes.  The Vargos are less than 5oz for the pair, but give a piece of mind.  I’m probably gonna start around August 7th, and will maybe just stick with the bivy regardless of bug pressure.

I have also done it in early September.  We had no bugs but did have a young moose sniff the tent at night.  We had much less snow that year at Knapsack than Brad describes, but there was some.  I walked Knifepoint without any traction, but it felt sketchy, and I wish I had traction for about 45 minutes of the trip. We also did not have as much snow in Alpine Basin, but we did get high winds and a blinding snow storm the night we camped there.  Have fun.

This was the view from Knapsack Col in 2018 (looking toward Titcomb Basin)

This is Knapsack Col in 2012 looking up toward the Col from Titcomb Basin.

 https://photos.app.goo.gl/WTqbLi1SnCq1XGXX7

Brad, you all had a LOT more snow than we had.  We got a snowstorm as we crossed knifepoint and while in the Alpine Basin but not the large fields of it like you’re showing.

This was Knifepoint north side mid august 2018. We needed microspikes.  One of the guys had Vargos and he struggled more than those with microspikes, but we all survived and had a great time!

anyone got a feel for snow conditions/levels in the winds this year? Was it a high snow year up there like it was in the Sierra’s and Colorado?

Good resources for gauging this?

I’ve done the Winds high route twice. First year I had vargos and my partners both had microspikes. The second year I took microspikes. The vargos are pretty bad especially on really steep sections. They get the job done, but they’re fidgety and slow and slip a lot more than microspikes.

I also used the cricket tarp but with an inner nest. Bugs have been pretty bad both years i’ve been there in July. I’d take the bivy. It’s just a couple ounces more than polycro but way more useful.

Also, consider Skurka’s route, for the section between Middle Fork Lake and Golden Lake.

Have fun!