Winds trip

[Jeff M.]

I need some suggestions for a 4-5 ish day Wind River trip. I haven’t been to the area yet. Titcomb and the Cirque seem to be popular but also well populated areas. I’d like to see the best of the range while avoiding crowds as much as possible. I’ll be alone, so a loop is best. Do I just hit up the popular areas and deal with the crowds for my first trip out there? I don’t have enough time off to hit up Skurka’s High Route but its a definite option for next summer.

[Brad Rogers]

Are you comfortable with off trail travel?

Assuming so I’ll give a plug for the book “Beyond Trails in the Wind River Range Mountains” by Nancy Pallister.  It IS the definitive guide for the range.

https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Trails-River-Mountains-Wyoming/dp/0985659092/ref=asc_df_0985659092/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=245369089410&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6866327087751491929&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013272&hvtargid=pla-570316695011&psc=1

[Brad Rogers]

I’ve done the Wilson-Dixon Wind River High Route twice (once northbound and once southbound) and it was excellent.  I’ve also done three other off trail routes in WRR and there are some fantastic and pretty remote areas.

The valley below (south of) Bonneville -Raid Col is really nice, as is the valley between Middle Fork Lake and Bonneville Basin – The 1,300ft sheer wall of Pronghorn Peak is pretty awe inspiring and it’s pretty remote.

The valley between Angel Pass and Dennis Lake is pretty nice and isn’t on any main route.

Wall-Island Pass between the popular Island Lake and Cook Lakes is nice.  It’s not a super remote area, but is a really nice alternate if you don’t want to do Alpine Lakes Basin – which is pretty awesome in and of itself.

 

[Jeff M.]

I am comfortable with off trail travel. Thanks for the suggestions. I’ll pick up that book.

[Brad Rogers]

If you’re going to do the Wind River High Route next year would you rather stay away from those areas this year, or are you interested in doing some of those areas to get a taste (and test) of the high route this year?

[Jeff M.]

I think I’d prefer to get a little taste of those areas this  year.

[Alex H]

This is a trip we did in 2019 from the Scab Creek trail head, easy to get to and gets you to the heart of the range quickly.  You can easily add mileage on if you want.  It avoids most of the crowds, the most folks we saw were around Dream Lake, 10 miles in, after that we saw no one until we started back out.

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