Alpine Col, Knifepoint Glacier (Skurka's Wind River HR - Loop 4) Question

[raft_man]

Hey folks,

I'm considering doing a version of Skurka's Wind River HR Loop 4 this summer solo. My goal is to explore the Alpine Lakes area, Knifepoint Glacier, Indian Basin, etc. Maybe Wall Lake. I feel pretty decent about my skill level (last year, I did a loop in the John Muir that included Standing Bear Pass, Italy Pass, and BearRoyce Pass). I'm comfortable with Class 2 passes, but have never hiked across a glacier.

My big question is timing. I'm trying to line up good fishing (near ice-out) with "good" travel through the Alpine Lakes / Alpine Pass / Angel Pass / Indian Pass. Obviously, every year is different, but generally speaking, for anyone who has traveled through these areas, would Mid July be an okay time to be able to navigate those passes without too much snow? I'll be bringing microspikes probably and I understand that Alpine Col & Knifepoint Glacier will have snow.

I'm debating between going roughly from July 16-24 or July 21-July 30

Thanks for any insight / beta.

- Michael

 

[raft_man]

Sorry, this should have been posted in the "trip Planning' Section. Can a mod move it? thanks!

 

[Bob]

Lol ....... Sk**** is a bad name in my book ..... Snow is usually gone at Big Sandy by early July.
Here is my High Route we did years befopre Sk****. We went 3rd week in August and fishing was fantastic the entire way. Caught so many all the time got tired of eatring fish. Red line is the actual route. The yellow was what we were supposed to do, but got weathered out as it is the toughest section. I've since done that part. Don't over estimate your mileage, It's high elevation and demanding. Ground miles are about 12% to 15% than map miles.

You will cross Grasshopper Glacier. Not bad, but you could get in trouble if not paying attention. Betweeen Grasshopper and Gannet is a realyyh unstable morraine area.

Alpine lakes have no fish. Upper Golden is really the only lkae along the so called High Route that has Goldens. Goldens are hard to come by. Research this: https://test-wgfd.pantheonsite.io/sites/default/files/2023-07/Bridger_FishingGuide.pdf

PM me with any questions

Click here to view on CalTopo

 

[raft_man]

Thanks Bob! Appreciate the information.

Yeah, I've been using that link to research which lakes to target. The loop I'm planning would be up from Elkhart > Angel > Camp > Alpine Lakes / Alpine Col >Knifepoint Glacier > Indian Basin... and then maybe over to Wall depending on time. My biggest concert for mid/late July would be the snow cover on the passes and through Alpine and over Knifepoint.

 

[RyanP]

I've never been to Alpine Lakes, but it seems like everyone says it's really tough, slow, and painful to get through. Frankly it doesn't sound fun at all to me and I don't really understand the appeal (I guess it's the most direct route if you want to do a loop like that). I personally prefer easier-going terrain, even if it's more roundabout. For this reason, I'm considering doing a similar loop (maybe this summer?) but using the "goat-friendly high route" described in the Pallister book instead of going through Alpine Lakes. I've heard that Knifepoint is relatively easy, so I wouldn't worry about that one too much (although I haven't done it yet). I think it's been a low snow year, so things will likely be drier than normal. Beware of awful mosquitos in the Winds at that time of year though!

 

[raft_man]

Ryan - appreciate the feedback! Yeah, I was also considering the "goat-friendly high route" as well. Maybe I'll choose to do segment instead of through the Alpine Lakes. I'll be headed there around July 18th. Maybe we'll cross paths.

Yeah, I'm aware of the skeeters. I worked trails in Maine for a few years. I did a loop in the Winds a couple of years ago around the same time of year and, surprisingly, didn't get bit by one skeeter.. but I totally expect swarms.

 

[b.stark]

Did a route in 2013 that was rather close to what seems to be the Skurka loop referred to... We went from Elkhart to Angel Pass, past Camp Lake, through Bloody Hell Pass, then over Indian Pass and back toward Elkhart. All in all a good route. Angel pass is fun, a little more tricky on the West side, then the East side is just boulder hopping. We also did not go down toward Dennis Lake, instead going down toward lake 10885 and following its outlet down (there's a nice use trail that starts partway down if you can find it). The basin on the East side of Angel is a neat spot. Camp Lake didn't look to have a whole lot of campsites, at least not that we saw walking the trail past it. Bloody Hell Pass is a fitting name, there are some challenging parts but it will go. I've always wanted to try the goat trail option, hopefully I find my way back to that part of the Winds someday. The Shangri La valley looked like it would be great for camping but the ground is just awful rough (and there were about 10,000 marmots present when we camped there). Beautiful place though. We took an inadvisable route over Indian Pass to avoid the glacier for some reason... we went on the North side of the big promontory on the rocks. We crossed some very unstable moraines below Bull Lake Glacier to make it work that were real sketchy. Indian Basin is pretty cool, I'd also like to revisit that place someday. We did the loop in August so there was almost no snow or bugs (but the fishing was pretty poor overall). The hike from Indian Pass to Elkhart is totally straightforward on trail.

Pallister's guide (at least the edition I have) has very good info for most of the off trail stuff on this route... that's what I used in planning this trip.

Here's a picture looking toward Indian Pass. For some reason we went over to the right of the big promontory by the glacier instead of walking up the glacier like sane people... every time I look at this picture I wonder what we were thinking.