Have a great trip.
I was just reading your trip report! Thanks for the reply. This is great info, and wow those are some beautiful pictures. I think I will alter my route to hit some of those lakes, and maybe even granite creek as well. I'm even more excited to get out there now, summer really can't get here quickly enough.Great backpacking choice - a very underappreciated area if you ask me. It has beautiful scenery throughout and when I did it, we saw very few people up until our exit at the Granite Hot Springs Trailhead.
I'd alter your route to hit some of the lakes ( Turquoise, Shoal, Brewster, Lunch, The Six Lakes, etc.) within the wilderness area if you have time. The views from all the lakes are tremendous. Of course , staying high on the ridge you've chosen, you'll get to see a couple of them down below. The hike up or down Granite Creek is worthwhile too in my opinion.
Here is some Gros Ventre eye candy for you to keep you psyched up.
Ah, that would explain why I couldn't find many (or any) trip reports about it online. Hard to pass up a trail named "granite highline"... But maybe I'll just take it as an excuse to detour and see some other parts of the wilderness.
Scatman's loop seems like probably the best way to get the highlights of the Gros Ventre. But, if like me, you need to traverse from West to East (or vice versa) in a semi-efficient way - the updated route I'm linking in this comment seems to be pretty good. It goes by turquoise lake, granite creek, and shoal lake, then an off-trail high route in the eastern portion. I'll try and remember to post some pics to this thread after I do the route this summer.
wow, thanks!!
I'm a little late to the game on this thread, but I hiked nearly this exact route in 2018 on my CDT thru hike. It's a pretty beautiful area. Tosi Creek offers some decent game trails/light foot trails to follow, but in the upper basin, these disappear as the terrain turns to rock. We took an off-trail pass, north of Hodges Peak, towards Doubletop Peak. Sharp rocks, some snow patches in August, slow going, but beautiful. West of Doubletop Peak, you'll come across a ridge with a steep wall on the west side that you'll be looking for a way down. I found the notch just west of peak 10750' to be our way down, about a 60ft climb. It's easier than it looks, but not class 2 by any means. Solid class 3. Very doable, just take your time. The slope below the climb itself was the "fun" part, we slid on our butts down, mostly. We continued off-trail towards Palmer Peak, staying east of the ridge. Again, really nice area. Lots of wildflowers, cool peaks and rock formations, and no trails. Pretty easy going for off-trail, though. North of Steamboat Peak, we dropped down to Shoal Lake. The Shoal Creek drainage is AWESOME. Really impressive views here. After being off trail, the trails here are pretty good. There is excellent camping opportunities in the Shoal Creek area. The hike from Deer Ridge to Granite Creek campground is not as interesting, but good trail, so it's fast hiking.
Permits for tct? Could have done it without easy enough
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