trip report: Wind River Range – Ross Lakes, Bear Basin, Grasshopper Glacier, & Dinwoody Creek loop, Aug-Sep 2020
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Man I must have nearly run into you. A buddy and I did a similar-ish loop Sep 4-7, starting and ending at the same trailhead. We were planning a full traverse of the range, but the fearsome forecast (which was understated, if anything) turned us back, and we bailed down the glacier trail back to the car. Fun trip and great photos. Congrats!
travel2walk
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Nice, what was your route? On those days, we went from Sourdough Glacier to Dinwoody and out by the 6th.
Yea, we got out before that storm. Sounds like you guys hiked out through that?
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I guess it was actually a 3 day trip. If you guys finished on Saturday, our day 1, there's a possibility we bumped into each other between the trailhead and Goat Flat. I have absolutely no recollection whether or not we met anybody on that climb.
Day 1: Trail Lakes TH up the Glacier Tr to Horse Flat. xc to No Mans Pass and Downs Mtn. Camped at 12,400 right on the divide. Terrible, but awesome campsite.
Day 2: Glaciers traverse to Dinwoody Glacier. Was going to continue over either Blaurock or Bonney passes toward destinations south, but we turned back due to the forecast and headed back north along the Glacier Trail to the Downs Meadows area.
Day 3: Continued north along the Glacier Trail back to the TH. It started spitting about a half hour after we made it to the car. By time we made it to Lander, it was changing to snow.
Two days later, when we retrieved my car from Sinks Cyn, I brushed off a foot and a half of wind-blasted snow. I'm just glad @Bob and co survived in the teeth of it. Lot of SAR calls that weekend. I'm shocked and grateful that nobody lost their lives - especially given the number of not-quite-so-experienced folks who tend to be out there on Labor Day weekend. Bet if the storm had hit Saturday or Sunday instead of Monday evening, it would have been carnage.
Other than the fact that we carried 8 days of food on a 3 day trip (we didn't make the decision to pull the plug until our last scrap of cell service along the divide on the afternoon of Day 1), it was an awesome trip, even though it was truncated.
travel2walk
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Nice, sounds like you guys were doing the high route? That section of sourdough glacier, baker lake, and going over grasshopper glacier would be the highlight of any other backpacking. So well worth it the hike.
Yea, we were pretty set on getting out before the storm. We drove down to Fort Collins that Monday and I remember everything was orange from the fire near there with ash coming down. Then the next morning everything was covered in snow. It was crazy. Glad everyone got out safe.
Bob
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Lol..... We didn't think was that bad where we camped, high wind only about 2in snow. Couple miles above ink wells trail in Dinwoody. You probly
walked by us.... saw quite a few people travel by....We had 8 days food as well we carried around. We day hikes up to where you can see gannet and bkaurock... Wouldn't have wanted to be much higher elevation... That's why we bailed, we were headed to horse ridge / noel lk....could have been a 13,000 ft camp / pass. Winds are hard to get a week good weather window... This is my third try into that country..... Key is to be prepared AND know when to quit.
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Yeah I'd forgotten how well-sheltered Dinwoody creek was. It was quite a relief to camp down in the trees in the drainage, after having spent a blustery night on the divide the night before. My understanding was that the entire east side of the divide got pounded with a couple feet. Glad it didn't happen where you were! Wise words there. Knowing when to quit is crucial.
We saw a couple guys either camped or hanging out (don't remember which) not too far from Ink Wells tr on Sunday afternoon, but it definitely wasn't you and Joey
travel2walk
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The video of this hike took me forever to finish, but here it is (also edit the original post with the link). First time doing voice overs on my videos and still trying to figure out the best way to shoot for stabilized shots. I typically can't use a tripod since Meg (who's in these thing begrudgingly) would just ditch me one the trail talus fields. Anyways, feel free to give me any feedback.
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OldBill
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Outstanding, as usual. Also read the blog report . A reminder of how difficult those miles are.
I've been getting too optimistic in plans for 4-5 days max (weather permitting). Not even sure if the Roaring Fk trail is covered in downed trees. No one, including GOS in Pinedale has info. But, pioneering is part of the fun and any time up there seems well spent.
I've been getting too optimistic in plans for 4-5 days max (weather permitting). Not even sure if the Roaring Fk trail is covered in downed trees. No one, including GOS in Pinedale has info. But, pioneering is part of the fun and any time up there seems well spent.
travel2walk
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Thanks @OldBill. I think part of the difficulty was also the mental aspect of not knowing what's best, something that I'm still new at.
For sure, the ranger I talked to earlier in the year in June on the eastern side said they were focused on the trails out of Elk Heart and around Titcomb since it was the most trafficked. They didn't get to the trail to Dad's lake out of big sandy yet when I went through. He said to bug the ranger's office about places, that's how they prioritize where to work on.
Yea, I wish I lived out there so I could backpack in more of an exploratory fashion. Seems a lot of fun trying to see different routes rather than being on a schedule. I don't envy the bushwack through all the downfall you'll have to go through.
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For what it's worth... @Blake Merrell and I just hiked Big Sandy to Green River Lakes using Alan Dixon's High Route last month. The only substantial downed trees still laying across any trail was somewhere near Vista Pass, I think on the east side. It was only for a small section too. Once on the other side, I'm pretty sure we passed by a trail crew all camped out at Trail Creek Park. They had some horses with them and most all appeared to be younger folks who probably took those summer jobs and there were freshly cut and cleared trees all down through that section of trail.
Speaking of a high route, it's interesting that AD and AS get all this credit for their respective routes but now that I look at that GPX track shared by @Bob eariler in this thread, it appears he was aiming to do something very comparable back in 2009, but for whatever reason, turned back once up in Alpine Lakes Basin and routed back out to the Fremont/Highline Trail all the way up to Green River and that would have beaten them all by 4+ years. Can you speak to that, Bob? What were the obstacles you encountered in Alpine Lakes basin that turned you back?
Also, after last month, I'm definitely going to be itching to go back up in another year or two and do that Glacier loop with Dinwoody/Downs Mtn/Goat Flat...In the mean time, you all can stay tuned for a TR and my vid to come on that trip last month. I will definitely be watching yours now, John, both to just enjoy your trip more vicariously and perhaps for some ideas to adapt to my own vid. I'm planning to do a bit of VO on mine throughout as well. As for tips on stabilization...I don't think you can go wrong with a GoPro. It can take on the elements, weighs very little, can easily be mounted on a trekking pole or clipped on a pack strap, and is very good with stabilization with various sensitivity setting you can choose from, particularly between the new 8 and 9 models out now. Whenever you can afford one, it might be worth it if stable video and versatility are important to you and you don't want to deal with packing along a large or heavier tripod.
Speaking of a high route, it's interesting that AD and AS get all this credit for their respective routes but now that I look at that GPX track shared by @Bob eariler in this thread, it appears he was aiming to do something very comparable back in 2009, but for whatever reason, turned back once up in Alpine Lakes Basin and routed back out to the Fremont/Highline Trail all the way up to Green River and that would have beaten them all by 4+ years. Can you speak to that, Bob? What were the obstacles you encountered in Alpine Lakes basin that turned you back?
Also, after last month, I'm definitely going to be itching to go back up in another year or two and do that Glacier loop with Dinwoody/Downs Mtn/Goat Flat...In the mean time, you all can stay tuned for a TR and my vid to come on that trip last month. I will definitely be watching yours now, John, both to just enjoy your trip more vicariously and perhaps for some ideas to adapt to my own vid. I'm planning to do a bit of VO on mine throughout as well. As for tips on stabilization...I don't think you can go wrong with a GoPro. It can take on the elements, weighs very little, can easily be mounted on a trekking pole or clipped on a pack strap, and is very good with stabilization with various sensitivity setting you can choose from, particularly between the new 8 and 9 models out now. Whenever you can afford one, it might be worth it if stable video and versatility are important to you and you don't want to deal with packing along a large or heavier tripod.
Bob
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Lol..... Somebody does read old posts. We were one, if not the first to do that trip.... No palister, no sk, no Dixon. All I had was a earth walk press map and early stages of GE and a pencil. Drew a route and went for it with a old Garmin 60 GPSr, modified the route as we went. Started at Sweetwater TH because it's farther south than BigS TH finished at GR lakes TH.... 13 days, NO resupply of food, carried it all. Had perfect weather until we hit Camp lake... One of our group got turned around going into the alpine drainage and it took half the day to find him... Then the only bad weather, a large thunderstorm system hit us, alpine basin is not the place to be.... Rained the rest of the day and all night. Our time schedule was tight to make the green river pickup, with those two delays and the prospect of having to do alpine pass and blaurock pass in the same day, then having to go up to grasshopper glacier area and thru bear basin area, which I new would be the toughest of the trip, I called that route and changed to our alternate. Still was a good end to the trip but somewhat disappointing.. our pickup showed 15 min after we hit GR TH .... Not bad after 13 days and no phones... Both of us right on time.
Most of my early backpacking (1990s and 2000s) were trips into what then were then considered very remote, and no one goes there ..... Most of those trips were completely trailless and NO evidence of anyone visiting... I am really blessed to have visited those areas before they have become overrun.
Most of my early backpacking (1990s and 2000s) were trips into what then were then considered very remote, and no one goes there ..... Most of those trips were completely trailless and NO evidence of anyone visiting... I am really blessed to have visited those areas before they have become overrun.
travel2walk
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For sure, looking forward to your trip report and vid. It's always fun for me to go watch videos after I go somewhere to see what others perspective was. Also to pick up new ideas, your videos makes me want to explore Utah and all those canyons in a future trip out there. I recently picked up those allen canyoneering books and the Kelsey book Bob suggested.
It seems like you are more natural narrating in your videos during the hike, which I find myself doing very little or really thinking about during a trip. So VO is really the only way I can add any.
I do need to update my gopro, I have the last cheap non-inbody stabilization version in the 7 silver. Though I'm not really a fan of the fisheye on them and really for pictures all together. Maybe I should incorporate them walking shots in the future since they do weigh very little. I was thinking of ditching the tripod all together and replacing with a mini-gimbal (which can be a tripod still for my purposes) for my setup. Really, I just want to carry extra weight of my mirrorless and lenses for my trips... who wants a good back and working joints. Anyways, thanks for the feedback.
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That is so awesome! I mean, I will now forever and always, in my mind, think of you as one of the original pioneers for attempting that kind of a route traversing the Winds like that. That really is another level of ambition with what sounds like no beta beyond a map available to you. And 13 days of food? My 8 days of food felt like quite a burden. I can't imagine almost twice that on my back. I would definitely need a different kind of pack up to the task for that. And yes...I know how much less traffic and attention our Uintas and even trails along the Wasatch Front here in Utah got 20 years ago so for a place like the Winds, especially where there are no trails, I can definitely understand how wild and remote that would have felt and been through a lot of those areas. Amazing!
Something I often think about is how guys like you and those who preceded your generation were able to explore wild country like that and how you had that privilege of having so many more places you could go where you were probably able to soak up endless solitude. With nothing more than a map and little to no pictures or videos, no shared gpx files, no social media, no blogs and forums, no none of that stuff, it would be much more of a gamble to attempt such ventures, but also much more adventurous and much more sense of discovery to experience where you literally knew nothing of what was coming next other than what you could see in person ahead of yourself and what was on a 2D topo map in hand, if that. Talk about shock and awe. Much like my wife and I experienced in much smaller measure in my most recent TR I just posted on here. And yet, I still had the aid of Google Earth/satellite imagery to study and help chart and visualize our attempted route. The trade-off is that you all had much less options to choose from in the kind of gear to take, food to pack, and so forth. And I know that stuff back then was a lot heavier for the most part. So that commands even more respect. Of course, your backpacking days are obviously not over yet and as such, it looks like from pics of some of your recent reports you've shared, you've been able to transition to some more modern and lighter-weight gear yourself. Probably a necessity for anyone wanting to keep up those backcountry outings the more they age. I won't be far behind on that end...
Yet, for my generation and especially for each one thereafter, with the benefit of many more options for gear, so much that is lighter with advanced technologies in both gear and electronics and so forth, we now have much less of those really wild and raw spaces to find and experience genuine solitude and be able to encounter landscapes where we no nothing of what to expect beyond what a map or google earth can show us. Fortunately for me, I too have still been able to stumble into and zero in on some select areas that proved to be rather untouched with virtually no trace of others having been there before, so I've been a bit blessed with both sides of that coin I suppose. And once you experience solitude, you become spoiled for it. At least this introvert sure is.
travel2walk
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Story time with Bob should be a pinned thread here on this forum. Or really an appreciation thread for all the work those like Bob put in to explore those off trail routes so those of us visiting from a far can have the same experience.That is so awesome! I mean, I will now forever and always, in my mind, think of you as one of the original pioneers for attempting that kind of a route traversing the Winds like that. That really is another level of ambition with what sounds like no beta beyond a map available to you. And 13 days of food? My 8 days of food felt like quite a burden. I can't imagine almost twice that on my back. I would definitely need a different kind of pack up to the task for that. And yes...I know how much less traffic and attention our Uintas and even trails along the Wasatch Front here in Utah got 20 years ago so for a place like the Winds, especially where there are no trails, I can definitely understand how wild and remote that would have felt and been through a lot of those areas. Amazing!
Something I often think about is how guys like you and those who preceded your generation were able to explore wild country like that and how you had that privilege of having so many more places you could go where you were probably able to soak up endless solitude. With nothing more than a map and little to no pictures or videos, no shared gpx files, no social media, no blogs and forums, no none of that stuff, it would be much more of a gamble to attempt such ventures, but also much more adventurous and much more sense of discovery to experience where you literally knew nothing of what was coming next other than what you could see in person ahead of yourself and what was on a 2D topo map in hand, if that. Talk about shock and awe. Much like my wife and I experienced in much smaller measure in my most recent TR I just posted on here. And yet, I still had the aid of Google Earth/satellite imagery to study and help chart and visualize our attempted route. The trade-off is that you all had much less options to choose from in the kind of gear to take, food to pack, and so forth. And I know that stuff back then was a lot heavier for the most part. So that commands even more respect. Of course, your backpacking days are obviously not over yet and as such, it looks like from pics of some of your recent reports you've shared, you've been able to transition to some more modern and lighter-weight gear yourself. Probably a necessity for anyone wanting to keep up those backcountry outings the more they age. I won't be far behind on that end...
Yet, for my generation and especially for each one thereafter, with the benefit of many more options for gear, so much that is lighter with advanced technologies in both gear and electronics and so forth, we now have much less of those really wild and raw spaces to find and experience genuine solitude and be able to encounter landscapes where we no nothing of what to expect beyond what a map or google earth can show us. Fortunately for me, I too have still been able to stumble into and zero in on some select areas that proved to be rather untouched with virtually no trace of others having been there before, so I've been a bit blessed with both sides of that coin I suppose. And once you experience solitude, you become spoiled for it. At least this introvert sure is.
For those looking for the old post Bob is referring too, here is his trip report - https://backcountrypost.com/threads/wind-river-range-traverse.2239/
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It's funny...with last month's big trip, most all the on camera talking I did was only in camps, morning and night with very very little while on trail. I must have been just so in awe and speechless by the scenery surrounding me that it was all I could do to just film and snap some photos. But seriously, I had so many thoughts that early on I made a conscious decision to write down thoughts later on and script them for a VO and otherwise just get out of the way and let the scenery be the dominant focus of the video. I think it will help the pacing and overall duration of the video be much better as well. AT least that's the hope. And as for the newer GoPros, you can select a "Linear" setting or even closer that really erases away all that fish-eye bending on the edges and give you a more natural looking frame while still getting a lot of background scenery into the frame. I think anyway.
Bob
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WW ...... pack was about 65 lbs at Sweetwater........ was 21 lbs at Green River. I still use the same pack now...3800 granite gear pack. I created a tube system out of silnylon to attach to the pack to create extra space with very minimal weight... I lost 11 1/2 lbs that trip. Could have taken no food as I caught plenty of fish every evening....... we got sick of fish. That trip I packed a Sony A1 with a Sigma 70 - 200 lense. It weighed in at 6 lbs.... not much digital camera choices then. Never wanted to do vids..I hate talking on camera.
I have a couple others on u tube...... bobb169 havent posted much in a long while. Concentrating on compling routes I have done and ones I would like to do...... but probly wont get them all done .......... age is catching up
I have a couple others on u tube...... bobb169 havent posted much in a long while. Concentrating on compling routes I have done and ones I would like to do...... but probly wont get them all done .......... age is catching up
travel2walk
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Glad I could capture it well enough and it makes me happy you approve. I'd gladly tolt my camera up there following your routes.
I can't imagine being up there in the open with bad weather. We met a couple of guys from Austin (Steve and David) who does a month long visit to the winds every year and they were heading up to Connie Glacier the one day we had bad weather. They said the talus fields were slippery and really dangerous and had to turn back.
Bob
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Wet granite rocks are bad news ......Glad I could capture it well enough and it makes me happy you approve. I'd gladly tolt my camera up there following your routes.
I can't imagine being up there in the open with bad weather. We met a couple of guys from Austin (Steve and David) who does a month long visit to the winds every year and they were heading up to Connie Glacier the one day we had bad weather. They said the talus fields were slippery and really dangerous and had to turn back.