Burrito
Member
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2016
- Messages
- 34
I did this same route last year (minus the day trip to Titcomb) in reverse on the July 4th weekend and had a COMPLETELY different experience then than I had this past weekend.
The trip report for that expedition is here: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/winds-july-1-3-elkhart-hobbs-lester-pass-pole-creek.6951/
I will be referencing last year's trip here mostly because of the stark contrast in my experiences.
thanks @Jackson for the suggestion in your comment from last year to do this in reverse.
My original plan was to hit Titcomb, knapsack col, peak lake, shannon pass, jean lakes, and out but I didn't ever get a good report of the conditions for that route and in truth, I really wanted to see this route again sans snow. Our first day was a late start out of Elkhart and we planned to make it to the Cook Lakes but ended up stopping short due to time constraints. I can not believe the difference in the trail from last year's journey from Eklund Lake to Monument Creek. It was really nice to be able to walk on dirt and not be post holing through massive snow drifts the whole way out. We found a nice little lily pond between the two Pole creek crossings for our first night's camp with a terrific backdop.
The next morning we climbed Lester Pass and again, my mind was blown by the difference and level of difficulty decrease from last year to this. It was neat seeing all of this terrain blanketed in white, but I'll take these conditions 99 times out of a 100 over trudging through snow and huge fields of snow waves.
We set up camp at the little lake just above Little Seneca Lake just on the other side of the pass and had our first spit of rain that evening. After the rain stopped, there were some beautiful clouds blanketing the cliff wall to our east.
that night I was awakened by a rock slide on the other side of the lake. It sounded a lot bigger than it probably was because of the echos in that small cove area but it certainly got my attention with how loud and impressive it was. The following morning we did a day hike up to Island Lake and Titcomb Basin. This was my 4th trip out of Elkhart and I had never made the journey to Island/Titcomb mostly because I prefer to stay away from the massive hordes of people but I wanted to knock it off my to-do list this trip. I am certainly glad I did. Most of you reading this have probably seen it and probably have these exact same pictures in triplicate, but I was awestruck by the beauty of these areas and can't wait to go back to do my original planned route (titcomb -> knapsack -> peak etc).
Here's Hope taking in the view of Island Lake on the way down:
And here's her obligatory pose of her taking a close up of the flora on the way:
We had a few thunder clouds roll in as we approached Titcomb but they didn't do anything more than threaten.
Hope taking the amazing view ahead:
We took some very dear and good friends with us on this trek and it was so great to have them along to share in my first hike to Island/Titcomb. Here's Jeff and Hope at more or less the mouth of the Basin:
After our day hike up to Titcomb, we returned to the lake above Little Seneca, packed up camp and trekked down to Hobbs for our third night. This picture of Mary and Hope has them holding their hands where we thought the snow line was on the previous year's trek at the same sign. I looked at the picture I took of that sign last year when I got home yesterday and they really weren't far off. I can't not express enough how much different this experience was with the dry conditions compared to last year.
We got a pretty good hail storm the last night at Hobbs and a bit of rain the last two miles on the way out to Elkhart, but beyond that, and the 2nd night's light rain, the weather was spectacular.
Hope was very reluctant to take this trip after the previous two we had taken to the Winds which were both a lot to chew but I"m sure glad she did. Such a great weekend with such great friends up there. Bugs were minimal, trail was pretty busy (as to be expected) on the Seneca side but definitely not overwhelmingly so.
I love the winds and this trip only reinforced that love further.
Here's a link to all of the photos / videos I took of the trip if you're interested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hiKSFCZrde3DExrP7
The trip report for that expedition is here: https://backcountrypost.com/threads/winds-july-1-3-elkhart-hobbs-lester-pass-pole-creek.6951/
I will be referencing last year's trip here mostly because of the stark contrast in my experiences.
thanks @Jackson for the suggestion in your comment from last year to do this in reverse.
My original plan was to hit Titcomb, knapsack col, peak lake, shannon pass, jean lakes, and out but I didn't ever get a good report of the conditions for that route and in truth, I really wanted to see this route again sans snow. Our first day was a late start out of Elkhart and we planned to make it to the Cook Lakes but ended up stopping short due to time constraints. I can not believe the difference in the trail from last year's journey from Eklund Lake to Monument Creek. It was really nice to be able to walk on dirt and not be post holing through massive snow drifts the whole way out. We found a nice little lily pond between the two Pole creek crossings for our first night's camp with a terrific backdop.
The next morning we climbed Lester Pass and again, my mind was blown by the difference and level of difficulty decrease from last year to this. It was neat seeing all of this terrain blanketed in white, but I'll take these conditions 99 times out of a 100 over trudging through snow and huge fields of snow waves.
We set up camp at the little lake just above Little Seneca Lake just on the other side of the pass and had our first spit of rain that evening. After the rain stopped, there were some beautiful clouds blanketing the cliff wall to our east.
that night I was awakened by a rock slide on the other side of the lake. It sounded a lot bigger than it probably was because of the echos in that small cove area but it certainly got my attention with how loud and impressive it was. The following morning we did a day hike up to Island Lake and Titcomb Basin. This was my 4th trip out of Elkhart and I had never made the journey to Island/Titcomb mostly because I prefer to stay away from the massive hordes of people but I wanted to knock it off my to-do list this trip. I am certainly glad I did. Most of you reading this have probably seen it and probably have these exact same pictures in triplicate, but I was awestruck by the beauty of these areas and can't wait to go back to do my original planned route (titcomb -> knapsack -> peak etc).
Here's Hope taking in the view of Island Lake on the way down:
And here's her obligatory pose of her taking a close up of the flora on the way:
We had a few thunder clouds roll in as we approached Titcomb but they didn't do anything more than threaten.
Hope taking the amazing view ahead:
We took some very dear and good friends with us on this trek and it was so great to have them along to share in my first hike to Island/Titcomb. Here's Jeff and Hope at more or less the mouth of the Basin:
After our day hike up to Titcomb, we returned to the lake above Little Seneca, packed up camp and trekked down to Hobbs for our third night. This picture of Mary and Hope has them holding their hands where we thought the snow line was on the previous year's trek at the same sign. I looked at the picture I took of that sign last year when I got home yesterday and they really weren't far off. I can't not express enough how much different this experience was with the dry conditions compared to last year.
We got a pretty good hail storm the last night at Hobbs and a bit of rain the last two miles on the way out to Elkhart, but beyond that, and the 2nd night's light rain, the weather was spectacular.
Hope was very reluctant to take this trip after the previous two we had taken to the Winds which were both a lot to chew but I"m sure glad she did. Such a great weekend with such great friends up there. Bugs were minimal, trail was pretty busy (as to be expected) on the Seneca side but definitely not overwhelmingly so.
I love the winds and this trip only reinforced that love further.
Here's a link to all of the photos / videos I took of the trip if you're interested: https://photos.app.goo.gl/hiKSFCZrde3DExrP7
Yeah, I'm sure you're right - I won't be sorry. And I appreciate your words of encouragement. It sounds like you and I have the same sentiments about popular areas. I've actually peeked up into the basin from the trail after completing a loop over Indian Pass one year. But, we were too wiped to go and check it out. Hopefully, we'll be fresh and excited this time.