Wind river high route mid september

[meowtaingal]

Hi all,
New here, thanks for having me. Im planning to do southbound wind river high route starting this weekend for 7-8 days trail lakes to big sandy trailhead. A bit late in the season I know but the weather window looks promising. I do have an issue with figuring out vehicle logistics, our friends/shuttle partners cancelled last minute so we have just one car now.
Is anyone gonna be doing the same trail around this time? Or around trail lakes or big sandy that we can possibly grab a ride with? (Paying gas).
Looked into taxi options which are no where near our budget, alternative plan is to do just the northern section 4 and loop it back via glacier trail but Id really like to be able to thru hike it. There are two of us.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Bob]

Good luck... weather forecasts for the winds in Sept can be problematic. Daylight is short. Plan bail out routes...

 

[fossana]

You might consider a big loop or less painful (cheaper) shuttle out of Pinedale (e.g. Big Sandy to Elkhart Park). You can easily do 80-90 miles with the shuttle route (I've done ~70), including a long section of the WRHR with only 1 major glacier crossing. TBH with the current temps, the northern section's wind scoured treeless landscapes and numerous glacier crossings sound not so fun and potentially sketchy.

 

[Nethos]

Just out from an attempt on this a week ago. Would heed @Bob and @fossana, bad weather stranded us on the West side well north of easier Divide crossings to our car at Trail Lake. Had to exit Elkhart and eat an expensive shuttle to Bruce rather than attempt Blaurock/Bonney in cold rain/snow.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

 

[Bob]

Just out from an attempt on this a week ago. Would heed @Bob and @fossana, bad weather stranded us on the West side well north of easier Divide crossings to our car at Trail Lake. Had to exit Elkhart and eat an expensive shuttle to Bruce rather than attempt Blaurock/Bonney in cold rain/snow.

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Ive bailed from going over Blaurock twice...... may never get to it.

 

[Nethos]

Ive bailed from going over Blaurock twice...... may never get to it.

Makes me feel a little better about bailing from it. Didn't seem like a good idea to go over Indian and Blaurock in a multiday sub 40 degree rain forecast [emoji43]‍[emoji94].

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

 

[TheMountainRabbit]

Makes me feel a little better about bailing from it. Didn't seem like a good idea to go over Indian and Blaurock in a multiday sub 40 degree rain forecast [emoji43]‍[emoji94].

Sent from my Pixel 6a using Tapatalk

Blaurock has turned me around on more than one occasion as well.

Bonney is no cake walk this late in the season either - especially if the weather is bad.

Sounds like you made the right call.

 

[fossana]

Glad you made it out OK, @Nethos.