History
Walking north atop the Continental Divide north of Europe Peak
For most of its length, the Wind River High Route feels very wild and remote — and it is. But the route, and the broader Wind River Range, has already been thoroughly explored. Today, we simply stand on the shoulders of earlier explorers: indigenous tribes, the Hayden Survey, sheepherders and cattlemen, pioneering mountaineers, and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), which since the 1960’s has sent thousands of groups into the Winds.
Information about the range’s peaks, passes, routes, and trails has been documented in two definitive guides: Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Mountains, by Joe Kelsey, and Beyond Trails in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming, by Nancy Pallister (“Wandering Daisy”).
I was introduced to the Wind River Range in 2007 during my 6,875-mile Great Western Loop hike while following the Continental Divide Trail. Sadly, the CDT takes a lackluster route on the west side of the crest, and the highlight of my first Winds experience was when I finally left it in order to ascend well-trodden Texas Pass into Cirque of Towers.
My backpacking interests shifted the following summer, when I traversed Iceland and thru-hiked Steve Roper’s Sierra High Route with Buzz Burrell. Since then, hiking on trails has felt relatively limiting and mind-numbingly boring. When I returned to the Winds in 2009 and 2011 to guide 1- and 2-week trips, my planned itineraries were always more high route-esque.
While the Wind River High Route has recently gained much attention, it is not a new concept. Most impressively, Forrest McCarthy skied a high route in 1994 from Lander to Jackson. Jonathan Ley has included high route alternates in his CDT maps since the early-2000’s. Jared Campbell and Ty Draney first attempted their “Crest Route” in 2010. DanMcCoy shared his “Crest of the Wind River Range” in 2011. Pallister did a 39-day “Wind River Traverse” in 2012 that was intended to be “similar to Roper’s [Sierra] High Route.” The most substantial contribution comes from my friends Alan Dixon and Don Wilson, who in 2013 released a guide for a route that a fit hiker can complete within a standard one-week vacation.
I’d be shocked if the idea cannot be traced back further and to many more sources. The only debate today is over the route. Personally, I believe there is only one that best fulfills the potential of the range while remaining non-technical. Alternates may better accommodate weather and limited vacation time, but the complete Wind River Route should not be a compromise.
With the company of Buzz Burrell and Peter Bakwin, in 2014 I attempted what we considered to be the Wind River High Route, based on our cumulative experience in the range. We were turned back by hard ice on Bonney Pass, for which we were unprepared. I returned in 2015 and completed the route in its entirety in 4.25 days, then yo-yo’d 100 miles back to my car on an entirely different route in order to research alternate routes and section-hike segments. A few weeks earlier, Derek Bartz and his girlfriend had completed the entire route.
My knowledge of the Winds is not definitive, and it is my intention to continue to add to it. Nonetheless, I feel very confident in the accuracy of the information I have provided about the Winds and more specifically the Wind River High Route.
Hey Andrew,
When you turned back in 2014 around Bonney Pass, what time of the year was it? My guess was a mid September? My wife and I we’re thinking if we get lucky with the weather, we will be starting on Sep 9th
Thanks,
Serge
Late-July after a wet winter
In late-August the following year after a drier winter it was entirely snow-free
Great write up! There has been a lot of routes along the divide, most recently a local hiked the Sublette county border and apparently stayed on the divide the whole way thru the Winds. Might want to mention that the route has been completed many times prior to publication on the internet. And the locals route goes higher and farther than the route you have advertised. You might want to contact Terry Pollard, Hank Williams, Connor Raney, Forrest Mccarthy, Joe Kelsey to get an accurate read of the history of the “High Route” as it’s been done many times prior to the advertised route. Would be good to give dignity to those that have done it and not promoted it.
To add on to my last comment… I don’t think it’s anyone’s place to name it and take credit for a route especially after it’s been done for so long. Leave her alone bud and put your ego aside. You’ve single handedly change the atmosphere of the Winds along this route. It used to be quiet and now there’s a mega-ton of people up there. They all say “doing Skurkas high route.” Direct evidence that you’ve made changes to pure wilderness. Think about that. I know you get free shoes and clothes but don’t ruin the experience for everyone.
Amen
Someone’s jealous. ????
Gotta agree with Hubbard, I was shocked at how overrun once remote valleys were with 20-somethings proclaiming their “high route” bona fides.
The damage to tundra is incredible, with wide swaths marked in the highest areas.
This is not cool.
My favorite was some young yayhoo loudly bemoaning running into me on Raid pass because “I was told that nobody knew about the winds” … eye roll.
There is no sense of wilderness up there anymore, just 20-somethings in Altras staring at downloaded maps
On iPhones
I found a book by Orrin Bonney and Lorraine Bonney 1960 with pictures. Has Paul Petzold climbing route too. Now that I have time will be going into the winds by sections/day trips.
Did not understand at first how hard it is to get in there. Will do the tourist routes as a shake down trips then 100mile to Duboise from Lander. Good web site.
FANTASTIC route. I followed a riff on Kelsey’s book in 1985. Took a solid 7days. Ran into a couple of Cheechakos in vinyl ponchos, blue jeans and tennis shoes who were out fishing at some little pond near Mt Lester. I hope the dog survived.
No one can claim its their High Route…… its just a route, of which there are many was across the Winds.
My group completed a route from Sweetwater to Green River Lakes of 115 miles, no resuply in 1997.