To connect Buchanan Creek with Cascade Creek in Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness, the Pfiffner Traverse ascends a knife-edge pass at the head of trail-less Thunderbolt Creek that offers sweeping views of the Pawnee Lake basin and the Continental Divide. The alternative to this route is an ordinary and relatively view-less all-trail route around the west […]
The Northeast Gully is the most difficult feature on the Pfiffner Traverse: it’s filled with snow through mid-summer, covered with talus and loose scree in late-summer, and always steep. Unfortunately, it’s also a critical connector between Lone Eagle Cirque, Lost Tribe Lakes, and upper Arapaho Creek, all in Colorado’s Indian Peaks Wilderness. An easy all-trail […]
Thanks to a delayed arrival of winter, in late-October of last year I finished piecing together the Pfiffner Traverse, a 77-mile high route through Colorado’s Front Range between Milner and Berthoud Passes. But I felt it important to get on the route again this year as a thru-hiker and as soon as conditions permitted, to […]
Melissa, who is undertaking the Wind River High Route this August, asks: Wireless coverage along the Wind River High Route — and in the Wind River Range, more generally — is poor but possible. Your odds are best from high vantage points with unobstructed views to the high plains east or west. I’m thinking of specific […]
Where We Camped, Approximate Daily Mileage Just past “Campsite tr rejoins”. 2m “Protected camps in krumholtz”. Fished. 12m Lake 11,185 below West Gully. 4m Down in the trees just past “Legal camps on trailside benches”. 8m Just past “PR-20” & “Grassy lateral moraines, krumholtz + rockfield clusters”. 9m Outlet of Bewmark Lake. Fished. 7m Just […]
“The finest backcountry experience” – The scenery and raw mountain feel were absolutely amazing, but that was somewhat offset by the toll the terrain took on our joints (unstable talus, loose moraines, steep up, steep down, steep up, steep down). With my admittedly modest experience to draw from, I think a route in the High […]
Permits To show my respect to this land’s native inhabitants whose way of life my ancestors annihilated, I OF COURSE carried a permit. This is the very least I can do as a visitor. For every soul, culture, and lands lost, for all that “The Res” means, I moved through their ancient home with humility […]
“Climb to a high alpine pass, descend to a low point, and repeat.” That’s it. That is Skurka’s WRHR. This is what your body and mind will be doing nearly all day, every day. So want to do this. And consider that you’ll maybe take a little life off your knees. I certainly did because […]
Skurka writes that the first 14 miles are, in part, an opportunity to “find your hiking legs”. My pre-trip prep was two weeks of day hiking on trails with pack weight in the Sierra. That in no way prepared my body for what comes quickly: the West Gully descent. I may as well have started […]
To get a sense of how you do or don’t compare to my skills, style, and experience, please look at bios from my HDT Tips. I’m a very average backpacker. Not ultralight. Not ultra-fit. And definitely not ultra-relaxed about stressors and dangers. Put another way: if you’re in Skurka’s league, these Tips aren’t for you. […]