Wyoming 13ers Quest

[Eli Boardman]

At long last, I have finally finished my trip report for this quest.

It's...a bit long. Like...17,000 words long. Eh, it tells the story, and people can feel free to skim it for the 101 pictures instead of reading if they want.

Here ya go!

https://sunlitsummit.com/trip-reports/w ... ing-13ers/

[desertdog]

Can’t wait to read it! I ended up doing Gannett and Fremont based on your advice. What a great area. Already planning my next trip to the Winds. I’m sure your report will help! Richard

[Matt Lemke]

You could certainly probably do the easier peaks like Flagstone, Downs, Bastion, or Klondike presuming you have a very high tolerance for cold, wind, and snowshoeing. I would definitely want to have some true winter camping experience...trails will all be covered by now as well. Likely well over a foot of snow already up there...possibly over 3 feet in leeward places. The continental divide itself may be windblown pretty dry in spots. Snotel data for today at Big Sandy trailhead (elev 9000 feet) is showing 11 inches snow depth.

Lows are typically in the single digits or lower every night from now until late February unless a random warm spell comes along. Winter winds are worse in WY than they are in CO too

If you do go, let us know how it went!

[rdp32]

Are any of the “easier” class 2-3 routes fun this time of year? Looking for a good backpack trip

Have you considered heading to the canyon country instead? There are lots of spectacular, rugged places in southern utah that are much nicer for backpacking at this time of year

[greenonion]

You could certainly probably do the easier peaks like Flagstone, Downs, Bastion, or Klondike presuming you have a very high tolerance for cold, wind, and snowshoeing. I would definitely want to have some true winter camping experience...trails will all be covered by now as well. Likely well over a foot of snow already up there...possibly over 3 feet in leeward places. The continental divide itself may be windblown pretty dry in spots. Snotel data for today at Big Sandy trailhead (elev 9000 feet) is showing 11 inches snow depth.

Lows are typically in the single digits or lower every night from now until late February unless a random warm spell comes along. Winter winds are worse in WY than they are in CO too

If you do go, let us know how it went!

Wyoming should be renamed to Windoming.

[Eli Boardman]

Are any of the “easier” class 2-3 routes fun this time of year? Looking for a good backpack trip

I'm living just below the Glacier Trail area, and the mountains are definitely snowy right now. I would recommend doing your first Wyoming 13ers in the July-September period. That said, Downs Mountain is probably the easiest one in winter conditions, and I'm planning on making a winter attempt this year (might have to divert from the standard route to avoid avalanche danger).

The deep backcountry (Dinwoody, Titcomb) will almost certainly be in winter conditions by now. We've had temperatures at -8 F in Dubois already.

[Eli Boardman]

Just noticed that my WY 13ers Quest apparently made it onto Teton Gravity Research, and yes I know that self-promotion = bad and the article is rather poorly written, but I figured the link should be in this thread "for the sake of completeness."

https://www.tetongravity.com/story/cult ... s-the-pace

[pbergmaier]

Belated congrats to you from another (transplanted) Wyomingite! By far the best part of all this is you lugging the AK up Francs. Fantastic.