2020 Wind Rivers; Bear Basin cut short and Big Sandy loop
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 9:22 am
2020 WR(4) Bear Basin (cut short) and Big Sandy Loop
8/13 – 8/21
Back in Lander after my third trip, I felt great! My feet were back to normal and I was looking forward to getting to higher altitudes, off -trail and into the more difficult northern part of the Wind River Range. In addition I would have companions on these last two trips. Being one day late off of the 3rd trip, I only had one day in town.
My next trip had two options; staying in Bear Basin for more fishing, or quickly through Bear Basin and exiting via Baker Lake and Slide Creek. I was pretty set on the latter until I talked to a friend who was a fishing guide, and he highly recommended staying in Bear Basin to fish. He had just been there last year and told me that, although a bit hard to catch, there were Golden in Native Lake and supposedly big Rainbows in Bear Lake, in addition to fish in Crescent Lakes and perhaps Daphne Lake. On the other hand I REALLY wanted to exit the Slide Creek route because it was just so wild. It too had fish in Lower Golden Lake and Slide Lake.
Either way we would go in the old Roaring Fork Trail, which was in poor condition a few years ago, but according to internet reports, cleared of most deadfall in the last few years. This trail is actually the easiest route into Bear Basin; I had only taken the harder routes- Clear Creek and Mill Creek/Osborn Mountain, both more scenic routes although significantly difficult off-trail routes. I really needed to check out this trail.
Steve, my friend from Bozeman preferred the more leisurely choice; staying in Bear Basin, and coming out Osborn Mountain. Given that this would be his first trip of the season, I conceded that his choice was a better idea. We could do a day-hike to Baker Lake or a very remote hidden valley on the east side north of Bears Tooth. Bear Basin has lots of little nooks and crannies to explore too!
Well, things did not go as planned. The rest of the story is below.
PART 1: Bear Basin, not quite!
Day 0. Drive to Green River Lakes TH and Campground
After one night in Lander, I drove to Green River Lakes the next day arriving early afternoon. I picked up some frozen food in Pinedale and tried to get into the library to add Steve as a contact to my In-Reach and get some weather information on the internet. I had to sign in for COVID tracking purposes but was not allowed to access my In-Reach account. Next I went to the FS office and they were closed to the public. A staff person was in the parking lot to answer questions; no recent bear activity at Green River Lakes. I continued up the road, and was pleasantly surprised that the Green River Lakes Road was in better condition than I had ever seen it; must have been recently graded. However, all the dispersed campsites along the Green River were taken and arriving at 1 PM, I snagged the last campsite at the Green River Lakes Campground. Steve arrived at 5:30 and we caught up on news while eating supper. I was not sure when he would arrive; in retrospect I should have gone fishing!
Day 1: GRL TH to Alexander Park. 8 miles, 1630 feet gain, 6 hours.
The TH parking lot was full so we parked in the horse trailer parking lot. We walked down the hill, crossed the bridge at the outlet of Green River Lakes and took a left to follow the Continental Divide Trail five miles to the Roaring Fork Bridge. There was little shade and it was hot, as we gradually gained elevation then steeply up to a saddle with spring fed muddy lakes. The trail was boggy in places as we descended through a sadly burned forest. We took a long rest stop and filled up with water and found the CDT-Roaring Fork trail junction. The CDT emblem was tacked to a tree going west.
The Roaring Fork Trail was blocked off with tree branches. Deadfall had been cut with chain saws; perhaps a few years ago. The trail pretty much followed what is shown on the map, gaining 1,600 feet the three miles to the lower end of Alexander Park. The forest was in poor condition, dry and a lot of dead trees evidently due to bark beetle kill, but the meadows (called “parks” were lush). It was very hot! Roaring Fork canyon has 1,000 foot dark rock cliffs north and south and holds the heat.
At Alexander Park the trail crossed the Roaring Fork as shown but stays on the south side about a quarter mile, longer than shown. Made sense since the “park” was easy travel whereas the other side was full of deadfall and rocks. Alexander Park was lush! After wading across we walked through tall grass, head-high willows, and white pebble braided dry channels. There are a few established horse camps but we chose a nice grassy bank near the creek on the east end. There were no mosquitoes and no black flies. For the first time this summer I could sit out and enjoy myself. I saw no fish in the creek and looked pretty lacking in food for fish.
After setting up I bathed, gathered water, and walked around. It is a place where you would expect to see a moose. There were tons of deer tracks. Lake 10355 sits up in a bowl 900 feet above, on the north slope of Osborn Mountain, with a nice waterfall descending rock cliffs. It looked like it would be very hard to reach. We sat in the shade and visited instead. The wind picked up so we moved into the timber to cook dinner and went to our respective tents by 7PM.
Day 2: Alexander Park to Upper Crescent Lake. 4 miles, 1,800 feet gain, 5.5 hours plus and hour fishing.
We awoke to frost in the meadow! The sun quickly warmed things up as I spent about half an hour photographing. Once packed up and on the trail, within 10 minutes we had to wade across Roaring Fork. The continuing trail became less distinct as it meandered through several swamps. Often there were confusing splits. After a mile we waded across the Roaring Fork, which was rocky and swift- a significant crossing. An established campsite was on the other side in a small clearing. I hunted for the continuing trail, and found it (or I thought I found it). The real trail was hidden and I failed to find that! My “trail” continued up the Roaring Fork another half mile. The trail shown on the map, now unusable, went to Native Lake. The “new” trail has been re-routed, so neither it nor my “trail” is on the map (or on the GPS). I knew the re-routed trail came down from the outlet of Crescent Lake, but did not know where it took off from Roaring Fork Canyon. Considering the use on my wrong trail, I had not been the only one making this mistake.
About another mile upstream the trail ended, but a game trail turned sharply south to a saddle quarter mile southeast of Pt. 10230. I looked over the edge and was aghast to see that we were on the wrong ridge! The trail was in plain sight but an impossible steep rubble gully 400 feet deep was between us and the trail. We decided to take a direct route, a scramble up 200 feet of talus and 3rd class rock to reach a ramp that then contoured to Upper Crescent Lake. Mileage wise our route was quite efficient; terrain wise, not so.
We camped on a knoll on the northwest side above the lake, next to some huge rocks that would provide wind shelter for cooking. After camp chores and a bath, I went fishing. I had caught a big fish here two years earlier; this time I caught three very fat, 12-inch cutthroat trout. Steve took a nap; he was not feeling great. After dinner I walked down to Crescent Lake and took some pictures. I was pretty lazy myself.
8/13 – 8/21
Back in Lander after my third trip, I felt great! My feet were back to normal and I was looking forward to getting to higher altitudes, off -trail and into the more difficult northern part of the Wind River Range. In addition I would have companions on these last two trips. Being one day late off of the 3rd trip, I only had one day in town.
My next trip had two options; staying in Bear Basin for more fishing, or quickly through Bear Basin and exiting via Baker Lake and Slide Creek. I was pretty set on the latter until I talked to a friend who was a fishing guide, and he highly recommended staying in Bear Basin to fish. He had just been there last year and told me that, although a bit hard to catch, there were Golden in Native Lake and supposedly big Rainbows in Bear Lake, in addition to fish in Crescent Lakes and perhaps Daphne Lake. On the other hand I REALLY wanted to exit the Slide Creek route because it was just so wild. It too had fish in Lower Golden Lake and Slide Lake.
Either way we would go in the old Roaring Fork Trail, which was in poor condition a few years ago, but according to internet reports, cleared of most deadfall in the last few years. This trail is actually the easiest route into Bear Basin; I had only taken the harder routes- Clear Creek and Mill Creek/Osborn Mountain, both more scenic routes although significantly difficult off-trail routes. I really needed to check out this trail.
Steve, my friend from Bozeman preferred the more leisurely choice; staying in Bear Basin, and coming out Osborn Mountain. Given that this would be his first trip of the season, I conceded that his choice was a better idea. We could do a day-hike to Baker Lake or a very remote hidden valley on the east side north of Bears Tooth. Bear Basin has lots of little nooks and crannies to explore too!
Well, things did not go as planned. The rest of the story is below.
PART 1: Bear Basin, not quite!
Day 0. Drive to Green River Lakes TH and Campground
After one night in Lander, I drove to Green River Lakes the next day arriving early afternoon. I picked up some frozen food in Pinedale and tried to get into the library to add Steve as a contact to my In-Reach and get some weather information on the internet. I had to sign in for COVID tracking purposes but was not allowed to access my In-Reach account. Next I went to the FS office and they were closed to the public. A staff person was in the parking lot to answer questions; no recent bear activity at Green River Lakes. I continued up the road, and was pleasantly surprised that the Green River Lakes Road was in better condition than I had ever seen it; must have been recently graded. However, all the dispersed campsites along the Green River were taken and arriving at 1 PM, I snagged the last campsite at the Green River Lakes Campground. Steve arrived at 5:30 and we caught up on news while eating supper. I was not sure when he would arrive; in retrospect I should have gone fishing!
Day 1: GRL TH to Alexander Park. 8 miles, 1630 feet gain, 6 hours.
The TH parking lot was full so we parked in the horse trailer parking lot. We walked down the hill, crossed the bridge at the outlet of Green River Lakes and took a left to follow the Continental Divide Trail five miles to the Roaring Fork Bridge. There was little shade and it was hot, as we gradually gained elevation then steeply up to a saddle with spring fed muddy lakes. The trail was boggy in places as we descended through a sadly burned forest. We took a long rest stop and filled up with water and found the CDT-Roaring Fork trail junction. The CDT emblem was tacked to a tree going west.
The Roaring Fork Trail was blocked off with tree branches. Deadfall had been cut with chain saws; perhaps a few years ago. The trail pretty much followed what is shown on the map, gaining 1,600 feet the three miles to the lower end of Alexander Park. The forest was in poor condition, dry and a lot of dead trees evidently due to bark beetle kill, but the meadows (called “parks” were lush). It was very hot! Roaring Fork canyon has 1,000 foot dark rock cliffs north and south and holds the heat.
At Alexander Park the trail crossed the Roaring Fork as shown but stays on the south side about a quarter mile, longer than shown. Made sense since the “park” was easy travel whereas the other side was full of deadfall and rocks. Alexander Park was lush! After wading across we walked through tall grass, head-high willows, and white pebble braided dry channels. There are a few established horse camps but we chose a nice grassy bank near the creek on the east end. There were no mosquitoes and no black flies. For the first time this summer I could sit out and enjoy myself. I saw no fish in the creek and looked pretty lacking in food for fish.
After setting up I bathed, gathered water, and walked around. It is a place where you would expect to see a moose. There were tons of deer tracks. Lake 10355 sits up in a bowl 900 feet above, on the north slope of Osborn Mountain, with a nice waterfall descending rock cliffs. It looked like it would be very hard to reach. We sat in the shade and visited instead. The wind picked up so we moved into the timber to cook dinner and went to our respective tents by 7PM.
Day 2: Alexander Park to Upper Crescent Lake. 4 miles, 1,800 feet gain, 5.5 hours plus and hour fishing.
We awoke to frost in the meadow! The sun quickly warmed things up as I spent about half an hour photographing. Once packed up and on the trail, within 10 minutes we had to wade across Roaring Fork. The continuing trail became less distinct as it meandered through several swamps. Often there were confusing splits. After a mile we waded across the Roaring Fork, which was rocky and swift- a significant crossing. An established campsite was on the other side in a small clearing. I hunted for the continuing trail, and found it (or I thought I found it). The real trail was hidden and I failed to find that! My “trail” continued up the Roaring Fork another half mile. The trail shown on the map, now unusable, went to Native Lake. The “new” trail has been re-routed, so neither it nor my “trail” is on the map (or on the GPS). I knew the re-routed trail came down from the outlet of Crescent Lake, but did not know where it took off from Roaring Fork Canyon. Considering the use on my wrong trail, I had not been the only one making this mistake.
About another mile upstream the trail ended, but a game trail turned sharply south to a saddle quarter mile southeast of Pt. 10230. I looked over the edge and was aghast to see that we were on the wrong ridge! The trail was in plain sight but an impossible steep rubble gully 400 feet deep was between us and the trail. We decided to take a direct route, a scramble up 200 feet of talus and 3rd class rock to reach a ramp that then contoured to Upper Crescent Lake. Mileage wise our route was quite efficient; terrain wise, not so.
We camped on a knoll on the northwest side above the lake, next to some huge rocks that would provide wind shelter for cooking. After camp chores and a bath, I went fishing. I had caught a big fish here two years earlier; this time I caught three very fat, 12-inch cutthroat trout. Steve took a nap; he was not feeling great. After dinner I walked down to Crescent Lake and took some pictures. I was pretty lazy myself.