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Route: Wind River High Route (WY)

Location
Wyoming, US
Distance
97 mi
Vertical Gain
30,000 ft
Description

The Wind River High Route is 97 miles long, 65 percent off-trail, and follows the alpine crest of Wyoming’s Wind River Range, usually hovering between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. Its termini are Bruce Bridge and Trail Lakes, both on the eastern side of the range, connected by long cross-country segments with short bits of trail.  Modelled after the design of the Sierra High Route, it stays as high as possible while traversing no technical terrain (Class 5), crosses mostly non-crevassed glaciers, and offers plenty of boulder-hopping. It is perfectly bookended by the southern and northernmost 13ers in the range, Wind River Peak and Downs Mountain.

More info: https://andrewskurka.com/adventures/wind-river-high-route/

The Dixon/Wilson variation is a different route but was given the same name.  It is 80 miles long and 45 percent off-trail, and terminates at Big Sandy in the south and Green River Lakes in the north, on the west side.  It may be the more popular of the two, due to its shorter length and being easier.  More info:  http://www.adventurealan.com/wind-river-high-route-guide/

There is a separate Route page for on-trail Wind River Range Traverses.

GPS Track
Skurka-WRHR-move.gpx235.9 KB

FKTs

Images
Related Routes
Wind River Range Traverse (WY)
Wind River Peak (WY)

Comments

User Picture
Profile picture for user Renee Elsdon Jacobs

Renee Elsdon Jacobs
Thu, 08/19/2021 - 09:00pm

I hope to make a go at the female unsupported record starting this Sunday or Monday, as long as the weather and smoke cooperate. And if not, I have to head back to CA to attend to responsibilities... 

I will be sharing my location at the MapShare website:  https://share.garmin.com/ReneesWindRiverHighRouteFKT

PW="ReneeFKTs" 

I got shut down by fresh snow, extreme winds, and cold temperatures. Maybe next year ...

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Profile picture for user Renee Elsdon Jacobs

Renee Elsdon Jacobs
Mon, 07/25/2022 - 06:52am

I am heading out to Wyoming to make another go at the FKT. I am either starting tomorrow to beat the storms coming in, or waiting until they (hopefully!) clear and starting this Saturday at the earliest. I'll be sharing my location at the InReach MapShare website: https://share.garmin.com/ReneesWWHRFKT

Password: ReneeFKTs

I went for it, but couldn't quite make it happen. Route finding delays and hard snow caused delays and night, putting me behind my schedule. Significant rain and Tstorms on the last day made me decide to bail after New York Pass. I will be writing a trip report and will share the link when it's done! What an experience. 

Wyatt Stevens
Tue, 08/23/2022 - 05:44pm

I put in an effort on the route starting on 08/20/22 at 2:00am. I took a total of 40hrs 21mins 35sec to complete the route. Not a new FKT, I came in after David's 2021 time by about 2.5hrs, but I'm deeply proud of the effort I put in. Nothing was lost for me in the "failure" to achieve a new FKT. A couple of major learnings (including a need for better acclimitization) give me a lot of excitement for another attempt in the future! A huge thanks to David for contributing to my stoke on this route and offering some advice in preparation. This is truly an incredible mountain range, I feel privileged to have moved through it all in a single push. 

You can find a link to my Strava activity here (was using UltraTrac hence some inaccuracies with distance/vert): https://www.strava.com/activities/7680776769

brett.carroll
Sun, 06/07/2026 - 05:40pm

For anyone interested, my friend Greg Hewitt and I made what we believe to be the first ski traverse of this route between 5/9-5/14/26. It took us 5 days, 5 hours, and 27 minutes. We traveled from north to south, and didn't see another person from when we left the Trail Lakes Trailhead until we were less than a mile from Bruce's Bridge. We had overall good conditions for a ski traverse. The snow line was just over 10,000', and travel conditions were mostly good. We put skis on for the first time 8.5 miles into the traverse and took them off for the last time about 13 miles from Bruce's Bridge. Between those two points we were travelling on snow, either skinning, skiing, or bootpacking, for over 90 percent of the time.

This route worked really well as a ski traverse, and traveling in the spring made for a committing wilderness experience. Obviously we were much slower than the overall FKT, and a fit skier/party of skiers who was committed to going fast could take days off our time. But we had an incredible experience, and would encourage other folks to consider doing this on skis too!