Thank you! Thanks for the feedback. I’ll adjust the music volume to make the other audio easier to hear. All my editing is done via my iPhone, but I’ll work on improving that.
Thanks for the comment. It sounds like you have done a descent into the west gully. Did you take the Skurka route or the route we went down in the video?
@@briangaller We followed the skurka route, but from being in there that's the only gully we found that doesn't get cliffed out. Seeing this one i don't know that it's any safer. took us over 4 hours to go just 2,500ft. I guess it would have been nice to know about just we could split up into smaller groups and reduce the risk of rock fall.
@@TheBuffaloSamurai Thanks for the additional detail. It sounds like both routes are pretty comparable. We started our descent from the summit at about noon. We didn’t get to our campsite near the first lake until after 5 pm. I did a lot of slope angle analysis on Caltopo and both routes appeared to be about the same in terms of max slope. We chose the straight shot route because it didn’t have any cliffs to slide off. :-) However, I’ve always wondered if we should have taken the Skurka route.
Thanks Richard! Steve is doing good. He is hard core. The Wind River Range is certainly a magical place. I went back for more adventure in 2021 and 2022.
I'm so late to this, but I wanted to thank you for making such a cool video. When I was 19, I went on a NOLs semester and we backpacked the Cirque of the Towers (including Jackass Pass and Texas Pass!) and 2.5 years since that trip this video is giving me such nostalgia. You are so right that the scale of the peaks (and the boulders, and the lakes and everything) is just impossible to capture on video. So cool that you got out there on your own, that takes guts as it is no joke doing some of those descents!
As an alternative, you could take (refer to Beyond Trails Guide by Nancy Palister) the South and North Black Joe passes off the north side of Wind River Peak to get down to Black Joe Lake and perhaps avoid some of the talus piles between East Temple Lake and Black Joe Lake. May I suggest a much more robust set of micro spikes if you are not going to take crampons. Hillsound offers several better choices. Even still, when the snow softens up, micro spikes can be more of a liability than a benefit. It's then that crampons shine as the all around better choice for alpine environments. There are lots of super lite choices out there from Black Diamond, Petzl etc.
Did you do the Skurka trail or the Adventure Alan Trail? I might have missed it but I didn't see mention of the distance. Thanks for the video, it was great!
Thanks Jason. I’m glad you enjoyed it. We attempted the Skurka route. However, instead of taking his recommended traverse into the West Gulley off Wind River Peak we took the alternative traverse that is a little South and a straight shot into the West Gulley. If I make another attempt I’ll go down the traverse he recommends. We chose the straight shot because it didn’t have any cliffs along it and is a similar slope angle. However, it was very loose and sketchy.
Looking to do part of this with my brothers in early August. Thanks for this video, trying to research as much as I can. These vids help a bunch. You mentioned another way off Wind River, would you have taken that path in hindsight?
Hi Josh, Thanks! I’m glad you found it useful for your planning. Short answer to your question is yes. I hope to make another attempt and if I do I will probably take the other traverse down. However, since I haven’t been down the other route, I can’t really compare them. We took the straight route for two basic reasons. First, my measurements via CalTopo showed that the slope angles of both routes were very similar. Secondly, the route we took didn’t have any cliffs to fall off. The other route does skirt along a cliff. You can see that at about 33:50 in the video. Best of luck to you and your brothers.
Brian, love the videos. Thanks for these. I'm planning a trip to the NW Gallatin corner as well for mid July. Do you have a picture of your route or a link to your routing? Did you park an extra car at Dailey Creek? Thanks, trying to map my route out here
Hey Henry - Sorry, I wasn't paying attention to comments and I missed yours. Obviously, it's too late to be helpful for your July trip, but I felt bad that I didn't respond. We did have cars at both ends of the route. I hope your trip went well.
Brian, all 5 videos were excellent. You guys know how to explore Gods beautiful creation the right way. Very few people get to see Yellowstone like you did. I am really glad you got to see some bear on your hike. I subscribed to your channel and hope to see more great adventures.
Thanks Stan! This was my fourth backcountry trip to Yellowstone. My son and I started going in 2016. He couldn't join this year because he is in Army Basic Training. I have a goal of hiking all four corners of Yellowstone. I did an 8-day in the Southeast corner in 2016, a 5-day in the Northeast in 2017, a failed trip at this same route in 2018, and then completed the Northwest route this year. I'll probably do the Southwest corner next Summer. Unfortunately, I didn't do so well with taking video on the previous trips.
Thanks Stan! I appreciate it. I subscribed to your channel last night and watched your latest video. We went through that area during our trip. Beautiful country. Yellowstone is my favorite place on Earth.
Thanks Brian, I am watch day 3 to High Lake right now. The only thing I can say is I kinda skip the overnights in the backcountry right now because of the mosquitoes and flys. You guys are doing good though.
Mosquitoes were only bad at High Lake and we only encountered flies on our way out via Daly Creek. We lucked out and had nice breezes at our other campsites which helps keep the mosquitoes and flies under control.
A friend of mine brought a Glock 19 to Yellowstone. A park ranger stopped and asked him what he was doing carrying a 9mm. He told the ranger it was protection from bears. The park ranger asked him if he shaved the front sight off of it. My friend says "no, why would I want to do that?". Park ranger says "so you can fit it in your mouth if a bear charges you". Moral of the story: upgrade to something with a little more stopping power.
dannyrocks777 I agree with the Park Ranger. However, according to studies that I have read bear spray is actually more effective at preventing bear attack injuries than firearms. Trying to take down a grizzly with a fire arm would be like trying to put several rounds into a tennis ball sized area while the tennis ball is swinging left to right and coming at you at 30+ miles per hour. My son and I surprised a black bear at about 15 yards. I pulled my bear spray not my handgun. The bear decided to leave so all was good. I take a handgun into the backcountry as a last resort, before I die, sort of option. There are other predators that a handgun would be more effective against.
