[Cdt-l] Southbound trip report from SouthPass WY to BattlePass (Encampment)

[stumpknocker]

*Mrs Gorp and I were three days behind 30-30 from South Pass City to
Rawlins.  We did this section now because we're just a teensie weensie too
early to start south from Glacier, but will be heading up that way soon.

We had a great time on this 120 mile section.  There was lots of water on
the northern two/thirds.  The longest water carry on the southern third was
about 17 miles.

Loved all the wildlife!!  Saw 4 moose, 2 coyotes, a dozen huge sage grouse,
2 horned toads, one large hare, 16 elk, a couple hundred wild horses and 967
antelope.  :-)

It was very windy every day.  Some quickly passing showers which were very
cold.  Did I mention it was windy??

I guess the biggest surprise for me was that when they call this the Great
Divide Basin, I was expecting more of a basin.  It had plenty of mountains
to look at and kind of rolling terrain.  I would say it was well marked and
easy to follow.
*
On Sat, Jun 5, 2010 at 2:11 PM, Scott Wyatt <swyatt002 at gmail.com> wrote:

> After finishing NM we skipped up to SouthPass WY to hike south in an
> attempt to avoid the snows of southern CO.  Reports showed extremely high
> snow in all the southern sections that we wanted to enjoy so we gave it time
> to melt while we continued hiking.
>
> We started May 27th southbound.  The trail & roads north of SouthPass were
> snowed in deep.  The trail (SB) to Rawlins is all dirt road walk with very
> high winds in the afternoon (60-90mph constant) but dying out by 9pm.  Lots
> of pronghorns & wild horses.  Mormon springs is an excellent water source,
> but make sure to find the 2ft diameter rock circle with no growth in it for
> the best water.  Bull(?) spring is a solar well but due to the broken,
> leaking external valves there is a swampy 6 foot moat around the pump.  Fish
> Pond (~14 miles N of Rawlins) is a new solar well put in by the BLM & Rocky
> Mountain Elk Foundation
>
> From Rawlins to Encampment is a road walk for the first 2 days, changing to
> heavy snow the last 35 miles which completely hides the trail in the trees,
> the trail getting lost and constant post-holing.  Signage/posts/cairns are
> excellent in the open areas.  The 17 miles over Bridger Peak (north of
> Battle Pass) is solid snow, 4-10 feet deep, but very little post-holing
> except near rocks.  The trail follows the ridge & possibly a dirt road but
> is completely hidden.  We saw zero signage & touched dirt once during the
> day.  GPS & map skills are a must, but staying on the ridgeline is the key.
> Water was plentiful due to snow melt but no liquid water before/after
> Bridger Peak.  The road up to Battle Pass is currently closed so you must
> road walk down to Encampment.  This should hopefully change in about a week.
>
> The ridge south of Battle Pass is under 4-7 feet of snow at the moment, so
> we are reevaluating our strategy.  We are leaning towards heading back to
> Cumbres Pass.
>
> 30-30 & Fireball
>
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