Gannett Peak - Wyoming - USA

June/July 2003

Day 1:  Starting Out.

Gannett Peak -13,804 ft - view from Bonney Pass

Date: June 27 to July 7, 2003

Destination:  Gannet Peak, starting at Elkhart Park trailhead.

Robert:  Highpointer who at the time had already done 45 state highpoints with only Gannett Peak, Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier left to do in the lower 48.  Robert thinks Wyoming is the toughest highpoint (lower 48).  Summit day is not too bad, but you have to hike 20 miles to base camp and carry a very heavy pack.

Jane:  Hiked to Granite Peak, Montana in 2002 and a few other hikes and trails around Georgia and surrounding states for the past 2 years.  (This report was written by Jane.)

John:  Climbed Granite Peak, Montana in 2002 and hiked Kings Peak in Utah and several hikes around Georgia and surrounding states.  He joined a rock climbing club a few month before going on this hike.

Jane, John and Robert on the road towards Elkhart Park before setting out.

Having read several reports Robert decided we should go on our venture up Gannett Peak in late June as there would still be plenty of snow to walk on, which is easier than crossing bare rock.  We were lucky that just 7 days prior to our summit day they had had 12 inches of snowfall in the area, so we had plenty of snow to walk on.

Setting out.  We flew from Atlanta, Georgia to Salt Lake City, Utah on June 27, 2003, which is where the adventure began. Salt Lake is the closest big city to Pinedale, but it is about a 4 hour drive to Pinedale. You could fly to Jackson Hole, WY which is only a 2 hour drive away, but from Atlanta, GA, all flights to Jackson Hole stop off at Salt Lake first, so we really would not have saved any time flying to Jackson Hole.

We spent the first night sleeping along a dirt road on some wilderness land somewhere along the country road headed for Pinedale, Wyoming.

The Wind River Range showing Jackson and Fremont Peaks in the center.

Day 1.  Starting Out from Elkhart Park.  When we got to Pinedale on Saturday morning we went to visit Marty at the Pinedale Chamber of Commerce to collect our stoves and other items that the airlines would not allow us to take on the plane.  Robert had shipped the items to her the week before. Due to Airline Security, forget about carrying or checking an empty camp stove onto an airplane. Robert finds it quite silly that he can overnight ship his empty stove on an airplane, but can not check the same empty stove in his luggage.

Robert and Jane on a grassy plain along Pole Creek Trail.  Very heavy packs!

We left the rental car at the Elkhart Park trailhead and were ready to head out at 1:55pm on Saturday, after signing in.  The trail starts at 9,500 ft. The first 3 miles were a nice, gentle walk up, after which it became quite a grind along a continuous uphill until we finally got to Photographer's Point.  There were many ponds and rivulets along the way to get water.

Robert and John at Photographer's Point.  The mosquitoes were everywhere!

When we started out Robert's pack weighed 65 pounds, John's around 60 and Jane's 53 pounds.  We had enough food for 8 days and all our rock and snow gear, which made the going very slow.  The climbing gear alone weighed 38 pounds. The first two days we basically walked for 1 hour then rested for 20 minutes, with a few short 'breathers' in between.

Sunset from our first campsite.

Our first camp was just above Barbara Lake, at a lovely overlook with a great view of Fremont and surrounding peaks.  We got to camp at 6:15pm and were in bed by 8pm.  While having dinner we noticed that a thick cloud mass had covered the whole of Fremont Peak and surrounding area.  The clouds were dark and there was lightning.  Fortunately that mass never made it to where we were camping.  In fact Robert and John got up at around 10pm again to take photos of the sunset, and by then the cloud mass had already broken up quite a bit.

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