Twig Adventures

Author: kaulua26

Uintah Highline Trail

Short Hikes

Uinta Highline Trail, Leidy Peak to Hayden Pass, Aug 25th-29th. 80 miles. This was the 5th mountain range and 3rd state in my impromptu short hike summer tour (Tetons, Gros Ventre, Wind River Range, Sawtooths, Uintas). I actually planned this hike for my 2023 season finale, but ended up going back to the Grand Canyon to finish the Hayduke instead. So I was really excited for the chance to finally do this hike, as it had been on my list for quite some time. The logistics in getting to the start fell into place perfectly. I utilized the very awesome and affordable Salt Lake Express shuttle to get from Logan to Vernal. Both shuttle segments were on time and had[…]

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Sawtooth Mountains, Idaho

Continental Divide Trail, Short Hikes

The Sawtooth Mountains were the 4th mountain range of my 5 range / 3 state impromptu summer tour, after I pivoted from the GDT due to the wildfires. This 30 mile hike came about because Woody wanted to do a short trip right before he started teaching again. Recall that he was one of my hiking buddies that I met up with at the beginning of July, to begin the GDT. When the fires shut us down, he flew back to Utah and I started working my way south to keep on hiking. He was hankering for some more hiking before the summer’s end, but unfortunately wasn’t able to join Strider and I for the Wind River High Route. On[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 2

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

WRHR NOBO Day 1, Saturday, Aug 10th, 2024, Big Sandy trailhead to Big Sandy Lake west end, 5 miles, Elevation 9700′. I felt a bit defeated after our first attempt at the High Route, but better about our chances on our second go around. Approaching the the route from the south allowed for more bailout points at the beginning. At first we were just going to do the Cirque of Towers circuit, but then we decided to go for the rest, wx forecast be damned. We brought about 6 days of food and hoped for the best. The biggest challenge was getting to the Big Sandy trailhead, which was almost a 2 hour drive one way. Incredibly, a Florida friend[…]

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Wind River High Route, Part 1

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

We managed a quick turn-around in Pinedale, gathering enough food for about 6 days, as we planned to do the Alan Dixon version of the high route. We briefly considered the Andrew Skurka version, but it looked like a more difficult route than we wanted to take on. Plus, we were already in Pinedale, so our options were limited to the two trailheads on the western side of the range: Green River and Big Sandy. These are the 2 start/end points of the AD route. Getting to either trailhead is a daunting task, as I already knew from hitching to and from Green River while on the the CDT. But we figured we could swing it. We also had our[…]

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Jackson Hole & the Gros Ventre Wilderness

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

We spent a day in Jackson Hole hanging out with other hikers and getting a taste of the town. First we made a visit to REI and Safeway for some provisions. My shoes were pretty shot, but instead of getting new ones (which I couldn’t anyway because no store carries Altra Superiors), I got Superfeet inserts. These actually did the trick in giving me a little more support and cushioning for the remainder of the summer. We met several CDT hikers at the Safeway, then got a ride over to the rec center. We’d determined the cheapest way to enjoy quality time in town was to buy a day pass for $15. So we spent the afternoon taking showers, hanging[…]

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After the GDT: Back to the US, Past Glacier, Yellowstone, and onto the Teton Crest Trail

Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, Short Hikes

The following couple of posts will be more of a summary, combining multiple days in an effort to document some spontaneous section hikes over the 2024 summer. I spent about a week trying to figure out what to do after the GDT, then making my way back onto a trail. Roughly, my plan was to complete some alternate stretches along the CDT, which I missed in favor of sticking to the main route during my 2019 thru-hike. My strategy pretty much was to wing-it and see what happened. The first goal was getting back to the US. My post on the GDT FB page got the attention of an incredibly kind lady, Lisa, who offered to drive us from Calgary[…]

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GDT Day 22: The End of the GDT, For Now

Great Divide Trail

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024, 0700-1800Helmet Falls Campground to Ottertail trailhead, mm 332.617.2 miles, Gain: 2340′, Loss: 4200′, elevation 3880′ Woody actually beat me out of camp in the morning…I guess he was that eager to get out, too. I was slow to begin moving, despondent about our thru hike ending so prematurely. But I pushed my way up our final pass (Good Sir) pretty fast and easily. Far Out notes warned of some bushwhacky sections on the descent, but I didn’t find it to be that bad. I caught up to Woody and we took a short morning break at the McArthur ranger cabin. It was to have been our campsite this night, but we were obviously pushing on. Parks[…]

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GDT Day 21: The Rockwall

Great Divide Trail

Tuesday, July 23th, 2024, 0700-1730Floe Lake to Helmet Falls Campground, mm 31517 miles, Gain: 5375′, Loss: 6310′, elevation 5740′ Well, this was the day when we all discovered our GDT thru-hike was over. I slept well and woke feeling excited for another day, especially through an area so renowned as the Rockwall. But just as I was passing Jan’s tent on my way to breakfast, he told me the news from the GDT grapevine. Another hiker told him that Jasper National Park and the town were being evacuated due to a raging set of fires that had just sprang up in the past few days. Also, the fire in section D had grown and now closed all of that section[…]

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GDT Day 20: Floe Lake

Great Divide Trail

Monday, July 22nd, 2024, 0640-1230Ball Pass Junction camp to Floe Lake, mm 298.114 miles, Gain: 3865′, Loss: 3590′, elevation 6670′ I took it easy packing in the morning, since distance-wise it was a short day. Two groups left before me: the Strawbridges of course, and another couple, Colby and Janet. I later found out they were also hikng the GDT. I think pretty much everyone staying at the campsite were on the GDT, since it wasn’t really in the vicinity of big attractions, nor was it anything special as a camp itself. But it was a convenient location along the GDT. This was the first camp we stayed at that wasn’t on our permit, but it worked out. At least[…]

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GDT Day 19: Sunshine

Great Divide Trail

Sunday, July 21st, 2024, 0600-1800Howard Douglas Campground to Ball Pass Junction camp, mm 28517.5 miles, Gain: 3130′, Loss: 4270′, elevation 6380′ I was up early to hike 3.5 miles to the  Sunshine ski lodge, eager to maximize my Wi-Fi and real-food-eating time. It had been over 10 days since I had a connection to anything other than texts from my ZOLEO satellite messenger. A lot of big news was coming from the US…even our Canadian friends were talking about it. But I was kind of glad to be so isolated, truth be told. The sunrise over the mountains and meadows was well worth the effort of packing so early. Even the mosquitos were still asleep, so it was a win-win[…]

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