Gannett Peak: Cold Springs approach
Dates: June – September
Start: Crowheart – Cold Springs, ~9,500’
End: Crowheart – Cold Springs
Distance: ~25 miles
Altitude gain and loss: ~5,000’ each way
Trip Duration: We suggest 5 days, with an optional 6th day for bad weather or rest
Approach and Ascent Route:
The Gannet Peak guided climb with MAG begins in the tiny town of Crowheart, Wyoming (pop. 141) on the Wind River Reservation (Shoshone and Arapaho tribes). The only establishment is a small general store that has basic grocery amenities as well as native crafts, fishing tackle, ceramics, etc. We begin our journey at this store in order to arrange permission and transport across the reservation.
DAY 1: Crowheart – Cold Springs – Scenic Pass – Echo Lake
Meet at 7:00 am with your bags fully packed and ready to go! After a gear check and food assessment, we meet with our local Shoshone or Arapaho contacts to purchase permits and transport. We load up for a ride across the reservation on rugged dirt roads. This ride gains us roughly 1,000’ to our starting point at Cold Springs trailhead (~9500’). We bid farewell to our driver until the day we exit this remote corner of the Wind River Range. Our approach to Gannett begins by way of faint to non-existent trails that meander in and out of coniferous forests and beautiful high alpine meadows. At times, the trail disappears entirely only to reappear, providing testament to the lack of foot traffic that takes this route. Elk herds are often seen as we approach the aptly named “Scenic Pass” at 11,400’, our high point for the day. Once at the pass, we get commanding views of the Wind River Mountains and our first glimpse of our objective – Gannett Peak. From this point, our hike is mostly a contoured traverse to arrive at Camp 1 near Echo Lake (6 miles, 2,000’ of gain).
Day 1: View of Gannett Peak and Echo Lake from Camp I
DAY 2: Echo Lake – Dinwoody Glacier
After a delicious breakfast, we start our morning with a descent down the Ink Wells trail, passing Echo Lake to join the Dinwoody Trail. As we drop down to Dinwoody, we are rewarded with commanding views of Gannett Peak’s north face and the post-card-worthy vibrant green meadows and aqua blue meandering waterways below (see photo). Once in the meadows, we follow the trail for several miles, fording streams to make our way toward Gannett Peak. The meadows soon close out and we are back in the forest, connecting faint trails with stream crossings. We slowly gain altitude leaving the forests and tree line below in exchange for the alpine arena that contains Gannett Peak. Here we establish Camp 2 amidst exposed granite walls, jutting alpine ridges, glacially polished streambeds, and alpine flowers on the border of the terminal moraine of Gannett Peak’s Dinwoody Glacier (5 miles, 1,000’ of gain).
Day 2: Strolling along near Dinwoody Creek and adjoining stream with Gannett Peak in distant storm.
DAY 3: Dinwoody Glacier – Gannett Peak – Dinwoody Glacier
An alpine start and hiking by headlamp allows us to arrive at the east face of Gannett Peak around sunrise. With clear skies, this entire face glows a gorgeous orange (see photos). From here we see our ascent route up the infamous “Goose Neck” and the snowfields above. We rope up as the slopes steepen and travel as a rope team, crossing the bergschrund and continuing up steep snow slopes to gain the southeast/south ridge. We continue scrambling on exposed rock, eventually regaining the snowy south ridge with magnificent exposure on both sides. From here it is a steady climb up to Gannett Peak’s lofty summit. This route involves technical snow climbing, a bergschrund crossing, rock scrambling over exposed terrain, and steep snow travel as a rope team. Your guide will utilize ropes, pickets, rock protection, and belays whenever necessary. With good fitness, determination, and weather, we arrive at the summit of Gannett Peak, which offers incredible views of the Wind River Range, The Tetons, and Granite Peak (among other mountains). We enjoy the summit briefly prior to embarking on the other half of our climb, the descent. Back at camp, we rest for an hour, take our boots off, hydrate, eat a snack, and then pack up and bump camp back down to the gorgeous Floyd Meadows. If climbers are too exhausted, we have the option to stay one more night at high camp (4-8 miles depending on camp location, +/- 2,000’).
Summit Day: The initial steep section on Gannett Peak’s east slopes
DAY 4: Dinwoody Glacier or Floyd Meadows – Cold Springs
No pre-dawn start today! We enjoy the rising sun as we sip our hot morning beverages. We cross Floyd Meadows and ascend back up to the Echo Lake area. Typically, we stop for lunch where we camped on night 1 earlier in the trip. From here, we traverse back up and over Scenic Pass, where we enjoy our last views of Gannett Peak. We then descend back to Cold Springs to camp on the edge of where the pine forests meet the alpine meadows. As energy allows, we often enjoy a fire as we kick back on our last night of the trip.
High Camp: Hiking just 15 minutes from our high camp after a successful summit on Gannett Peak
DAY 5: Cold Springs – Crowheart
We take this day to sleep in – no rush! We have breakfast overlooking the sun rising over the Crowheart Butte some 3,000′ below. We meet our native transport driver at the Cold Springs trailhead late morning to allow an early afternoon arrival back in Crowheart. This gives all travelers time to drive in daylight to their flights home (or where ever your next destination may be!) We typically stash some water and snacks to enjoy on our slow ride back down to “civilization.”
DAY 6: Optional Weather/Rest Day
If you have the time, you can add another day for weather, a rest day, or to attempt other summits in the area. As Gannett is more than 20 miles back into the wilderness, many people choose to add one more day in case of bad weather on the proposed summit day.
GANNETT PEAK (13,809′ or 4,209 m) is the highest point in Wyoming. To add to its list of “high points,” Gannett Peak is also the highest point in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem AND the highest peak/point in the Rocky Mountains outside of Colorado! Gannett is situated deep in the heart of the beautiful and rugged Wind River Range. Among mountaineers, this peak is known to be the most difficult summit of the 50 state’s high points, after Denali (Mt McKinley) and perhaps Montana’s highest point, Granite Peak. Much of this is owed to the fact that it is more than 20 miles from most trailheads.
WHY CLIMB GANNETT PEAK via COLD SPRINGS opposed to Elkhart/Titcomb Basin?
