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Published: June 16th 2021
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Hannah's terrific video of the hike does the trip more justice than my description does. We camped the night before at Green River Lakes Campground - 12$, no reservations.
The hike begins at the parking lot - follow signs for the Hotline Trail, crossing the river.
Day 1 - 12 Miles
It's 12 miles to 3 Forks Park, which is just a series of meadows.
The first three hours are very easy and scenic, and there were a few nice places to eat lunch midway there. The second half of the hike has a river crossing that your feet get wet.
There were hundreds of downed trees to climb over, around, causing the hike to be over 7 hours, including lunch. There was also one very angry badger.
Camping spots were sparse at 3 Forks Park, and the main area used for camping was closed because it was too close to the trail. It’s also unclear where exactly the place is, and there was no solid ground except right by the river, which you're not supposed to camp next to, but we had no other option.
Day 2 - 7 Miles
We woke up at 7:30 and relaxed for awhile, since the hike from Three Forks
Park to summit lake is only about 7 miles, though gaining 2,000 feet to Green River Pass.
The hike was pretty simple, with gradual switchbacks and Trail Creek - the most unoriginal name imaginable - was the only crossing where we had to remove our shoes.
We had to cross two small snowfields, but the snow was melting so quickly that they were mainly slush.
Summit Lake is fully exposed, but there are campsites in a copse on the eastern side of the lake. This was our best campsite of the trip.
Day 3 - 8 Miles
We broke camp by 9AM and the day started with some switchbacks and small stream crossings, but the problems started when we got to Elbow Lake. The map indicated that we needed to go to the northwestern end of the lake and cross a stream feeding into the lake, but with all the snow, we couldn’t find the trail, and with all the snowmelt, there were several deep streams - not just one. We searched for places to cross but ended up having to wade across the creeks to get to the trail that went to Shannon Pass.
We finally found the trail on the way up and had lunch at the pass, with panoramic views of nearby peaks. As we ascended the other side, however, we encountered snowfields covering every crevice, many with small creeks underneath. The choices were to walk across the snow, falling in up to the waist every once in awhile, or to walk along boulders off-trail, which was dangerous, as evidenced by my fall when a boulder moved. The lakes in this area were still partially frozen and the going was very slow. By the time we reached Upper Jean Lake, we’d walked only 7 or 8 miles in 6 hours.
We found a mediocre spot on a small hill above the lake and camped there, with the intention of spending 2 nights there to do a day hike to the Titcomb Basin the following day.
Day 4 - 15+ miles, Day Hike
After a couple of minor mishaps due to following the advice of someone at the outfitters of a "shortcut," we arrived at the Titcomb Basin - the main destination of our trip. It was worth it. On the way back we got very lost and had to
backtrack for miles to find the trail. It was a little scary since we didn't have our tents and food with us, and there was bear scat everywhere.
Day 5 - 15 Miles - Descending to 3 Forks Park
Day 6 - 12 Miles Back Through the Fallen Trees
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Tot: 0.117s; Tpl: 0.03s; cc: 13; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0638s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb