anything with a throttle and track! hopefully a cat again!
Another UTAH SW Pic of the Week
- Thread starter girlpowder
- Start date
anything with a throttle and track! hopefully a cat again!
So in the pic 3207 above.
Is Big Elk Lake over the ridge?
Is Big Elk Lake over the ridge?
S
snengineer
Well-known member
All these areas are awesome in the right snow, I always want to hit this in the deep powder but its probrably not very practical....maybe with the right crowd.
You'll piss off the skiers...even though its legal, not much parking with all the Subaru's that fill the pull-out
Thats what I thought!!
Tell you what, I will show you the rest this year!! And with no GPS.
can I come, my group is not as ambitious as I am usually
I think we ran across each other a few times, I was on a phazer
PITA...good to have an escape route though
funny how two people can visit the same location and feel like nobody else has ever been there
Last May the red route was not possible, low snow I guess. Fun area!
Big elk Lake
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Yes, I know!!
can I come, my group is not as ambitious as I am usually
Sure!!
There were very few that rode this area back in the 90's, and it has slowly increased. The problem with this area, if your not familiar with it, you wont be able to find the routes. Most people dont know to go West off Washington, let alone pick their way up through that pass.
I actually havent been up there much in the past few years, but before that, probably rode there 5 or 6 times a year.....
Ok i got out the map and drew some terrible little squiggleys on it...
The green circle is the Towers in Shingle creek
The blue route is the safe way to get there
The yellow circle is Island Peak/cone peak
The other yellow lines are passes over the ridges i consider to be doable, but dangerous, exercise extreme caution.
The red line is the pass i first took to get back into shingle creek (the one i have posted above). Its insane and i dont recommend it unless your low on fuel, want to wreck your sled miles from anything, or just have a death wish...
Phatty- we used to have a guys trip in to this area every year for a few days to hike and fish.....we would go from the upper setting TH and follow the trail which is approximately your blue line in past E. Shingle to the fork between north and south erickson lakes. We would camp at North erickson and have a pretty killer camp spot there with log benches, grill and all. We would hike over to elk and to the top of Wall Mtn. as you have called it. We just called it "Rock Mountain" cause that thing is one nasty pile of boulders without snow on it. If you have taken your sled down from that then yes I would say that warrants a wish to wreck a sled.
Anyway I would love to join a small group for some spring exploration of this area.
So in the pic 3207 above.
Is Big Elk Lake over the ridge?
Yes Big Elk Lake is just to the left of the red arrows... remember it drops off a big "wall" down to the lake so its actually a little more difficult to get there than you think...
I grabbed another topo (sorry for the watermark, best i can do at work)
The Purple lines are the two i have mapped in Pic 3207.
The yellow is the recommended route down into big elk from smith moorehouse (the north side if island/cone peak)
The blue line is the pack trail or easiest way back into erickson
The red line is the direct "chute" into East Shingle creek (again its F'n nuts) and some years the shelves and rocks are not filled in enough to do it
I know people ride back in there, but i have never seen other tracks when i go, it always feels like your the "first people" to ride there, and i like that
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I found a good image of big elk lake and norway ridge "the wall"
This pic is looking southwest. "The wall" you can see wraps the entire length of the lake. with a little effort and some route finding skills you can pick your way down the shelves to the lake no big deal.
The steep nasty chute into shingle creek can be seen on the far right of the picture where the low saddle is on the ridge.
I will just link to the picture cause its huge
http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/484887.JPG
This pic is looking southwest. "The wall" you can see wraps the entire length of the lake. with a little effort and some route finding skills you can pick your way down the shelves to the lake no big deal.
The steep nasty chute into shingle creek can be seen on the far right of the picture where the low saddle is on the ridge.
I will just link to the picture cause its huge
http://www.summitpost.org/images/original/484887.JPG
If we get a big snow year, we can get in there before Spring!! I think this area is one of the more technical riding areas in the state.
S
snengineer
Well-known member
Here is a google earth pic I doctored up...........tell me if that is the correct "wall" you are referring to?
Here is a google earth pic I doctored up...........tell me if that is the correct "wall" you are referring to?
cant see the pic at work unless its an actual attachment... email it to me geoff.dyer@hill.af.mil
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