Windy Peak — Friday, Jun. 21, 2024

Went up Windy Peak on the first full day of summer via the Windy Creek trail. I think this would be the better route, given the shorter distance compared to the Windy Peak trail and the abundant access to water along the trail. I found where Windy Creek (currently) emerges from the ground at around 7700m elevation, this may dry up later on but I imagine the creek persisting in the basin year round.

I don’t have too much to add onto Kidzwonthike’s excellent recent TR, but the blowdown he noted has all been cleared, save for one small log. Thanks to whomever completed this work. There was intermittent snow starting to appear closer to the trail junction along the ridge, and right below the summit the path was more substantially covered in places. I ultimately chose a short scramble up the west face at the end rather than fuss with the snow. Views were impressive in every direction. With so few day hikes in the Pasayten, I feel like this is an underrated peak, especially considering it’s a Bulger/Top 100.

I topped out on the summit in under 3 hours, so descended and headed north along the ridge to Topaz Mtn just to the northwest (second pic is view from Topaz summit). A trail runs almond the ridge to just below the summit block. If you enjoy some Class 2/easy Class 3 scrambling it’s a worthwhile add on. Total for both peaks was about 16 miles, 7 hours moving time.