 |
| |
Union Pass There are only two road passes
crossing the Wind River Range, and actually
those 2 are just skirting the foothills of the
range on either end. Yet both of them are
historical giants, even if they just seem to
roll along like midget summits over the top.
Union Pass has a mysterious and complicated
geography, that has made it difficult to cross
for the purpose of getting somewhere you want
to go. That fact has shaped its history. Even
though it is a mountain pass, already crossed
by the earliest trappers, it is still a
wilderness journey today. It is also a high
point in every sense of the word on the GDMBR
(Great Divide Mountain Bike Touring Route).
Approaches The real estate bonanza has an end
where the road crosses into National Forest
Land. There still is some tough climbing ahead
though, usually through the trees. But
opportunities for far views open up sometime. Approaching the top the road
enters a land of alpine and sage meadows
sweeping to the horizon. On the distant horizon
this sweeping power sometimes runs into an
immovable object, the main ridge of the WInd
River Range. Considering how historically
important this crossing is, it is surprising
that there is not even a pass sign at the
summit, just an informal siding for cars to pull
off. But then again, who can be sure that this
is really the summit or the water divide, with
such complex, and at the same time understated
physical features in the immediate surroundings. Slideshow of Southern Approach
From South.
(described downwards) A few miles below the
highest point a simple sign points to a short
track leading to the Union Pass interpretive
site. On this small knoll with a good view on
all surrounding land features, a host of signs
illuminates the various angles of interest
concerning this pass, and there are quite a few,
some historical, another the fact, that three
water sheds meet on top of a nearby hill, one of
only two hills you can say that about in the US.
Slideshow of Northern Approach
History
The Fur Trapper Period: The Astorians: ( < Sioux Pass| )This was a time when a few mountain passes in the west known for their key roles in overland routes, passes such as La Glorieta Pass in New Mexico (crossed by Alvarado in 1540), Douglas Pass (crossed by Escalante in 1776) Poncha and Sangre de Cristo passes in Colorado (crossed by de Anza in 1779, passes crossed by Lewis and Clark, such as Lemhi Pass (Idaho/Montana), and a few passes crossed by Pike in Colorado, such as Trout Creek Pass and Medano Pass in 1806/1807. That covers two and a half centuries. During the next 20 years after that, the pace of pass discoveries would pick up considerably. The superficial motivating reason was fashion. Hats made from beaver fur became a fashion item.  The earliest major
competition between fur trading businesses in
the American west played out between the
Canadian North West Fur Company, and the so
called Astorians. These were a result of
president Jefferson encouraging John Jacob
Astor, a German-born New York fur business king
to establish a fur trading post on the west
coast on the mouth of the Columbia.It was in 1811, when a group of Astorians, led by Wilson Price Hunt, found themselves meeting three trappers, with extensive experience from the Lewis and Clarke expedition: (Hoback, Robinson and Reznor), while still in Nebraska. This was a stark contrast from the store-tending background of the Trenton-New Jersey born Wilson Price Hunt. The three trappers agreed to guide the Hunt group west as far as Fort Henry and Pierre's Hole, on the east side of the Teton Range. At this point hey had already crossed Powder River Pass, and the minor Cottonwood Pass and Sioux Pass near present Lysite, Wyoming. During September of that year, at the junction between Togwotee Pass and Union Pass, a group of Snake Indian guides advised the group to go reach Pierre's Hole (today's village of Jackson) by way of Union Pass. Even they admitted that this would be a big detour. But the reason they gave, was that hunting buffalo for food would be much easier on the other side of Union Pass, because buffalo were plentiful on the Green but not at the base of the Tetons. When descending Wagon Creek towards the Green, they noticed that they were not in the Pacific drainage but in drainage of the Gulf of Mexico. And so Hunt and his group traveled to today's "Jackson Village" the long way, and had another major climb over "the Rim" ahead of themselves. After that Hunt revived the "travel by river whenever possible" philosophy, and with many mishaps and several deaths reached the Columbia in 1812.  Military explorations: (|Raynold's Pass>) Raynolds. It was not until much later in the 1860s when Union Pass was named. Westward emigration was in full swing by now. Westward migrants now used many of the passes pioneered by the trappers and miners. During that time the Captain Reynolds of the Army Engineers, aged 40, was instructed to explore about half a million acres of wilderness in the north west, inhabited by angry Indians, and find the best emigrant routes from Fort Laramie westwards over South Pass. He was guided by Jim Bridger, familiar with the territory and its passes from the fur trapping period.  Raynolds was entusiastic about
reaching the Yellowstone River, but objected to
Bridger's way of getting there, which involved
crossing the continental divide twice, first
over Togwotee
Pass or one of its parallel alternatives
and then back over the much lower Two-Ocean Pass
(8200ft), which separates Jackson Lake from the
valley of the Yellowstone. However Jim Bridger
at this point in his life had a hard time
remembering the landmarks of his youth, and deep
snow on all the routes did not help. And so
Captain Raynolds in the end decided himself the
lead the group over the pass, described already
then as a "tripple divide". In a patriotic
gesture he named the pass "Union Pass".COMPLETELY UNPAVED: Union Pass x2: Warm Springs Trailhead <> Union Pass <> turnaround point near end of great views on south side: 49.5miles with 3790ft of climbing in 5:03hrs (Cateye or Avocet50 cyclecomputer: m2:96.9.6) (pics t96_3) ( < South Pass | FR532 Warm Springs Rd s(u) > ) same summit point: Union Pass Rd at National Forest Boundary at ~8320ft <> Union Pass < turnaround point on Union Pass Rd at first cattle grate below meadow at ~8560ft: 60.0miles with 4740ft of climbing in 6:57hrs (garmin etrex32x m5:23.09.12) (pics: t23_18) Notes: a perfect September day on which to recall other perfect September days. Along the way I met 2 GDMBR cycling couples, including nervenritzel.de same summit point: starting along Green River on north side somewhere before jct with Union Pass Rd <> Union Pass <> turn around point several miles before reaching jct with US26: 71.3miles with 7760ft of climbing in 6:51hrs (Cateye or Avocet50 cyclecomputer: m2:95.9.11 (pics: t95_2) |
From
here on the road just seems to roll along
forever on this high plateau, connecting one
meadow to the next. A ways past a hut for GDMBR
tourers, the crossing of Raspberry Creek marks a
low point on the plateau. But the following
series of upward rollers are not quite enough to
qualify as a separate summit. The woods continue
- until the second series of great panoramas
(one on each approach) appear. The road leaves
the forest and skirts a large wetland area. In
the distance the headwaters of the Green River
have carved out a monumental set of portal rocks
and monoliths in one of the rocky heartlands of
the Wind River Range. Variations of this
panorama continue for several miles. There is
plenty of time to admire it, especially with the
bike slowing down a bit more due to a somewhat
more rocky than average road surface. Up to now
the surface has been quite good. Here it is just
slightly heavy on large rocks, locked in place
by an otherwise hard surface. The last 3 to 4
miles down to the junction with the road
following the Green River are in the trees.|
|
advertisement |
|
|
advertisement |