The Alpine Lakes Grand Tour is a 75+ miles route that starts on Snoqualmie Pass, leads through the magic Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and ends at the Snow Lakes trailhead just outside of Leavenworth. The route has about 22,000+ feet of elevation gain. It was initially proposed by Erich Sach as part of the 2014 UltraPedestrian Wilderness Challenge (UPWC) and has been part of the annual UPWC since then. For more info see UPWC Facebook group and list of routes.
Megan L. and I will make an unsupported attempt at this route on Fri, Jul 26, 2019. This will be Megan’s first and my fourth (!) attempt. Back in the day, when I was young and strong, I failed miserably twice in 2014 and once in 2015 (see reports for more details: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd) before I called it quits. Now that I’m wiser, balder, and bolder, things will surely go well.
Seth Wolpin successfully completed the route for the first time in August 2015 in 43h04min and still holds the FKT. There’s been a total of 5 other finishers since then. Others have tried and failed. The route isn’t just a pleasant stroll in the woods on a smooth and well-maintained trail. Oh no. This ain’t no Forest Park.
Alpine Lakes Grand Tour route map.
Alpine Lakes Grand Tour elevation profile. The further you go, the more challenging the climbs.
Tracking
You can track us in the embedded map below or go to: http://bit.ly/AlpineLakesGrandTourIV
The planned start is sometime in the late afternoon on Fri, Jul 26, 2019, from Snoqualmie Pass.
