The Brittle Breccia of Sublette Peak

This is what the upper part of the mountain consists of. Those knobs that look nice and solid? Most of them aren't. Most pull out about as easily as if they were in sand. This breccia is a hardened volcanic ash that cements other rocks together. Cements is meant loosely here, for on most of the mountain, the rock is literally crumbling; simply walking on some of the nearly level terraces can be treacherous, and climbing this stuff verges on horrifying. The cliffs on the left are the Brooks Lake Cliffs and part of the Continental Divide; the plateau-like peak in the distance is in the Teton Wilderness, a world away. Absaroka Range, WY-- July 2009