Sangre de Cristo Mountains > Wheeler Peak (NM) > Climber's LogWheeler Peak (NM) Climber's Log
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[ Sign the Climber's Log ]
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| AubreySun | Tour de Wheeler Peak  Date Climbed: Jun 22, 2008 | |
| Went up Bull-of-the-Woods; down the west slope and Williams Lake Trail; then 2 miles on the road from the Williams Lake Trailhead to the Bull-of-the-Woods Trailhead. Ended up being about 13 miles and 4,200 feet of gain. Took us about 6 hours and 45 minutes. No snow until the trail skirted below Bull-of-the-Woods Mountain. It wasn’t bad, though. Portions and edges of the trail poked through. No special equipment needed, although gaiters were nice to have. We encountered our first snowfield on the side of Point 11,762. The trail was completely covered in snow. While it could be crossed without an ice axe, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so, and I was glad I brought mine. We crossed half of the snowfield and then skirted along the edge until we met back up with the dry trail. At this time, I suppose you could bypass all the snow by bushwhacking around it and over Point 11,762’s summit. From there, the trail was dry until La Cal Basin. La Cal Basin was completely full of snow at/below treeline. We descended into the snowy forest to 11,800’, crossed the point where a couple creeks merge, then climbed directly up. Fortunately, it was early enough so the snow was mostly packed; we only postholed a few times. On the descent to Williams Lake via Wheeler’s west slope, there were a few small snowfields, but nothing major. Made a few short glissades. The crowded Williams Lake Trail was slushy and sloppy. Plastic pink ribbons marked the route, as the trail was buried under snow and mud. The last mile or so was dry. | |
| Posted Jun 23, 2008 6:49 pm | ||
| StumblingBear | Two Beautiful Fall Climbs Date Climbed: Oct 12, 1997 | |
| Climbed Wheeler Peak twice, both times in October. The first with a friend. We hiked into Willams Lake, spent the night and summited the next day. Weather was nice but a cold wind blew on top. Next year my wife and her brother spent the night in Taos and got an early start the next morning and did the whole climb in one day from Williams Lake again.It was about the same weather just colder wind on top. | |
| Posted May 20, 2008 11:22 am | ||
| peakrat76 | Wheeler Combo Date Climbed: Jul 7, 1997 | |
| Did the whole Wheeler/Old Mike/Simpson/Walter circuit. Great day & great companions. | |
| Posted Apr 23, 2008 3:56 pm | ||
| scooter12ga | NM at its greatest! Date Climbed: Aug 5, 2007 | |
| Drove straight up there after returning from a business trip. Spent the night at TSV campground, summited the next day via Bull of the Woods. Beautiful summit day! | |
| Posted Apr 1, 2008 3:58 pm | ||
| jimegan | WHEELER PK Date Climbed: Jul 10, 2004 | |
| SOLOED WILLIAMS LK TRAIL AND NEARLY PASSED BY SUMMIT ON FINE TRAIL ON E FLANKS HEADED FOR DISTANT GOOD LOOKING PEAK FREEZING WIND CHILL WHILE TRYING TO SIGN REGISTER | |
| Posted Feb 7, 2008 11:18 am | ||
| GroundControl | Wheeler Peak, Summer 2003 | |
| Beautiful hike up Wheeler Peak, highly recommended. | |
| Posted Jan 13, 2008 10:05 am | ||
| highlandvillager | Just in time Date Climbed: May 27, 2007 | |
| We got a late start and trudged through knee deep snow to Williams Lake. I cut my break there short, which made all the difference. I was able to summit and glissade back down to the tree line before an approaching storm arrived. My climbing partner lingered too long at Williams Lake and was turned back by a blizzard just shy of the summit. We both enjoyed the beer and food at The Bavarian before returning to camp. | |
| Posted Jan 6, 2008 1:09 am | ||
| AltitudeSickness | Route Climbed: Bushwhacked Date Climbed: Jan 1, 2004 | |
| Bushwhacked up to approach to Mt. Walters from Lake Fork Creek. Followed ridge to Mt. Wheeler. Lots of snow made it lots of fun. Played all the way there. Bright sunshine all day. Cold sometimes, very warm at other times. Great trip even though I was miserably out of shape. | |
| Posted Dec 22, 2007 8:42 pm | ||
| panweilin | My 1st NM peak Date Climbed: Jul 3, 2004 | |
| The first peak I went up in New Mexico. Wildflower blooming. | |
| Posted Oct 25, 2007 7:46 pm | ||
| forjan | Williams Lake Trail Date Climbed: Oct 12, 2007 | |
| Woke up at 7:30am to 32F at the hiker parking lot. Started up at 8:10am. A local dog followed me all the way to the summit which we reached just before 10am. Stayed at the summit for 1/2 hr. Windy & cold along the summit ridge. Tagged Mount Walter on the way down. Back at the trailhead by 11:40am (3.5 hrs car-to-car). | |
| Posted Oct 15, 2007 11:43 am | ||
| I like it on top | Beautiful Day Date Climbed: Sep 11, 2007 | |
| Bright sun and spectacular views. After a short bushwack, we rose above treeline and picked up the bull of the woods trail, and made the summit around 11:30am. We completed the climb in recognition of those lost on 09-11, on behalf of Cops on Top. | |
| Posted Sep 12, 2007 1:31 am | ||
| Redwic | Weather Issues At The Summit Date Climbed: Sep 7, 2007 | |
| Starting in the early morning, there were beautiful weather conditions... *until* I climbed halfway up the saddle-slope between Wheeler Peak & Mount Walter. Then, suddenly, a solid cloud blanket covered over both peaks. The wind picked up, and it quickly felt like the temperature dropped to below freezing. When I reached Wheeler Peak's summit, the cloud/fog was so thick that I couldn't see 2-3 feet in front of me, so I jogged over to Mount Walter's summit to hopefully find more suitable conditions... only to find much of the same thick cloud cover there. It was too bad, as I bet that the views from the summits would have been spectacular. Thank goodness for my GPS & general pathfinding skills. The Williams Lake Trail is very nice!!! | |
| Posted Sep 9, 2007 11:43 pm | ||
| Clodhopper | Not the best weather Date Climbed: Aug 19, 2006 | |
| Thunderstorm above the treeline, at 13000ft. In retrospect, not so smart. Camping on top in a lightning storm, well, stupid. We made it though, I think I'll wait for a clear day to do it again. | |
| Posted Sep 3, 2007 8:45 pm | ||
| A Bit | From the ski area Date Climbed: Sep 15, 1996 | |
| A bighorn sheep was there to welcome us near the summit. Didn't see much of the view due to clouds that put down a couple inches of snow. | |
| Posted Sep 1, 2007 2:23 am | ||
| lasvegaswraith | Look out! Date Climbed: Aug 23, 2003 | |
| Hiked via Williams Lake and the steep slog to the saddle. Bagged Walter en route down and fought off marmots trying to make off with everything not tied down. Saw 15 or 20 bighorn on the way down and got some decent photos but headed for the hills quick as thunderheads started building (and this was 1000am) It started to rain and hail by the time I got back to the trailhead. Start early in summer for sure. | |
| Posted Aug 17, 2007 7:14 pm | ||
| StarMan | September 2005 | |
| Via Williams Lake - STEEP! | |
| Posted Aug 9, 2007 8:40 pm | ||
| starship_jen | Williams Lake Date Climbed: Jul 1, 2007 | |
| HP #31. Hiked with Paul. Steep!!! Enjoyable hike and TONS of marmots! So cute! Glissaded for the first time on a short snowfield--fun stuff! : ) | |
| Posted Jul 9, 2007 2:44 pm | ||
| Garon Coriz | A Reinvigorating Visit Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2007 | |
| Beautiful, clear morning alone on the summit. Managed to get in a half-hour nap on top. | |
| Posted Jun 30, 2007 6:21 pm | ||
| Zandt | Gorgeous climb Date Climbed: Jun 19, 2007 | |
| Ascended Bull-of-the-Woods Trail, which was beautiful, though obscured by large snowfields in several places. Descended by the Williams Lake trail...which seems just plain destroyed along much of its length and extends down into probably one of the saddest-looking spruce forests I've ever seen. | |
| Posted Jun 25, 2007 2:06 pm | ||
| 2skinners | HP #4 Beautiful day Date Climbed: Jun 18, 2007 | |
| My 2nd attempt successful as my first attempt was turned back by myself because of threatening looking clouds. Well worth the effort as this was a beautiful climb. | |
| Posted Jun 22, 2007 4:50 am | ||
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