birdhead - Jun 21, 2018 9:27 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2018
East Ridge
Climbed a chute to climber's left of the East Ridge and then ascended the ridge to the summit. The rock on the ridge is mostly solid and stable. Several class 3 scrambling sections are encountered. One of the better ridge climbs in NM.
1st; 7/5/16: Rachael and I started from Bull-of-the-Woods trailhead, summited Walter, Wheeler, Simpson, Old Mike, "Fairchild", Lake Fork and Kachina and then descended the ski area back to the car. Some fun scrambly sections between Simpson and "Fairchild" and again to get up Lake Fork. Long loop, not sure the mileage of vert but we took about 9 hours to complete it.
2nd; 5/19/18: Rachael, Scot and I started at Williams Lake trailhead and summited Wheeler, Simpson, "Fairchild', Lake Fork and Kachina before descending through the ski area back to the car.
Ascended the north ridge from Kachina as a part of Kachina-Wheeler traverse. Climbed directly from the saddle to the Point 12,535 on a reasonably solid Class 3+ rock and hiked to the summit of Lake Fork. Took a short break to enjoy the view from the summit (one of my NM favorites) and continued on the ridge to UN 12,819, UN 12,728, Simpson and Wheeler. Fun scramble, good weather, great views!
12/05/2010: Traversed from Kachina and continued to Vallecito Mountain. Returned the same way.
I think I've summitted this peak around 10 times in the past 5 years, all but once with skis, and I never tire of it. Routes have included the east ridge (after snowclimbing up one of the north-facing couloirs), the SE slope, the NE face, and the N ridge from Kachina. I think my favorite view of it is from the top of Kachina in winter.
Dan the Jones - Jul 23, 2007 3:37 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2007
Coming from Kachina
Crossed over from Kachina Peak on the north ridge. Route finding is essential on the loose slopes, mostly because the main trails end in 5th class climbs due to the fact that most climbers up here are Big Horn Sheep. The wind shelter wasnt needed because of the clear skies, in fact we summitted at 2pm. Lots of black flies, and of course the classic parade line could be seen marching all the way up Wheeler Peak.
Garon Coriz - Jun 30, 2007 6:27 pm Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2007
Night Ascent
Watch the moon set at around 4 am. Freaky seeing a red moon get squished against the horizon before finally dropping.
Dan, Paul and I took advantage of the great conditions and skied/climbed up the South (East) couloir. It was cloudy and windy so the snow was hard...good for climbing, but not great for skiing. Nevertheless, we summited then sped down on the hard snow. The top few turns were sketchy, but things got better and wider the lower we got. Lake Fork is a great peak!
markhyams - Jun 15, 2006 2:09 am Date Climbed: Jun 14, 2006
East Ridge
Climbed the east ridge and it was pretty fun. I stayed almost all the way left at the start, and it turned out to be kind of like 4th class grass. Hmm. Higher up there was a wall that seemed like pretty hard 4th class too, but maybe it was just loose. I wasn't doing any route-finding, just heading straight up, so I'm sure I missed some easier variations. I linked up Point 12,819 as well. The ridge continuing to Wheeler looks very reasonable.
birdhead - Jun 21, 2018 9:27 pm Date Climbed: Jun 21, 2018
East RidgeClimbed a chute to climber's left of the East Ridge and then ascended the ridge to the summit. The rock on the ridge is mostly solid and stable. Several class 3 scrambling sections are encountered. One of the better ridge climbs in NM.
chicagotransplant - Jul 7, 2016 6:56 pm Date Climbed: Jul 5, 2016
Wheeler Grand Traverse1st; 7/5/16: Rachael and I started from Bull-of-the-Woods trailhead, summited Walter, Wheeler, Simpson, Old Mike, "Fairchild", Lake Fork and Kachina and then descended the ski area back to the car. Some fun scrambly sections between Simpson and "Fairchild" and again to get up Lake Fork. Long loop, not sure the mileage of vert but we took about 9 hours to complete it.
2nd; 5/19/18: Rachael, Scot and I started at Williams Lake trailhead and summited Wheeler, Simpson, "Fairchild', Lake Fork and Kachina before descending through the ski area back to the car.
JohnnyCO - Sep 2, 2011 6:20 pm Date Climbed: Sep 2, 2011
Kachina approach...Came from Kachina and skirted around the fasle summit to the west and over to Lake Fork. This approach was probably like class 2. Wonderful day.
C Wenker - May 10, 2010 10:27 am Date Climbed: May 9, 2010
Ski descentsOvernight at the lake. Skinned up SE face x2. Skiied SE face and then NE face. Down by 11am, getting pretty soft by then.
davebobk47 - Jul 19, 2009 6:19 pm Date Climbed: Jul 18, 2009
Ridge hike from 12819Hike the ridge from Pt 12819. Nice views, perfect weather. Saw no other hikers all days except for the ones I could see on Wheeler.
strudolyubov - Apr 29, 2009 1:04 pm Date Climbed: Apr 25, 2009
North Ridge from KachinaAscended the north ridge from Kachina as a part of Kachina-Wheeler traverse. Climbed directly from the saddle to the Point 12,535 on a reasonably solid Class 3+ rock and hiked to the summit of Lake Fork. Took a short break to enjoy the view from the summit (one of my NM favorites) and continued on the ridge to UN 12,819, UN 12,728, Simpson and Wheeler. Fun scramble, good weather, great views!
12/05/2010: Traversed from Kachina and continued to Vallecito Mountain. Returned the same way.
scotthsu - Sep 17, 2008 11:48 pm
love this peak!I think I've summitted this peak around 10 times in the past 5 years, all but once with skis, and I never tire of it. Routes have included the east ridge (after snowclimbing up one of the north-facing couloirs), the SE slope, the NE face, and the N ridge from Kachina. I think my favorite view of it is from the top of Kachina in winter.
Dan the Jones - Jul 23, 2007 3:37 pm Date Climbed: Jul 22, 2007
Coming from KachinaCrossed over from Kachina Peak on the north ridge. Route finding is essential on the loose slopes, mostly because the main trails end in 5th class climbs due to the fact that most climbers up here are Big Horn Sheep. The wind shelter wasnt needed because of the clear skies, in fact we summitted at 2pm. Lots of black flies, and of course the classic parade line could be seen marching all the way up Wheeler Peak.
Garon Coriz - Jun 30, 2007 6:27 pm Date Climbed: Jun 29, 2007
Night AscentWatch the moon set at around 4 am. Freaky seeing a red moon get squished against the horizon before finally dropping.
lizrdboy - Apr 22, 2007 9:13 pm Date Climbed: Apr 21, 2007
Winter Ski TripDan, Paul and I took advantage of the great conditions and skied/climbed up the South (East) couloir. It was cloudy and windy so the snow was hard...good for climbing, but not great for skiing. Nevertheless, we summited then sped down on the hard snow. The top few turns were sketchy, but things got better and wider the lower we got. Lake Fork is a great peak!
markhyams - Jun 15, 2006 2:09 am Date Climbed: Jun 14, 2006
East RidgeClimbed the east ridge and it was pretty fun. I stayed almost all the way left at the start, and it turned out to be kind of like 4th class grass. Hmm. Higher up there was a wall that seemed like pretty hard 4th class too, but maybe it was just loose. I wasn't doing any route-finding, just heading straight up, so I'm sure I missed some easier variations. I linked up Point 12,819 as well. The ridge continuing to Wheeler looks very reasonable.
Midlife Mountaineer - Aug 30, 2005 2:21 pm Date Climbed: Aug 25, 2005
Route Climbed: Taos Ski Valley, Kachina Peak, North ridge of Lake Fork Peak Date Climbed: Augusst 25, 2005Quite a challenging scramble up Kachna and Lake Fork, but well worth it. Beautiful day.