I really want to get into the Wind Rivers this year, and I really want to reach 13,000 feet this year. As a relative newbie to climbing mountains I am not sure if Fremont is the right peak to achieve this, though. I will have opportunities to get into the Wind Rivers either August 9-11 or all of October, and I have a feeling it will be deep winter by October in the Wind Rivers. So I am eyeing taking a three day weekend for August 9-11 and trying something in the Wind Rivers.

My peaks book makes the ascent sound relatively easy, given decent weather. By August the highest I will have been will be 11,000 feet though. Is there a good chance my body could react badly to the higher elevation? I have been getting to at least 10,000 feet every week. I am taking more caution to staying hydrated since I have found myself dehydrated after a couple of my longer day hikes (15-17 miles). So I plan to bring ample water and sports drink both for all hikes.

I know that anything can happen at altitude that high, and I have been very fortunate so far on all my hikes to have had no major obstacles or problems, but I am always keeping worst case scenarios running through my head so I am hopefully ready when (not if) they happen.

Not that it really matters, but is there a lot of bear activity around Fremont Lake/Titcomb Basin area? I'm just not very familiar with the Wind Rivers, having never been there yet.

Also I am always up for alternatives and suggestions/tips.

Never climbed that peak (nor in that immediate area), but looking at the SP page, it seems like a scramble. Summit logs show 26 summits out of 26 attempts. Many of the logs describe it as a scramble.

Regarding the altitude, it wouldn't bother me, and I wouldn't hesitate to attempt it.

Thanks for the reply. I am looking for more hikes that involve scrambling, since it kind of takes the monotony out of hiking. I haven't had any problems with altitude sickness yet so I feel like I should be able to handle it, but there is no way to be sure until you're up there. I am definitely going to head to either the Beartooths or the Wind Rivers on Aug. 9-11. I will decide a little later.

The thing I was most wondering about is the feasibility of hiking in the Wind Rivers or Beartooths in October. I work in YNP and my hiking buddy leaves at the end of September so I have all of October to do whatever I want (solo), and I definitely want to visit the Beartooths and Wind Rivers at least once each this year (we don't have any hikes in either of them scheduled before he leaves). My buddy is out of town the week of Aug. 9-11, so do you think I should do Wind Rivers in August and hope the Beartooths aren't a giant blizzard in October?

You're really pushing it if you want to get into the high mountains in October, especially the Beartooths.

My advice-- do whichever appeals to you more in August, hope for good weather in October, and plan for next summer.

Ok that's kind of what I figured. I may actually hit the Beartooths in August since I think I can make a better 2-nighter out of a trip up to Aero Lakes area. Having never camped above treeline yet, how do you store your pack/food at night and while you are away from camp? Are there going to be critters and/or bears up there? I know that even if there aren't you still should store your goodies properly, I just am unfamiliar with how that is done.

I'm thinking my plan could be as follows:

Sunday: Drive up after work and hike a few miles (6 hopefully) in then camp.
Monday: Hike to camp near Upper Aero Lake, drop off gear, summit Mount Wilse before late morning.
Tuesday: Summit Glacier and Villard.
Wednesday: Relax, maybe check out Sky Top Lakes, then hike back out.

All weather-permitting of course. I think I would rather check out the Aero Lakes area more at the moment, but we'll see. Can anyone recommend the best place to camp around Upper Aero? Preferably the west side since that will keep me much closer to the peaks.

You should send a PM to Ianc82 (member here). Good guy, very experienced, and always looking for partners. He's in Bozeman, Montana. Also, I should be out that way in October (assuming I'm fully recovered from my surgery) and would be glad to do some scrambles with you.

I haven't written off Fremont yet. I should really have said that I really am a newbie to climbing/scrambling for sure. I got my first real taste of an off-trail mountain today in Black Mountain at Pine Creek Lake. Firstly, that is the most beautiful area I have ever seen! A stunning panorama surrounds you at the lake, with Black Mountain hulking in front of you.

Me and my buddy got started about 6 this morning, but my buddy was getting really impatient and decided he wanted to go scout out the route. The only problem is we hadn't discussed the route, so in a nutshell we didn't find each other and I was left to solo my way up. I went up the wrong spur (yeah, yeah, I know it's a super easy climb...) and by the time I got back down and went up the right spur dark clouds were moving in. The clouds didn't end up doing anything but I didn't want to risk being on an exposed ridge at 10,000 feet so I went back down, highly disappointed. After thinking about it more though, I decided all wasn't lost. I learned a lot today. I need to improve my routefinding and I need to learn some actual technique for climbing, since I had a couple uncomfortable moments downclimbing.

My plans for the Beartooths may change in light of my "bring-me-back-to-earth" experience today. I may just try and do Wilse and Glacier, depending on how the ridge looks from Glacier to Villard. I don't know if I will feel comfortable enough to do it from the pics they have on SummitPost here, but as I found out today, you can't judge anything until it's right in front of you.

What is the best approach to Wilse? South or east or something else? I can't seem to find any info on it.

fuzzywuzzy wrote:In case you have not decided against Fremont 100% - You would be fine at 13,700 if you've spent a lot of time at 10,000 and 11,000 this summer. You might get a little lightheaded or something, and you might even have a little trouble sleeping in titcomb basin, which is about 11,000, but you would be fine.
I've never been to the beartooths, but the winds, and titcomb basin in particular, are spectacular places that I would not miss without a good reason. Fremont is an easy climb. As long as you make sure you are on the right ridge, you will make the summit with little difficulty. It's a big day, but it's straightforward. It is also really fun, and the views are second to none.
But, I would not put a lot of hope in getting into the winds and up fremont in October. A little bit of snow would make it pretty miserable. My guess (extremely rough guess based on nothing but pure speculation) is that you would have 'summer' conditions up there in early October about 10-20% of years. The rest would probably involve wet post holing in thin snow.
On critters and food - I have been camping above treeline for 15 or 20 years and I've never exactly figured it out. Sometimes you can find a miserable tree hanging out up there, sometimes not. Sometimes you can find a cliff or something to try to at least make it a challenge for the critter, sometimes not. There are canisters you can buy, but that's another thing to carry, and I have heard that they are not perfect.
My strategy is this - try to be as clean as possible. Don't take foods that leave a mess. Lick all dishes clean. Then bury your trash under some rocks in one spot for the night, bury your food unders some other rocks for the night. I always figured the trash would be smellier, so maybe the critters would get distracted by it.
Good luck, whatever you do.

I would have to agree, having been in the beartooths, and the Wind Rivers. If you have the chance to go to Titcomb basin, and climb Fremont,Do it. I don't know if I would consider climbing Fremont easy, But it is a great third class scramble, with awesome veiws ! The only issue with altitude might be sleeping above 10,000 feet. IT IS A LONG WAY FROM THE CAR.

Morlow, if you aren't certain about your route-finding right now, I'd advise against Wilse. The best approach seems to be from the south, leaving the trail a little before Lower Aero Lake. I was up on Iceberg Peak, close to Wilse on the west, back on July 1, and I don't remember seeing anything to promising from that direction, though I admit I wasn't specifically looking. But it would involve snow and glacier travel or a traverse from Iceberg.

I've never looked at the traverse from Wilse to Villard, but I do know that in that general area, a lot of the ridges are studded with pinnacles and have deep notches as well. Just something to keep in mind. Hope for a traverse, but plan on time to do the peaks separately if necessary.

Also, check on snow levels before you go. When I was in that section of the Beartooths June 30 and July 1, there was very little above 8500' not covered in deep, soft snow, and that includes trails. All the high lakes, including Lower Aero, which I could see from Zimmer's ridges, were frozen over.

I know a lot can change in 6 or 7 weeks, but snow conditions like that sometimes last well into August. So definitely inquire wherever and however you can. The combination of snow travel, extensive off-trail hiking, and route finding may make you opt for Fremont instead. At least there is more information out there on the route and a lot more approach on well-traveled paths.

Morlow wrote:What is the best approach to Wilse? South or east or something else? I can't seem to find any info on it.

Well, I guess this question is taylor-made for me, since Wilse was my very first big peak, done solo when I was in my first season in YNP and had just about your experience level. It's a great choice.

If you are not experienced in routefinding, your best bet for Wilse is to go all the way up Zimmer Creek (ignoring the Aero Lakes turnoff). You can camp at Iceberg Lake if you want. You continue north from the lake to the obvious pass between Iceberg Peak and Mt Wilse and then walk (no significant scrambling at all) up the east slope to the flat summit of Wilse.

Based on what I saw when I was back in the area in 2007, you are going to have a routefinding challenge in three places: (1) finding the right forest road to the Lady of the Lake trailhead (just ask directions of everyone you see and you'll be fine); (2) getting on the trail proper from the little campground (if signs are down, again, there will be people around and you can ask); and (3) at a stream crossing in a huge meadow about a mile after leaving Lady of the Lake, where the trail disappears in the grass for a bit. Number 3 can be a little vexing--don't get suckered into going downstream--your trail leaves from the meadow itself and is a little farther left (west) than instinct might tell you.

It is possible to descend Wilse to the east and make your way down to the Aero Lakes with only class 2 scrambling, but a bit of routefinding is involved. I don't know about "traversing" to Glacier Peak--I think most likely you'd do better to go at least partway down toward the lakes and then re-ascend, rather than stay on the ridge. But I haven't done that so I am just guessing.

Oh, and one more thing. Don't do what I did and be dumbstruck by the view on Mt Wilse and stand there taking a million pictures while the thunderheads roll in from the west. The top of Wilse is quite a lightning magnet, and when I left it every single one of the hairs on my head (and I had a lot of them back then) was standing straight up. My descent down the east ridge was ... a bit hurried. I think I had been off the top no more than 60 seconds when the first bolt struck, and it hit like a bomb.

Thanks for the detailed replies. I found someone on the Backpacker forums who is going to be camping at Upper Aero the same days as me and said he will do Glacier and Villard with me, so I think I may scratch Wilse off the agenda since I would be really pushed time-wise to make it there early on the 9th. I also would rather be fresh for the two summits the next day so I think I will take it easy on the 9th.

On the 8th I am hoping to hike in to Lower Aero to camp for the night. Are there spots to camp along Lower Aero's southwest shore near where the trail ends?

Morlow wrote:On the 8th I am hoping to hike in to Lower Aero to camp for the night. Are there spots to camp along Lower Aero's southwest shore near where the trail ends?

Yes. Awesome ones. Or continue to even better sites between the 2 lakes.

Sounds great. I will just have to haul some tail after I get off work on the 8th to make it to Lower Aero haha.

Morlow wrote: Having never camped above treeline yet, how do you store your pack/food at night and while you are away from camp? Are there going to be critters and/or bears up there?

The marmots in Sky Top Valley are a huge pain, and at Aero campsites it's probably the same situation. Get one of these: http://www.ursack.com/ursack-catalog.htm Mine is covered with marmot tooth marks, but I've never gone hungry.