Hi,
I attempted Wheeler last year but lost the route around 12,600 above the unnamed lake. I'm thinking of giving this another go Sunday. Can anyone provide more specific route finding directions from this area to the summit? I searched Wheeler in the 13er forums and didn't see any route info.
Thanks.
Wheeler Mountain - South Ridge route questions
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satch
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kaiman
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Re: Wheeler Mountain - South Ridge route questions
satch,
Take a look at this route description for more info:
http://www.summitpost.org/south-ridge-f ... ake/165858" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
From what I remember of my solo climb of Wheeler several years ago there is really no trail from the unnamed lake to the summit. I did find an occasional cairn on the route, but generally just followed the path of least resistance and scrambled my way to the summit on faint climbers trails.
Good luck,
kaiman
Take a look at this route description for more info:
http://www.summitpost.org/south-ridge-f ... ake/165858" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
From what I remember of my solo climb of Wheeler several years ago there is really no trail from the unnamed lake to the summit. I did find an occasional cairn on the route, but generally just followed the path of least resistance and scrambled my way to the summit on faint climbers trails.
Good luck,
kaiman
"I want to keep the mountains clean of racism, religion and politics. In the mountains this should play no role."
- Joe Stettner
"I haven't climbed Everest, skied to the poles, or sailed single-handed around the world. The goals I set out to accomplish aren't easily measured or quantified by world records or "firsts." The reasons I climb, and the climbs I do, are about more than distance or altitude, they are about breaking barriers within myself."
- Andy Kirkpatrick
- Joe Stettner
"I haven't climbed Everest, skied to the poles, or sailed single-handed around the world. The goals I set out to accomplish aren't easily measured or quantified by world records or "firsts." The reasons I climb, and the climbs I do, are about more than distance or altitude, they are about breaking barriers within myself."
- Andy Kirkpatrick
Re: Wheeler Mountain - South Ridge route questions
There is a short description and some pics on Bill's 13er site...
http://www.13ers.com/routemain.php?route=whee1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.13ers.com/routemain.php?route=whee1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I take the mountain climber's approach to housekeeping - don't look down
Re: Wheeler Mountain - South Ridge route questions
There is a fainted trail, I believe Bill that it goes all the way up, I did it 3 weeks ago, its difficult to follow and easy to loose because it crosses many bare rock sections where it's not visible and when I hiked it, there were some remnant snowfields. I would say, I was able to follow it maybe 70 % of the length of the route from the upper lake to saddle. I actually lost it on that steepest slope just before the saddle, I re-discovered it maybe 100 feet below the saddle. When I lost the trail, I did what Kaiman, just followed the path of least resistance, its not a big deal there.
Generally, the trail goes farther north (right) around the lake than you would expect and then turns left. From the saddle to the summit, its well cairned but there are many possible routes to follow. At the very summit block, the alternate route (dashed line on this web site route description, right) is a nice ridge that was a little spicy (exposed) in 45 mph winds, the classic route (left) is very easy chimney with zero exposure I climbed both for fun...I loved the mountain, enjoy...
And if you want to continue over to Clinton, the ridge is easy class 3 but easily avoidable on the west side (2, maybe 2+)..
Generally, the trail goes farther north (right) around the lake than you would expect and then turns left. From the saddle to the summit, its well cairned but there are many possible routes to follow. At the very summit block, the alternate route (dashed line on this web site route description, right) is a nice ridge that was a little spicy (exposed) in 45 mph winds, the classic route (left) is very easy chimney with zero exposure I climbed both for fun...I loved the mountain, enjoy...
And if you want to continue over to Clinton, the ridge is easy class 3 but easily avoidable on the west side (2, maybe 2+)..
