Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Way off-topic question: Wheeler Peak, NM?

I will be in Albuquerque later this month, and I thought about adding to my high points list. But it's apparently a three-hour drive to get there, and from the pictures I've seen, not a particularly interesting climb. (Williams Lake route would appear to be the quickest, but I read that the last 1000' is loose scree.)

Comments? And, what do you think the snow conditions might be in two weeks or so? I don't mind snow, but it does slow things down--and I don't want to leave my wife any longer than possible. Credit cards and malls, you know.

Thanks in advance.

It's been 17 years, but I remember it as a nice hike. As you said, it's not particularly interesting, but it's worth doing if you are in the area. I would contact locals at the last minute for snow conditions.

Can't comment on current or potential conditions Bob but I certainly recommend the climb. A little steep from the lake but very scenic. My early start was rewarded with a party of bighorns at the crest.
Good luck!

Dave

I hiked there with my parents when I was a kid. Very fond memories of the area!

Here was one TR, from a mountaineering org.
http://lamountaineers.org/173.html
(bet those Los Alamos guys love stories about A-bombs!)

and other local clubs:

http://sites.google.com/site/unmmtnclub/
http://pages.swcp.com/~nmmc/


I wonder if there are local SAR groups that would show reciprocity?

Probably USFS welcoming volunteer rangers off other forests, as well.
Questa Ranger District
P.O. Box 110
Questa, NM 87556

Phone:
(575) 586-0520
(575) 758-6230

Bob there is a TR posted today on Summitpost

I hiked it last summer as number 2 in a 5-peak week. We went up Bull-Of-The-Woods route and down via Williams Lake (which is my phone background pic now). It wasn't scree the entire way down but tundra and then scree, plus we ran into some cliffs just above treeline where we had to backtrack. So it would be the reverse for you. Also, there isn't any trail that way - just keep going up. Finally, what there is of the trail went right through the lake, but by this time of year it might go around.
If you take BOTW it doesn't pay to avoid the La Cal Basin by taking the ridge route "shortcut". The trail to Williams Lake is actually a lot of 4WD road, but then so is a lot of the BOTW portion.
Great views from up on top though.

I can't comment on current conditions either.

There is a trail to Williams Lake from the Phoenix Grill (Barvarian Restaurant) and then a use trail continues up steeply from there until it finally disapears into the loose scree. It is steep and loose near the top but lots of people do it - I didn't see any hikers on the Bull in Woods Trail, but I saw tons coming up from Williams Lake. I went via Bull in the Woods and then through La Cal Basin and on to Wheeler Peak (going over Walter Peak on the way) - it was a very pretty trail. I went down from Wheeler via the Williams Lake Route - the top is a scree ski going down, so really fast and then you pick up the trail and follow it out. If I had gone up the Williams Lake route I would have been parked at the Phoenix Grill (Bavarian) restaurant, but I had another mile or two to hike down to my truck at the Bull in the Woods Trailhead. Even going up the long way like I did, it was only about 12.5 miles and 3800' elevation gain.

If you go up via Williams Lake, make sure you drive all the way to the Phoenix Grill (Bavarian) restaurant to park - it's up a dirt road from the main parking area for the ski resort.

This is what it looks like in August:

http://kathywing.smugmug.com/New-Mexico-...30_ivxar#P-1-15

Bob, Nathan and I did Wheeler Peak back in 2003 (wow...has it really been six years already?) via the Williams Lake trail. From the ski area or the Bavarian restaurant, really, it's a very nice and gradual trail along the creek up to Williams Lake at about 11,000' but from there up to the ridgeline at 13,000', it is a steep little witch of a slope. Really not bad but gaining 2,000' in less than a half-mile is, shall we say, "interesting?"

Not the worst of the highpoint trails. My nomination for that goes to the first steep pitch up Borah Peak in Idaho. Overall, you gain 5,000' in 3.5 miles, but you gain 2,000' of that in less than the first mile. Dusty, sunny and just plain brutal.

While we're off-topic, I'll say thanks to the folks from this board who have visited my web site over the years. Just passed 30,000 hits this week. Not a lot by youtube standards but a milestone nonetheless.

Hope you do try Wheeler. It's a hike, not a climb, but worth the effort. They also have obnoxious marmots in NM, as we found out on the slope up from Williams Lake to the ridgeline.

Went in late August several years ago via this route up & down. No snow then and I agree with Kathy it was a pretty trail, especially further up. Relatively gentle hike under those conditions. Worth doing again if I were in Taos. Somepeople also approach it from an eastside trail, which you can see on Kathy's map @ her photo gallery link.

not a particularly lonely summit:

Way, way, off topic again. I think the trick to Borah is starting up in the dark when it's cool out - that first steep section was harder coming down than going up for me, but I went up when it was dark and cool out. But then again, I start most of my out-of-town hikes in the dark to maximize my chance of getting to the summit. It's a lot harder to go back and try again when it's a long way from home.

The highpointing game is fun. Next year I'd like to try Hood and either Gannett or Granite - those will be really hard ones for me.

Mt Hood in Oregon? or another Hood? Oregon Mt. Hood is kind of a piece of cake unless you fall on the last stretch, in which case it is your last climb ever.

Many thanks to everyone for the inputs on Wheeler. I used all of them last Thursday.

When I got to the ski area, I thought I was in luck. Only a few inches of snow, in spite of the two days' storm that was just ending. I had planned on the shorter Williams Lake route, but decided to go with Bull of the Woods because the trail is well-defined. (I was the only one on the mountain, so no tracks to show the way past the first two miles.)

After about an hour the snow depth was close to a foot. A couple of hours later, more like two feet in many places, with drifts to three. Still, I could follow the trail most of the time, or get off and reconnect later. It was overcast the whole day.

About a mile south of Frazer Mountain I lost the trail for good. I criss-crossed a large meadow, then did the same in a forest, looking to pick it up again, but no luck. By now I was just under the cloud layer, so had no visibility to help locate the peak. I turned around.

For a newbie on this mountain, I think summer conditions are the way to go.

Pictures here.