Williams Lake Basin Circuit,
Wheeler Peak Wilderness, New Mexico
11/06/99
Author and Climber: Mark Schraad
- Kachina Peak (12,500 feet)
- Lake Fork Peak (12,920
feet)
- Unnamed 12,840 (12,840
feet)
- Unnamed 12,760 (12,760
feet)
- Simpson Peak (13,000 feet)
- Wheeler Peak (13,161 feet)
The first time that I climbed Wheeler Peak I couldn't help but notice the
other peaks that surround the Williams Lake Basin. The ridge around this
basin appears quite rugged in places and the many peaks, subpeaks and
points along the ridge look much more interesing than any of terrain found
in the vicinity of Wheeler's summit. With the exception of New Mexico's
high point and Simpson Peak, which is simply a bump on the ridge south of
Wheeler Peak, there are no maintained trails to the summits of the peaks
that surround the remainder of the basin. In addition, the peaks are not
named on most maps, and to the best of my knowledge, they do not appear in
any guide books. Even Ungnade's comprehensive treatise on the New Mexico
mountains does not describe climbing routes on this high ridge.
The weather in early November was particularly mild and we hadn't had any
appreciable snow yet. I decided that it was a good opportunity to
investigate the ridge around the Williams Lake Basin. My primary goal was
the summit of Lake Fork Peak, which in my opinion is one of the most
interesting mountains in New Mexico. My plan was to get to the summit of
this peak and then decide whether to continue around the remainder of the
basin.
Kachina Peak (12,500 feet) is actually the first peak encountered on the
circuit around the Williams Lake Basin. I began my day at Taos Ski Valley
at the base of the Kachina ski lift at 9:30 a.m. and hiked quickly up the
jeep road to the top of the lift. From there I decided to take the easiest
route to the ridge, and so headed straight up to the saddle situated to the
north of Kachina Peak. This slope was quite slippery with the few inches
of snow that covered it in patches. I stayed in the trees to make the
going easier and made my way to the ridge by 10:30. The summit of Kachina
Peak was easily reached after a short walk from the saddle along the
rounded north ridge. I stood on the summit at 11:00 and contemplated the
remainder of the route, which looked fun but long from that vantage point.
One note: a more interesting route to the summit may be possible along
Kachina Peak's northeast ridge. This route would require less hiking along
the jeep road and would provide what looks like some fairly serious
scrambling. It should definitely be investigated.
From Kachina Peak I walked quickly down to the Lake Fork-Kachina saddle,
with one very short side trip to a rocky point with a precipitous drop to
the east down to Williams Lake. The route from the saddle looked like it
would involve some scrambling and the north slabby slopes of Lake Fork Peak
(12,920 feet) were covered with a thin layer of snow---just enough to make
it look a little serious. There were some goat tracks that traversed
across the north slopes, and it appeared that this route would go and would
take one to easier ground on the northwest side of the peak. I walked up
to a point where the slopes steepend significantly and gazed across the
steep northeast face of the peak. I saw more goat tracks that passed
beneath this face and gained the east ridge, but this route looked quite
serious. A nice gully was directly below me and I made a mental note of
future snow climbing potential. Directly above me was a possible route to
the summit, so instead of downclimbing to the traverse I scrambled up some
third-class rock (possibly fourth class in one spot), and I was soon on the
summit. I looked at my watch---it was 11:40. I thought that I might be
able to make it to Wheeler by 2:00 p.m.
From Lake Fork Peak I walked over to an insignificant subpeak, then to the
east to the low point on the ridge between Lake Fork Peak and the first
unnamed peak along the route. The scrambling was very easy and the best
route sticks directly to the ridge crest. The slopes on the inside of the
basin are spectacular with craggy rocks and very steep dropoffs, but on the
outside of the basin the slopes fall off more gradually and are covered
mostly with grass at this point. From the low point on the ridge a short
easy climb brings one to the summit of Unnamed 12,840, where I arrived at
12:30 p.m.
From Unnamed 12,840 I scrambled directly on the ridge crest down to the saddle
between the two unnamed peaks. At a couple of points the route along the
crest appears to get quite steep, but it always goes and is never as bad as
it looks. To get off of the crest here, I believe, would require some
major down climbing to get past the cliff bands on either side of the
ridge. ONE VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: the easiest exit off of the entire ridge
appears to be at this saddle. This slope looks like it would also be a
good snow climb. From the saddle another short easy climb brings one to
the second unnamed summit---Unnamed 12,760. I made it to this point by
1:15, and thought that I still had a shot at making Wheeler by
2:00---although the next section looked to be possibly the trickiest.
From Unnamed 12,760 I again scrambled directly on the ridge crest down to the
Simpson-Unnamed 12,760 saddle. This downclimb was very similar to the
previous one, but again, the best route appears to stay directly on the
ridge crest. The final climb up to Simpson Peak (13,000 feet) takes one
through some cliff bands on easy terrain and then along the final portion
of ridge to the summit, where I arrived at 1:40. I didn't even stop for a
breather, and continued on increasingly tired legs to my final
goal---Wheeler Peak.
From Simpson Peak the route is simply a walk along the well-defined trail
to the summit of Wheeler Peak (13,161 feet). I made it to the top of New
Mexico only several minutes past 2:00 p.m. I was impressed with my earlier
estimate of my climbing time. I was very tired, so I took a short break,
drank the majority of my remaining water, and tried to force down a bagel.
The weather was amazing for early November---very warm and absolutely no
wind. I was perfectly comfortable in shorts and my capilene shirt. I
peeled myself off the ground and left the summit at about 2:25. After a
thigh-busting down climb I was at the lake at 3:15, and at the car shortly
after 4:00 p.m. I offered a ride to another hiker whose friend had
sprained his ankle. He was going to get a vehicle that they had left down
at the Bull-o-the-Woods trailhead. He was going to drive back up and help
his friend down the remainder of the easy (but icy) trail.
The entire circuit of the Williams Lake Basin took me approximately
six-and-a-half hours. I would estimate the total distance to be between
eight and nine miles with approximately 4,750 feet of total elevation gain.
The terrain around Williams Lake is really quite interesting and gets you
away from the throngs of hikers on Wheeler Peak. This ridge and its spurs
definitely require further investigation.
One final note: with the exception of Wheeler Peak, all reported summit
elevations are estimates and can be assumed to be within 40 feet of actual
elevations.
