Brown Cliffs North () is located in the northern
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range (or "Winds" for short) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and in ...
in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
of
Wyoming
Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to t ...
.
Brown Cliffs North is the 18th tallest peak in Wyoming.
The summit is at the northwestern end of a ridge known as Brown Cliffs which are in the
Fitzpatrick Wilderness
The Fitzpatrick Wilderness is located in Shoshone National Forest in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The wilderness was originally known as the Glacier Primitive Area, but was redesignated a wilderness in 1976.
Overview
U.S. Wilderness Areas do not all ...
of
Shoshone National Forest
Shoshone National Forest ( ) is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest is managed by the United States ...
.
Climate
Hazards
Encountering
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the No ...
s is a concern in the Wind River Range.
There are other concerns as well, including
bugs,
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...
s,
adverse snow conditions and
nighttime cold temperatures.
Importantly, there have been notable incidents, including
accidental death
An accidental death is an unnatural death that is caused by an accident, such as a slip and fall, traffic collision, or accidental poisoning. Accidental deaths are distinguished from death by natural causes, disease, and from intentional hom ...
s, due to
falls from steep cliffs (a
misstep could be fatal in this
class 4/5 terrain) and due to
falling rocks
Falling or fallin' may refer to:
*Falling (physics), movement due to gravity
*Falling (accident)
* Falling (execution)
* Falling (sensation)
People
*Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children
Books
* ''Fal ...
, over the years, including 1993,
2007 (involving an experienced
NOLS leader),
2015
and 2018.
Other incidents include a seriously injured backpacker being airlifted near
SquareTop Mountain in 2005,
and a fatal hiker incident (from an apparent
accidental fall
Falling is the action of a person or animal losing stability and ending up in a lower position, often on the ground. It is the second-leading cause of accidental death worldwide and a major cause of personal injury, especially for the elderly. ...
) in 2006 that involved state
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
.
The
U.S. Forest Service
The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. The Forest Service manages of land. Major divisions of the agency inc ...
does not offer updated aggregated records on the official number of fatalities in the Wind River Range.
References
Mountains of Wyoming
Mountains of Fremont County, Wyoming
Shoshone National Forest
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