Raid Peak () is located in the
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 incl ...
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 so ...
of
Wyoming
Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
.
The mountain is in the
Bridger Wilderness
The Bridger Wilderness is located in Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming, United States. Originally established in 1931 as a primitive area, region was redesignated as a wilderness in 1964 and expanded to the current size in 1984. It is na ...
of
Bridger-Teton National Forest, west of the
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
and south of
Mount Bonneville. The east face of Raid Peak has one of the most spectacular cliff faces in the Wind River Range, rising almost above an unnamed lake with of that being a nearly sheer wall which is rated at and Grade IV-V. Most ascents up this face take at least a day if not two days.
Hazards
Encountering
bear
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), 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 ...
s is a concern in the Wind River Range.
There are other concerns as well, including
bugs,
wildfire
A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...
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 homici ...
s, due to
falls from steep cliffs (a
misstep could be fatal in this
class 4/5 terrain) and due to
falling rocks, 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) 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 within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...
does not offer updated aggregated records on the official number of fatalities in the Wind River Range.
References
External links
General Information on the Wind River Range
Climbing the Wind River Rangemore
Shoshone National Forest Federal website
Continental Divide Trail information
Bridger–Teton National Forest
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Mountain ranges of Wyoming
Mountains of Sublette County, Wyoming
Mountains of Wyoming
Ranges of the Rocky Mountains
Shoshone National Forest
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