Squaretop Mountain is an mountain summit located in Sublette County 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 ...

, United States.

Geography

The peak is the emblematic geographical feature of the remote

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 ...

and is set seven miles 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 ...

. It is situated 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 ...

on land managed by Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the northeast aspect rises above the Green River in one-half mile. The iconic view of Squaretop and Green River Lakes has been on the Wyoming license plate since 2016.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Squaretop Mountain is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

s in summer. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains north into the Green River.

Climbing

The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of Squaretop was made sometime before 1921 by William John Stroud (1854–1946), via the southeast ledges.

Fred Beckey Friedrich Wolfgang Beckey (14 January 1923 – 30 October 2017), known as Fred Beckey, was an American rock climber, mountaineer and book author, who in seven decades of climbing achieved hundreds of first ascents of some of the tallest peaks and ...

and

Layton Kor Layton Kor (June 11, 1938 – April 21, 2013) was an American rock climber active in the 1960s, whose first ascents and drive for climbing are well known in the climbing world. His routes included many climbs in Eldorado Canyon, near Boulder ...

climbed the Northeast Face in 1960. Other established climbing routes on Squaretop's walls:Joe Kelsey, 2013, ''Climbing and Hiking in the Wind River Mountains'', Falcon Guides, , pages 110–115, 419. * West Gully – 1937 – – H. H. Bliss * East Face Center – 1958 – (IV 5th) – Bill Byrd, Dave Dingman, Roland Wyatt * North Buttress – 1960 – (III 5.7) – Ed Cooper, Ron Niccoli * East Face Right – 1965 – (V 5.8) – Fred Beckey, Jerry Fuller * Southeast Face – 1971 – (II 5.6) – Vince Lee, E. Park, M. Stephens, C. Zukowski * West Couloir – 1972 – (II 5.5) – Vince Lee, Bo Beckham, Greg Smith * West Face Dihedral – 1974 – (V 5.10) – Greg Lowe,

Jeff Lowe Jeff Lowe (September 13, 1950 - August 24, 2018) was an American alpinist from Ogden, Utah who was known for his visionary climbs and first ascents established in the Rocky Mountains, US and Canadian Rockies, Alps and Himalayas. He was a propon ...

, Kent Christensen * East Face Left – 1984 – (V 5.10d) – Jeff Lowe, Renato Casarotto * West Face Right – 1992 – (IV 5.9 A2) – Scott Cole, John Malken * ''AC/DC'' – 1998 – (IV 5.10) – Andy Carson, Dan Carson * ''Miscreant Line'' and ''Conveyor Belt'' (East Face) – 2001 – (V 5.10d) – Tod Anderson, Skyler Crane, James Donnell, Ernest Moskovics * ''Marginally Orange'' – 2009 – (IV 5.10) Norm Goltra, Steve Walker

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

. 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 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 * ''Falli ...

, 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 A hike is a long, vigorous walking, walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer tim ...

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.

Gallery

File:Squaretop Mountain.jpg File:Squaretop.jpg, from Green River Lakes File:Squaretop Mountain blue sky.jpg File:Green River Lakes, Bridger.jpg, from Green River Lakes with White Rock on left, "Tabletop" on right File:Green River Lakes.jpg, from Green River Lakes File:Squaretop Mountain in WY.jpg, from Green River Lakes File:Green River Lakes Reflection.jpg, White Rock (left), Squaretop Mountain (right) reflected in Green River Lakes.
White Rock is a dolomite and limestone cliff that rises 3,300 feet above the lake.

References

External links

* Squaretop Mountain rock climbing
Mountainproject.com
* Weather forecast
Squaretop Mountain
{{Portal bar, Geography, Geology, Mountains Bridger–Teton National Forest Mountains of Sublette County, Wyoming Mountains of Wyoming Three-thousanders of the United States