Squaretop Mountain is an mountain summit located in Sublette County of

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, 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 south ...

, 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 inclu ...

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. The wilder ...

on land managed by Bridger-Teton National Forest.

Topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...

is significant as the northeast aspect rises above the

Green River Green River may refer to: Rivers Canada * Green River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Lillooet River *Green River, a tributary of the Saint John River, also known by its French name of Rivière Verte *Green River (Ontario), a tributary of ...

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 is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

system, Squaretop Mountain is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a 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 an ocean, ge ...

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

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

in summer. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from the mountain drains north into the Green River.

Climbing

The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

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 the tallest peaks and best ro ...

and

Layton Kor Layton Kor (June 11, 1938 – April 21, 2013) was an American Rock climbing, 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 ...

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 Greg Lowe (born in Pittsburgh) is a noted mountain climber, photographer, Academy Award nominated cinematographer, and co-founder of Lowe Alpine, along with his brothers Jeff and Mike Lowe. Lowe invented the internal frame backpack. He establis ...

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

, 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 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 Nor ...

s is a concern in the

. 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 Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

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 homicide ...

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 Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

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 old age, ...

) 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 in ...

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:Wyoming 2020 plate.jpg, 2020 Wyoming license plate featuring Squaretop Mountain with 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 North American 3000 m summits