Overhanging Tower is a () mountain located in the southern

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 ...

in the U.S. state 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 ...

. Overhanging Tower is on the west side of the Cirque of the Towers, a popular climbing area. The peak is just north of

Sharks Nose Sharks Nose is a () mountain located in the southern Wind River Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Sharks Nose is on the west side of the Cirque of the Towers, a popular climbing area. The peak is just north of Block Tower and immediately south ...

and south of the peak known as Wolfs Head. Overhanging Tower is situated on 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 ...

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 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 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 deaths, 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 Squaretop Mountain is an mountain summit located in Sublette County of Wyoming, United States. Geography The peak is the emblematic geographical feature of the remote Wind River Range and is set seven miles west of the Continental Divide. I ...

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 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.

References

Mountains of Wyoming Mountains of Fremont County, Wyoming Mountains of Sublette County, Wyoming Bridger–Teton National Forest Shoshone National Forest {{Wyoming-geo-stub