Wheeler Peak, NM

[Will_E]

Anyone familiar with doing Wheeler this time of year? Best route, any road closures that add distance? Looking at it for next week sometime. Thanks.

[Above_Treeline]

Did you just see my post in the other thread lol? I did it in summer but there's houses up there past ski area and a big parking lot I have doubts it's going to be closed. No idea on snow.

I went straight up by the lake, also there's Bull of the Woods th (nearby) route. That's like 17 miles or something vs 7-8 for the more direct steeper trail

[desertdog]

I’ve climbed Wheeler a bunch as I live in NM. The most straight forward route this time of year is from Williams Lake. The road will be open to the TH. There should be a boot packed trail to the lake. A hundred yards before the lake you take a left into the trees. This section may be boot packed or not. Once in the basin I usually just go straight up aiming for the ridge as the summer trail is snow covered in sections. Expect snow and talus hoping in the basin. You could also do Bull of the Woods which longer. I would bring snow shoes and spikes. You may or may not need them. Some friends just did and it is holding some snow judging from the pictures they posted. Enjoy.

[jasayrevt]

+ 1 to desertdog's comments. Lisa and I climbed it via this well-traveled line earlier during spring, 2020. It was another favorite, memorable 13er trip for many great reasons.

As mentioned, about one-hundred yards before Williams lake, there is a key left turn up into the trees

[Kiefer]

I decided to do Bull of the Woods in late Spring. I choose to do this alt because the shorter alternative that Desertdog & Jason (+2) mentions tends to have more people. Nothing wrong with that specifically, I just heard that Bull is a scenic/pretty trail from a buddy who worked at Taos Brewery and thought it would make for a nice, different approach. But it is long. Lots of solitude.
From Wheeler, you can loop the whole Taos Valley over to Kachina Peak and descend one of the ski runs back to the lodge or lake.

[cougar]

I did the basin loop in summer and would recommend if conditions are good but be wary descending the steep active ski runs off kachina in winter, gets a couple more ranked peaks, a scenic scrambly ridge up Fairchild, of course NM closed now. No crowds on those other peaks, just a half day circuit.

[Ptglhs]

I went up Bull of the Woods and down Williams lake in Nov of 2017. The ascent was pretty mellow. There wasn't enough snow for skiing and I didn't see anyone until I hit the summit. I thought the basin at tree line on Bull of the Woods was very pretty. There wasn't enough snow for flotation, but that's highly variable. Coming down the Williams Lake approach felt more like a Peak in Colorado, as opposed to the Ascent which felt more like an easier stroll. With packed snow it'll be slippery so definitely take along some traction.

[Above_Treeline]

Maybe a bit OT but gold peak is supposed to have a lot of prominence and I think that's bull of the woods TH. I got the Hiking New Mexico book, it mentions Gold Peak. But it was written before the more direct route so only lists Bull of the Woods for Wheeler

[disentangled]

Maybe a bit OT but gold peak is supposed to have a lot of prominence and I think that's bull of the woods TH. I got the Hiking New Mexico book, it mentions Gold Peak. But it was written before the more direct route so only lists Bull of the Woods for Wheeler

you mean Gold Hill. can be hiked from several directions. one of my favorite peaks.

[Above_Treeline]

Maybe a bit OT but gold peak is supposed to have a lot of prominence and I think that's bull of the woods TH. I got the Hiking New Mexico book, it mentions Gold Peak. But it was written before the more direct route so only lists Bull of the Woods for Wheeler

lol you mean Gold Hill. can be hiked from several directions. one of my favorite peaks.

I had a feeling it wasn't quite right lol but didn't have the book handy. If it really is that good then hoping to get up there more.

[Chicago Transplant]

The road that goes between the main village and Williams Lake TH is a steep dirt road, not really rough at all, but if its icy you might not get up in a 2WD vehicle. I think its even labeled as 4WD in winter. I've done the full basin loop for Wheeler twice, once from Bull of the Woods and once from Williams Lake and will echo the comments about descending Kachina. You go through some of the resorts steepest ski terrain and avalanches would be a concern. I hiked in the area last November around this time and Kachina had snow on it, I was across the valley on some other peaks that were dry. The ridge for the loop hike is really fun with a nice mix of some easy scrambling scattered throughout.

Gold Hill was nice too, pretty gentle above treeline and has nice views. You can do a loop with Long Canyon (splits off the Bull of the Woods trail, same trailhead) if you want some variety. Lobo via Yerba Canyon was fun too, steep trail nice summit.

[TakeMeToYourSummit]

A group of us went to the Wheeler Lake TH midday on November 1st (just to check the ski area out). We had decided before our trip that we would rather hike the mountain with either less snow or more snow (very different ideas within the group). The drive up to the TH is indeed a bit steep & muddy but no clearance issues. There are plenty of houses up there - I'm sure it gets a fair amount of plowing done. My advice is to play with the Taos webcams to check out the current conditions.