07/08/2024
Lizard Head Peak in the Wind River Mountains, shown here in a photo by Tom Bennett, is one of the Select Peaks that baffled me for many years during research for 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦. Firstly, I simply didn’t see the cleanest and safest way up the vast and confusing south face, and thus had trouble writing the route description. And secondly, available information about the peak’s early climbing history was obscure and contradictory—bordering on controversial. In the new edition, I was determined to dig deep and solve the mysteries. To figure out the best route up, I had to talk to a lot of climbers and make several attempts on the peak and nearby mountains for birds-eye views. For the historical part, I collected every legend, old article, government report, and guidebook tidbit that I could find and, like puzzle pieces, tried to reconstruct a reasonable chronicle of events…including the intriguing Native American interest in the peak and Billy Owen’s exploits in the 1890s. I generated enough text about Lizard Head Peak that, in addition to a general info section about the peak and route description, there is a “Deeper Dive” section featuring the peak as well. Check it all out on pages 343-348 in the new edition of 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘠𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦.
