Knife Point Mountain
Elevation: 13,038 ft.
Prominence: 687 ft.
Isolation: 0.9 miles
Technical Difficulty: Class 3


Knife Point Mountain Guidebook
Introduction
Long considered the lowest of the Wyoming 13ers with a map elevation of 13,001 ft., LiDAR analysis has shown that Knife Point Mountain is considerably taller thanks to its incredibly sharp summit spire. This peak’s complex geometry includes a string of pinnacles stretching south along the Continental Divide from Indian Pass, a northeast-facing cirque harboring the Knife Point Glacier, a hanging valley above Alpine Lakes Pass, and a dramatically snow-clad subpeak called Nebraska Point, which, after LiDAR analysis, turned out to be a ranked 12er in its own right. The summit of Knife Point Mountain itself is spectacular, featuring a triangular talus cone which culminates in a singular block standing on the edge of a precipice.
General Considerations
Climbing Knife Point Mountain is complicated. This part of the Wind River Range is most easily approached from Elkhart Park, but the peak is most easily climbed from the other side of the Divide via Alpine Lakes Pass, making for a long day if camping in the Indian Basin or Island Lake environs. Alternatively, one could backpack over Indian Pass and camp in upper Knife Point Creek to enable a more direct summit day, but this itinerary usually involves at least a two-day approach.
Route 1: Northeast Ridge – Class 3, Mellow Snow
The most arduous part of this route is getting to Alpine Lakes Pass, the unofficial name for the col between the Knife Point Glacier and Lake 11335 in the Alpine Lakes Valley. As part of a longer backpacking trip to the Middle or North Fork of Bull Lake Creek, you could ascend talus directly to the pass from either side.
Alternatively, coming from the Island Lake region, most climbers follow the Indian Pass Trail to Indian Pass, then descend and cross the low-angled (though possibly crevassed) slopes of the Knife Point Glacier, negotiate part of its moraine, and re-ascend the north side of Alpine Lakes Pass.
From the top of the pass, climb up to the southwest, skirting outcrops on the ridge by traversing on the south side, and enter the long hanging valley that forms a bowl below Knife Point’s convoluted northeast ridge. The pinnacles on either side of the valley are not the summit; rather, the highpoint is at the apex of a comparatively drab-looking talus cone at the far end of the valley.
The final ascent up the summit pyramid consists of talus scrambling, and touching the summit requires some exposed moves on the summit boulder. Most climbers choose to lean up and touch the highpoint instead of standing on top.
Route 2: South Slopes – Class 3
A rather unpleasant scree and talus slope provides a cliff-free passage from the basin above Wall Lake to the crest of the Continental Divide just south of the summit of Knife Point Mountain. As with Route 1, reaching the base of the route is the main adventure: options include hiking up along Pole Creek above Wall Lake, descending into the upper valley after an ascent of Harrower, or climbing the Harrower Glacier (potentially crevassed) from Indian Basin and crossing the col at its top to reach the base of this route.
The final ascent is comparatively straightforward; simply climb the obvious scree passage to reach the Divide, then turn left and ascend the talus cone to reach the summit domino.
Knife Point Mountain Map
Knife Point Mountain Panorama
Knife Point Mountain Photos
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- Knife Point Mountain is a strange plateau fragment rimmed by many sharp pinnacles, seen here from the Indian Pass Trail (2016)
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- The Knife Point Glacier sits on the north side of the eponymous mountain and drains into the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek (2016)
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- Distant view of the rapidly melting Knife Point Glacier as we navigate its loose recessional moraine (2016)
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- Knife Point Mountain’s southwest ridgeline (summit on left) as seen while descending from Harrower (2020)
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- The summit pinnacle of Knife Point Mountain is a wonderful obelisk on top of a pyramidal talus base (2020)
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- Summit of Knife Point Mountain; despite the steep walls of the obelisk, I was able to sit on top (2020)
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- Up close and personal with the summit obelisk, which can be climbed from the left side at class 3 (2020)
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- Looking over the other side of Knife Point’s east ridge to the upper Knife Point Creek valley, a tributary of the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek (2020)
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- The Knife Point massif has many false summits: Nebraska Point (unranked 12er) is the snowy one on the left, and the true summit is the brown talus field just right of center (2020)
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- Telephoto view of Knife Point’s summit (right) and the more-distant Harrowr Peak from Bete Noire (2020)
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- I made some questionable decisions to walk across partially melting ice cover on glacial tarns at the base of the glacier, but the views were worth it (2020)
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- From one Indian Pass to another: North Indian Pass (no trail) is the distant notch connecting the North Fork of Bull Lake Creek with Dry Creek (2020)
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- Knife Point Mountain looks particularly impressive from this angle, but I was barely able to appreciate the view since I was struggling to breathe and feeling nauseous.
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- Getting closer to Knife Point as I climb up its northeast ridge, which turns into a hanging talus bowl ringed by sharp towers.
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- This is my third time traversing between Knife Point and Harrower or vice versa, but this time I opt for a higher line, which saves some elevation gain at the expense of more complicated routefinding and a bit of scrambling.
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