Wheeler Peak with Glacier

This zoomed-in view shows Wheeler Peak and a great bowl-shaped glacial cirque on the mountain's eastern face. A rock-covered glacier exists year round in the base of the cirque. A bristlecone pine forest grows on slopes near the toe of the glacier. This photograph was taken in mid July, 2005. The previous winter the Snake Range received nearly three times its normal precipitation, so trails into the high country were inaccessible without snow-climbing gear through much of the summer.