This peak was named for Finis Mitchell (1901-1995), an avid explorer of the Wind River Range. He wrote a hiking guide to the area in 1976 which was recently reprinted. He probably spent more time in the range than anyone else, and populated many of the lakes with trout. Over the course of his life, Mitchell climbed 280 of the 300 peaks in the Wind Rivers.
Mitchell is the high point of a long ridge that forms the backdrop to Big Sandy on the hike up. A 4th class scramble up Mitchell from Jackass Pass and a ridge run to hit the other four summits makes for a fun, if non-technical day.
George is correct - there is a very easy class 2 route up from Jackass Pass. If you go straight up instead of winding around I'd say it's more like class 3+. I'd call it class 4 down from the summit of Mitchell if you try to stay right on the ridgeline, and then class 2 for the rest of the day.
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