Cathedral Peak (California)

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Cathedral Peak
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Cathedral Peak
Highest point
Elevation 10,916 ft (3,327 m)  NAVD 88 [1]
Prominence 919 ft (280 m) [1]
Listing SPS Mountaineers peak [2]
Coordinates 37°50′52″N119°24′20″W / 37.8478289°N 119.4056214°W / 37.8478289; -119.4056214 Coordinates: 37°50′52″N119°24′20″W / 37.8478289°N 119.4056214°W / 37.8478289; -119.4056214 [3]
Geography
Location Yosemite National Park, California, U.S.
Parent range Cathedral Range, Sierra Nevada
Topo map USGS Tenaya Lake
Geology
Age of rock Cretaceous
Mountain type Granite arête
Climbing
First ascent 1869 by John Muir [4]
Easiest route Rock climb class 4 [2]
Cathedral Peak from near Cathedral Lakes, with Eichorn Pinnacle in the foreground. The spiny crown of Cathedral Peak, Yosemite National Park, California.jpg
Cathedral Peak from near Cathedral Lakes, with Eichorn Pinnacle in the foreground.

Cathedral Peak is part of the Cathedral Range, a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park in eastern Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. The peak which lends its name to the range derives its name from its cathedral-shaped peak, which was formed by glacial activity: the peak remained uneroded above the glaciers in the Pleistocene.

Contents

Geography

Cathedral Peak has a subsidiary summit to the west called Eichorn Pinnacle, for Jules Eichorn, who first ascended a class 5.4 route to its summit on July 24, 1931, with Glen Dawson.

In 1869, John Muir wrote in My first summer in the Sierra:

The body of the Cathedral is nearly square, and the roof slopes are wonderfully regular and symmetrical, the ridge trending northeast and southwest. This direction has apparently been determined by structure joints in the granite. The gable on the northeast end is magnificent in size and simplicity, and at its base there is a big snow-bank protected by the shadow of the building. The front is adorned with many pinnacles and a tall spire of curious workmanship. Here too the joints in the rock are seen to have played an important part in determining their forms and size and general arrangement. The Cathedral is said to be about eleven thousand feet above the sea, but the height of the building itself above the level of the ridge it stands on is about fifteen hundred feet. A mile or so to the westward there is a handsome lake, and the glacier-polished granite about it is shining so brightly it is not easy in some places to trace the line between the rock and water, both shining alike. [5]

Cathedral Peak, looking southwest across Tuolumne Meadows. CathedralPeakCA.jpg
Cathedral Peak, looking southwest across Tuolumne Meadows.

Geology

The Cathedral Peak Granodiorite of Cathedral Peak is an intrusion into an area of older intrusive (or plutonic) and metamorphic rock in the Sierra Nevada Batholith. It is part of a grouping of intrusions called the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite. Cathedral Peak is the youngest of the rock formations in the Suite, dating to the Cretaceous Period at 83 million years ago. Its composition is mainly granodiorite with phenocrysts of microcline. [6]

Cathedral Peak was a nunatak during the Tioga glaciation of the last ice age, the peak projected above the glaciers, which carved and sharpened the peak's base while plucking away at its sides. [7] [8] [9] [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Yosemite National Park National Park in California, United States

Yosemite National Park is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an area of 759,620 acres and sits in four counties – centered in Tuolumne and Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono and south to Madera County. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.

John Muir Trail Trail in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California

The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. From the northern terminus at Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley and the southern terminus located on the summit of Mount Whitney, the trail's length is 213.7 miles (343.9 km), with a total elevation gain of approximately 47,000 feet (14,000 m). For almost all of its length, the trail is in the High Sierra backcountry and wilderness areas. For about 160 miles (260 km), the trail follows the same footpath as the longer Pacific Crest Trail. It is named after John Muir, a naturalist.

Tuolumne Meadows United States historic place

Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is 37°52.5′N119°21′W. Its approximate elevation is 8,619 feet (2,627 m). The term Tuolumne Meadows is also often used to describe a large portion of the Yosemite high country around the meadows, especially in context of rock climbing.

Cathedral Range Mountain range in Yosemite National Park, California

The Cathedral Range is a mountain range immediately to the south of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. The range is named after Cathedral Peak, which resembles a cathedral spire.

Geology of the Yosemite area

The exposed geology of the Yosemite area includes primarily granitic rocks with some older metamorphic rock. The first rocks were laid down in Precambrian times, when the area around Yosemite National Park was on the edge of a very young North American continent. The sediment that formed the area first settled in the waters of a shallow sea, and compressive forces from a subduction zone in the mid-Paleozoic fused the seabed rocks and sediments, appending them to the continent. Heat generated from the subduction created island arcs of volcanoes that were also thrust into the area of the park. In time, the igneous and sedimentary rocks of the area were later heavily metamorphosed.

Mount Lyell (California)

Mount Lyell is the highest point in Yosemite National Park, at 13,114 feet (3,997 m). It is located at the southeast end of the Cathedral Range, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) northwest of Rodgers Peak. The peak as well as nearby Lyell Canyon is named after Charles Lyell, a well-known 19th century geologist. The peak had one of the last remaining glaciers in Yosemite, Lyell Glacier. The Lyell Glacier is currently considered to be a permanent ice field, not a living glacier. Mount Lyell divides the Tuolumne River watershed to the north, the Merced to the west, and the Rush Creek drainage in the Mono Lake Basin to the southeast.

Mount Maclure Mountain in California, United States

Mount Maclure is the nearest neighbor to Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park. Mount Maclure is the fifth-highest mountain of Yosemite. Mount Maclure is located at the southeast end of the Cathedral Range, about 0.6 miles (0.97 km) northwest of Lyell. The summit is on the boundary between Madera and Tuolumne counties which is also the boundary between the park and the Ansel Adams Wilderness. It was named in honor of William Maclure, a pioneer in American geology who produced the first geological maps of the United States. Maclure Glacier, one of the last remaining glaciers in Yosemite, is situated on the mountain's northern flank.

Geography of the Yosemite area

Yosemite National Park is located in the central Sierra Nevada of California. Three wilderness areas are adjacent to Yosemite: the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the southeast, the Hoover Wilderness to the northeast, and the Emigrant Wilderness to the north.

Jules Eichorn

Jules Marquard Eichorn was an American mountaineer, environmentalist, and music teacher.

Cathedral Peak Granodiorite

The Cathedral Peak Granodiorite (CPG) was named after its type locality, Cathedral Peak in Yosemite National Park, California. The granodiorite forms part of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, one of the four major intrusive suites within the Sierra Nevada. It has been assigned radiometric ages between 88 and 87 million years and therefore reached its cooling stage in the Coniacian.

Glen Dawson (mountaineer)

Glen Dawson was an American rock climber, mountaineer, antiquarian bookseller, publisher and environmentalist.

Matthes Crest

Matthes Crest is an approximately mile-long fin of rock with two summits separated by a deep notch. It is a part of the Cathedral Range, which is a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park. The range is part of the Sierra Nevada.

Half Dome Granodiorite Half Dome Granodiorite is granodiorite (see also granite) found in Yosemite National Park

Half Dome Granodiorite is granodiorite found in a region on and near Half Dome, in Yosemite National Park, California, United States. The granodiorite forms part of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, one of the four major intrusive suites within the Sierra Nevada.

El Capitan Granite El Capitan Granite is a type of granite (also see granodiorite), Yosemite National Park

El Capitan Granite is a type of granite, in a large area near El Capitan, in Yosemite National Park, California, United States. The granite forms part of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, one of the four major intrusive suites within the Sierra Nevada.

Kuna Crest Granodiorite, is found, in Yosemite National Park, United States. The granodiorite forms part of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, one of the four major intrusive suites within the Sierra Nevada. Of the Tuolumne Intrusive Suite, it is the oldest and darkest rock.

Sentinel granodiorite is a type of granodiorite found in Yosemite National Park. It is a poorly understood western "outlier" of the ∼93-85-Ma Tuolumne Intrusive Suite of the Sierra Nevada batholith. It is only slightly older than the undated Yosemite Creek Granodiorite and the Kuna Crest Granodiorite.

Intrusive Suite of Sonora Pass Intrusive Suite of Sonora Pass is one of several intrusive suites in Yosemite National Park

The Intrusive Suite of Sonora Pass is one of several intrusive suites in Yosemite National Park. These also include

  1. Fine Gold Intrusive Suite
  2. Intrusive Suite of Buena Vista Crest
  3. Intrusive Suite of Jack Main Canyon
  4. Intrusive Suite of Merced Peak
  5. Intrusive Suite of Yosemite Valley
  6. Tuolumne Intrusive Suite
Hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing around Tuolumne Meadows

Hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing around Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park has many options.

Kuna Crest Mountain range near Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park, California

Kuna Crest is a mountain range near Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park, California.

Unicorn Peak (California) Unicorn Peak is mountain peak, in Yosemite National Park, in the Tuolumne Meadows area

Unicorn Peak is a peak, in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park. Unicorn Peak is due east of Cathedral Peak, and the north summit is highest.

References

  1. 1 2 "Cathedral Peak, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  2. 1 2 "Sierra Peaks Section List" (PDF). Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club . Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  3. ↑ "Cathedral Peak". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  4. ↑ Farquhar, Francis P. (1926). Place Names of the High Sierra. San Francisco: Sierra Club . Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  5. ↑ Muir, John (1911). My first summer in the Sierra. Sierra Club Books. OCLC   319448481.
  6. ↑ Wahrhaftig, Clyde (2000). "Geologic Map of the Tower Peak Quadrangle, Central Sierra Nevada, California" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  7. ↑ "Geologic Resources Inventory Report" (PDF). Yosemite National Park. 2012. Natural Resource Report NPS/NRSS/GRD/NRR—2012/560.
  8. ↑ "Upper Cathedral Lakes". Yosemite Hikes.
  9. ↑ Huber, N. King (1987). "The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park". The Geologic Story of Yosemite National Park. yosemite.ca.us. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  10. ↑ Gregory, Candace (September 10, 2017). "Hiking up the Glacier Canyon Trail to Dana Plateau". Hiking up the Glacier Canyon Trail to Dana Plateau. sierranewsonline.com. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
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