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.
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.
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.
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+1⁄4 miles 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 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.
Fairview Dome is a prominent granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located 1.8 miles (2.9 km) north of Cathedral Peak and 4 miles (6.4 km) west of Tuolumne Meadows. Near Fairview Dome is Marmot Dome, linked by an area called Razor Back. Northwest is Hammer Dome.
Jules Marquard Eichorn was an American mountaineer, environmentalist, and music teacher.
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.
Budd Lake is a lake in the Tuolumne Meadows region of Yosemite National Park, United States. Budd Lake is the source of Budd Creek.
Johnson Peak is the highest mountain, in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park.
Hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing around Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park has many options.
Tuolumne Peak is a mountain, in Yosemite National Park, in the area of Tuolumne Meadows. It is a fractured granite, twin summited peak, and is close to geographic center of the park. Tuolumne Peak is located approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) northeast of Mount Hoffmann via a granite ridge-line. It is climbed less often than Hoffman, probably due to a more difficult approach.
Elizabeth Lake is a lake, in the area of Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park, California. It was named for a geologist's niece, one Elizabeth Crow Simmons. The lake is at the base of Unicorn Peak, and is also near Johnson Peak.
Cockscomb is a mountain, in the area of Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, California.
Echo Peaks consists of nine peaks, in the Tuolumne Meadows region of Yosemite National Park, California. They are near Echo Ridge.
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.
Shepherd Crest is a ridge in the northern part of Yosemite National Park that divides into Shepherd Crest East and Shepherd Crest West. Shepherd Crest is between North Peak and Excelsior Mountain and near Mount Conness, Mount Warren, Mono Lake, and Tuolumne Meadows.
Stanton Peak is a granitic mountain with a summit elevation of 11,695 feet (3,565 m) located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Tuolumne County of northern California, United States. The remote summit is set within Yosemite National Park, and is situated 0.63 mile southwest of line parent Virginia Peak, 1.6 mile southeast of Whorl Mountain, and 2.6 miles south-southeast of Matterhorn Peak. Stanton Peak is bound on the west by Spiller Creek and on the east by Return Creek, so precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into these two tributaries of the Tuolumne River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 2,100 feet above Spiller Creek in one mile.
Rafferty Peak is an 11,110-foot-elevation mountain summit located in Yosemite National Park, in California, United States. It is situated on the common border shared by Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties. It is set south of Tuolumne Meadows in the Cathedral Range which is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountain rises one mile (1.6 km) northwest of Tuolumne Pass, 1.4 mile south of Johnson Peak, and 2.5 miles east of Matthes Crest. Tuolumne Pass is the low point of the saddle between Rafferty Peak and Fletcher Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,500 feet above Nelson Lake in one mile.
Fletcher Peak is an 11,410-foot-elevation (3,478 meter) mountain summit located in Yosemite National Park, in Mariposa County, California, United States. It is situated south of Tuolumne Meadows in the Cathedral Range which is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The mountain rises one mile (1.6 km) south of Tuolumne Pass, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) northeast of proximate parent Vogelsang Peak and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) northwest of line parent Parsons Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1,250 feet above Fletcher Lake in 0.38 miles (0.61 km). Precipitation runoff from this landform drains south to the Merced River via Fletcher Creek.
