Cottontail Tower

Last updated
Cottontail Tower
Fisher towers - The Titan - 14.jpg
Northwest aspect, centered
Highest point
Elevation 5,980 ft (1,823 m) [1]
Prominence 480 ft (146 m) [1]
Parent peak Kingfisher Tower [1]
Isolation 0.19 mi (0.31 km) [1]
Coordinates 38°43′11″N109°18′06″W / 38.719711°N 109.301702°W / 38.719711; -109.301702 [2]
Naming
Etymology Cottontail
Geography
USA Utah relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Cottontail Tower
Location in Utah
Usa edcp relief location map.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Cottontail Tower
Cottontail Tower (the United States)
CountryUnited States
State Utah
County Grand
Parent range Colorado Plateau [2]
Topo map USGS Fisher Towers
Geology
Age of rock Permian
Mountain type Pillar
Type of rock Sandstone
Climbing
First ascent 1967
Easiest route class 5.9 [1]

Cottontail Tower is a 5,980-foot-elevation (1,823-meter) pillar in Grand County, Utah, United States.

Contents

Description

Cottontail Tower is located 17 miles (27 km) northeast of Moab, Utah, in the Fisher Towers, on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Cottontail ranks as the second-steepest peak in the United States, second only to nearby The Titan. [3] Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 800 feet (244 meters) above the tower's base. [4] Precipitation runoff from the tower drains to Onion Creek which empties into the Colorado River, approximately three miles to the west. Access is via Fisher Towers Road from Route 128, and hiking one mile on the Fisher Towers Trail. [4] This landform's descriptive toponym refers to the summit rock resembling the tail of a Cottontail rabbit. [5] Cottontail Tower is briefly shown (as a parachute flies by) in the opening scene of the film Austin Powers in Goldmember . [6]

Climbing

The first ascent of the summit was made June 11, 1967, by Harvey T. Carter, Art Howells, Mike Dudley, Don Doucette, Morgan Gadd, and Herbie Hendricks via the class 5.9 West Side Story route on the northwest side of the tower. [7]

Other rock-climbing routes on Cottontail Tower:

Geology

Cottontail Tower is set on a fin and is composed of two principal strata of sandstone and mudstone: Permian Cutler Formation capped by Early Triassic Moenkopi Formation. There is an unconformity between the Cutler and the Moenkopi layers. [15] The reddish coloration of the rock is a result of varying amounts of hematite. [16]

Climate

Spring and fall are the most favorable seasons to visit Cottontail Tower. According to the Köppen climate classification system, it is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone with cold winters and hot summers. [17] Summers highs rarely exceed 100 °F (38 °C). Summer nights are comfortably cool, and temperatures drop quickly after sunset. Winters are cold, but daytime highs are usually above freezing. Winter temperatures below 0 °F (−18 °C) are uncommon, though possible. This desert climate receives less than 10 inches (250 millimeters) of annual rainfall, and snowfall is generally light during the winter.

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cottontail Tower - 5,980' UT". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  2. 1 2 "Cottontail Tower, Peakvisor.com" . Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  3. ↑ Contiguous US Steepness List, listsofjohn.com, Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  4. 1 2 Stewart M. Green, Best Easy Day Hikes Moab, Rowman & Littlefield, 2020, ISBN   9781493046898, p. 48.
  5. ↑ Stewart M. Green, Rock Climbing Utah, Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, ISBN   9780762792849, p. 164.
  6. ↑ Fisher Towers - Hittle Bottom Campground, sceen-it.com, Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  7. ↑ First Ascent Timeline, deserttowersbook.com, Retrieved 2024-09-13.
  8. ↑ Cameron Burns, Selected Climbs in the Desert Southwest: Colorado and Utah, The Mountaineers Books, 1999, ISBN   9780898866575, p. 72.
  9. ↑ North America, United States, Utah, Utah Desert Climbing, Eric Bjørnstad, 1988, americanalpineclub.org.
  10. ↑ The American Alpine Journal 1991, James Beyer, The Mountaineers Books, 1991, p. 172.
  11. ↑ Fisher Towers, Eric Bjørnstad, American Alpine Journal, 1999, p. 230.
  12. ↑ North America, United States, Utah, Fisher Towers, Cottontail Tower, Trick of the Tail, Paul Gagner, 2012, americanalpineclub.org.
  13. ↑ Free Gaza Cottontail Tower, Mountain Project, Retrieved 2024-09-11.
  14. ↑ Cottontail Tower, Line in the Sand, Utah, Fisher Towers, Scott Peterson, 2018, americanalpineclub.org.
  15. ↑ Castle Valley Overview United States of America, Virtual 3D Geoscience, v3geo.com, Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  16. ↑ GeoSights: Fisher Towers – The towering red rock sculptures of Grand County, Utah, Carl Ege, Utah Geological Survey, Retrieved 2024-09-12.
  17. ↑ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L. & McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11 (5): 1633–1644. Bibcode:2007HESS...11.1633P. doi: 10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 . ISSN   1027-5606. S2CID   9654551.
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