Mount Nimbus

Mount Nimbus
East aspect
Highest point
Elevation	12,721 ft (3,877 m) [1]
Prominence	623 ft (190 m) [1]
Parent peak	Mount Cumulus (12,729 ft) [1]
Isolation	1.14 mi (1.83 km) [1]
Coordinates	40°23′48″N105°54′15″W / 40.3967585°N 105.9040416°W / 40.3967585; -105.9040416 [2]
Naming
Etymology	Nimbus cloud
Geography
Mount Nimbus Location in Colorado Show map of Colorado Mount Nimbus Mount Nimbus (the United States) Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	Grand County
Protected area	Rocky Mountain National Park Never Summer Wilderness
Parent range	Rocky Mountains Never Summer Mountains
Topo map	USGS Mount Richthofen [3]
Geology
Rock type	Granite and Gneiss [4]
Climbing
Easiest route	class 2 [1]

Mount Nimbus is a 12,721-foot-elevation (3,877-meter) mountain summit in Grand County, Colorado, United States.

Description

Mount Nimbus is set along the Continental Divide and is the fifth-highest peak of the Never Summer Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. ^[5] The mountain is situated on the western boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park and is visible from Trail Ridge Road within the park. The west side of the peak is in the Never Summer Wilderness, on land managed by Arapaho National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's lower northwest slope drains into headwaters of the South Fork Michigan River and all other slopes drain into tributaries of the Colorado River except a portion which is diverted by the Grand Ditch. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,700 feet (1,100 meters) above the Kawuneeche Valley in three miles (4.8 km) and 1,700 feet (520 meters) above Baker Gulch in one-half mile.

Mt. Nimbus (left) and Mt. Cumulus (right)

Etymology

The mountain's toponym was applied in 1914 by James Grafton Rogers, ^[6] and was officially adopted in 1932 by the United States Board on Geographic Names. ^{[2] [7]} Rogers also named Mount Cirrus and Mount Cumulus, with the three names referring to different types of common clouds. As President of the Colorado Geographic Society, Chairman of the Colorado Geographic Board, and President of the American Alpine Club, Rogers participated in naming many of Colorado's mountains. ^[8] He also drafted legislation to create Rocky Mountain National Park.

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Nimbus is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. ^[9] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.

See also

• List of peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park
• Mountains of Grand County, Colorado
• Mountainsportal

References

1. "Nimbus, Mount - 12,721' CO". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
2. "Mount Nimbus". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2023-04-21.
3. "Mount Nimbus, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023.
4. Geologic map of the Mount Richthofen quadrangle and the western part of the Fall River Pass quadrangle, Grand and Jackson Counties, Colorado, J.M. O'Neill, U.S. Geological Survey, 1981.
5. "Mount Nimbus, Peakvisor.com" . Retrieved April 21, 2023.
6. William Bright (2004), Colorado Place Names, Johnson Books, ISBN   9781555663339, p. 38.
7. Decisions of the United States Geographic Board No. 27, (June 30, 1932), US Government Printing Office, p. 6.
8. Stephen H. Hart (1972), James Grafton Rogers, 1883–1971, Americanalpineclub.org
9. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN   1027-5606.

External links

• Weather forecast: Mount Nimbus