Mount Powell (California)

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Mount Powell
Looking northeast from Muir Pass to Mt. Powell.jpg
From southwest near Muir Pass.
Points John & Wesley centered
Highest point
Elevation 13,364 ft (4,073 m) [1]
Prominence 324 ft (99 m) [1]
Parent peak Mount Thompson (13,494 ft) [1]
Isolation 1.13 mi (1.82 km) [1]
Listing Western States Climbers [2]
Coordinates 37°08′19″N118°38′02″W / 37.1386737°N 118.6340226°W / 37.1386737; -118.6340226 [3]
Naming
Etymology John Wesley Powell
Geography
Relief map of California.png
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Mount Powell
Location in California
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Mount Powell
Mount Powell (the United States)
Location Kings Canyon National Park
Fresno County / Inyo County
California, U.S.
Parent range Sierra Nevada [1]
Topo map USGS Mount Darwin
Geology
Rock age Cretaceous
Mountain type Fault block
Rock type granitic
Climbing
First ascent 1925
Easiest route class 3 scrambling [4]

Mount Powell is a 13,364-foot-elevation (4,073-meter) mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, United States. [3] It is situated on the shared boundary of Kings Canyon National Park with John Muir Wilderness, and along the common border of Fresno County with Inyo County. It is also 19 miles (31 km) west of the community of Big Pine, and 1.17 miles (1.88 km) west of Mount Thompson, which is the nearest higher neighbor. [1] Mount Powell ranks as the 81st highest peak in California, [4] and the 10th highest of the Evolution Region of the Sierra Nevada. [1] The west summit is unofficially known as "Point John." [5] Two other peaks on the mountain are informally called "Point Wesley" (13,356 ft) in the middle, [6] and "Point Powell" (13,360+ ft) one-half mile to the east. [7]

Contents

History

This mountain was named in 1911 by Robert B. Marshall, chief USGS geographer, to commemorate John Wesley Powell (1834–1902), geologist, surveyor, map maker, explorer, and director of the United States Geological Survey from 1881 through 1894. [3] [8] The first ascent of the peak was made August 1, 1925, by Walter L. Huber and James Rennie, two of the foremost mountaineers of the Sierra Club, with Huber serving as club president from 1925 to 1927. [9] In 1983 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names revised the location of the summit from Point Wesley to Point John. [3]

Climbing

Established climbing routes on Mount Powell: [9]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Powell is located in an alpine climate zone. [10] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains south into the Middle Fork Kings River, and north into Bishop Creek. Maps from the 1980s show Powell Glacier drawn on the north aspect of the mountain, however satellite images show that the glacier has since disappeared, a result of climate change.

See also

References

Mt. Powell centered, SW aspect from JMT Mount Powell CA.jpg
Mt. Powell centered, SW aspect from JMT
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Mount Powell, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  2. ↑ "Western States Climbers Qualifying Peak List". Climber.org. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Mount Powell". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Powell, Mount - 13,364' CA". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  5. 1 2 R. J. Secor, The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails, 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, ISBN   9781594857386, page 290.
  6. ↑ "Point Wesley, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  7. ↑ "Point Powell, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  8. ↑ Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
  9. 1 2 Alan M. Hedden and David R. Brower, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954)
  10. ↑ 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.
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