Snowdon Peak

Last updated
Snowdon Peak
Snowdon Peak.jpg
Northwest aspect
Highest point
Elevation 13,077 ft (3,986 m) [1]
Prominence 1,317 ft (401 m) [1]
Parent peak Twilight Peak (13,163 ft) [2]
Isolation 3.75 mi (6.04 km) [2]
Coordinates 37°42′28″N107°41′20″W / 37.7078884°N 107.6888976°W / 37.7078884; -107.6888976 [3]
Naming
Etymology Snowdon
Geography
USA Colorado relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Snowdon Peak
Location in Colorado
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Snowdon Peak
Snowdon Peak (the United States)
Location San Juan County, Colorado, US
Parent range Rocky Mountains
San Juan Mountains
Needle Mountains [1]
Topo map USGS Snowdon Peak
Geology
Age of rock Statherian
Type of rock Quartzite
Climbing
Easiest route class 2+ scramble [2] NE ridge [4]

Snowdon Peak is a 13,077-foot-elevation (3,986-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States. [3] It is situated seven miles south of the community of Silverton, in the Weminuche Wilderness, on land managed by San Juan National Forest. It is part of the San Juan Mountains range which is a subset of the Rocky Mountains of North America, and is set nine miles west of the Continental Divide. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises 4,300 feet (1,300 meters) above the Animas River in approximately 1.5 mile. Neighbors include Mount Garfield three miles to the east-southeast, and Twilight Peak, which is the nearest higher peak, 3.7 miles to the south-southwest. This mountain can be seen from U.S. Route 550. The mountain is named after Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. [5]

Contents

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Snowdon Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. [6] 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. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Animas River.

Geology

Snowdon Peak is part of the Uncompahgre Formation, which is a sequence of quartzite and black phyllite some 8,200 feet (2,500 meters) in thickness. [7] The formation dates to the Statherian period and is interpreted as metamorphosed marine and fluvial sandstone, mudstone, and shale. The formation overlies plutons with an age of 1,707 million years.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Precipice Peak</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Emma</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cirque Mountain (Colorado)</span> Mountain in Colorado, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Horn (Colorado)</span> Mountain summit in southwest Colorado

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lookout Peak (Colorado)</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twin Sisters (Colorado)</span>

Twin Sisters is a 13,432-foot-elevation (4,094-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States. The lower west summit has an elevation of 13,374 feet and 0.43 mile separates the pair. Twin Sisters is part of the San Juan Mountains range which is a subset of the Rocky Mountains, and is west of the Continental Divide. It is situated 7.5 miles southwest of the community of Silverton, on land managed by San Juan National Forest. It is set 5.5 miles north of Engineer Mountain, and 2.2 miles east of Rolling Mountain, the nearest higher neighbor. Other neighbors include Snowdon Peak seven miles to the southeast, and Golden Horn, 3.5 miles to the northwest. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 3,000 feet above South Fork Mineral Creek in approximately 1.5 mile. The mountain's name, which has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, was in use in 1906 when Henry Gannett published it in A Gazetteer of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ulysses S Grant Peak</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

Ulysses S Grant Peak is a 13,767-foot-elevation (4,196-meter) mountain summit located on the shared boundary of San Juan County with San Miguel County, in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated eight miles west of the community of Silverton, on land managed by San Juan National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest. Ulysses S Grant Peak is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains, and is west of the Continental Divide. It ranks as the 119th-highest peak in Colorado, and topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 2,400 feet in approximately one mile. The mountain's name, which has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, was in use in an 1896 scientific publication by Charles Whitman Cross, and listed by Henry Gannett when he published A Gazetteer of Colorado in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pilot Knob (Colorado)</span> Mountain summit in southwest Colorado

Pilot Knob is a 13,738-foot-elevation (4,187-meter) mountain summit located on the shared boundary of San Juan County with San Miguel County, in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated nine miles west of the community of Silverton, on land managed by San Juan National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest. Pilot Knob is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains, and is west of the Continental Divide. It ranks as the 132nd-highest peak in Colorado, and topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 4,000 feet above Trout Lake in three miles. Neighbors include Ulysses S Grant Peak 1.5 mile to the northeast, and Golden Horn one-half mile to the southeast. The mountain's name, which has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, was listed by Henry Gannett when he published A Gazetteer of Colorado in 1906. The peak is considered one of the most difficult to climb in Colorado because of its poor quality volcanic rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graystone Peak</span> Mountain in the American state of Colorado

Graystone Peak is a 13,489-foot-elevation (4,111-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brown Mountain (Colorado)</span> Mountain boundary shared by Ouray County and Juan County

Brown Mountain is a 13,347-foot-elevation (4,068-meter) summit located on the boundary shared by Ouray County with San Juan County in Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposal Peak</span> Mountain in the American state of Colorado

Proposal Peak is a 13,339-foot-elevation (4,066-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emery Peak</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

Emery Peak is a 13,321-foot-elevation (4,060-meter) summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grayrock Peak</span>

Grayrock Peak is a 12,504-foot-elevation (3,811-meter) mountain summit located in San Juan County, Colorado, United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Snowdon Peak, Colorado". Peakbagger.com.
  2. 1 2 3 "Snowdon Peak - 13,077' CO". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  3. 1 2 "Snowdon Peak". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2021-06-27.
  4. Robert F. Rosebrough, The San Juan Mountains: A Climbing & Hiking Guide, Cordillera Press, 1986, page 114.
  5. John Peel, Paul Pixler, Hiking Trails of Southwestern Colorado, 5th Ed., 2020, West Margin Press, ISBN   9781513262987, page 157.
  6. 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.
  7. Rob Blair, Tom Ann Casey, William H. Romme, The Western San Juan Mountains: Their Geology, Ecology, and Human History, 1996, University Press of Colorado, ISBN   9780870813788, page 350.