Ajax Peak

Last updated
Ajax Peak
Ajax Pk Telluride.jpg
West aspect, from Telluride
Highest point
Elevation 12,785 ft (3,897 m) [1]
Prominence 105 ft (32 m) [1]
Parent peak Chicago Peak (13,385 ft) [2]
Isolation 1.16 mi (1.87 km) [2]
Coordinates 37°55′43″N107°45′20″W / 37.9285995°N 107.7556066°W / 37.9285995; -107.7556066 [3]
Naming
Etymology Ajax the Great [4]
Geography
USA Colorado relief location map.svg
Red triangle with thick white border.svg
Ajax Peak
Location in Colorado
Usa edcp relief location map.png
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Ajax Peak
Ajax Peak (the United States)
Location San Miguel County
Colorado, US
Parent range Rocky Mountains
San Juan Mountains
Topo map USGS Telluride
Climbing
Easiest route Hiking trail [5]

Ajax Peak is a 12,785-foot-elevation (3,897-meter) mountain summit located in San Miguel County of southwest Colorado, United States. [3] It is situated on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest, and is the iconic landmark visible three miles east of the community of Telluride. Ajax is set immediately south of Savage Basin and the ghost town of Tomboy, one mile southwest of Chicago Peak, and one mile west of Telluride Peak. It is also immediately northeast of Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado's highest waterfall at 365-feet high. [6] It is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains. Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 3,800 feet (1,200 meters) above the box canyon in approximately one mile. The old mill town of Pandora at the base of Ajax Peak was hit by snow slides each winter, and one particularly bad event in 1884 came over the Ajax Mine and wrecked the mills. [7]

Contents

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Ajax Peak has an alpine subarctic climate with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. [8] 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 and headwaters of the San Miguel River.

See also

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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">Palmyra Peak</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

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

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

Lookout Peak is a 13,661-foot-elevation (4,164-meter) mountain summit located on the shared boundary of San Juan County with San Miguel County, in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated three miles east of the community of Ophir, and one mile immediately north of Ophir Pass, on land managed by San Juan National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest. Lookout 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 166th-highest peak in Colorado, and topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises 3,000 feet in approximately one mile. Neighbors include Silver Mountain three miles to the west-northwest, Wasatch Mountain two miles north-northwest, and Golden Horn five miles south-southwest. The mountain's name, which has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names, was in use in 1899 when Henry Gannett published it in A Dictionary of Altitudes in the United States, and in 1906 when he published it in A Gazetteer of Colorado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheep Mountain (San Miguel and Dolores Counties, Colorado)</span>

Sheep Mountain is a 13,188-foot-elevation (4,020-meter) mountain summit located on the shared boundary of Dolores County with San Miguel County, in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated three miles south of Trout Lake and two miles southeast of Lizard Head Pass, on land managed by San Juan National Forest and Uncompahgre National Forest. Sheep Mountain is part of the San Juan Mountains which are a subset of the Rocky Mountains, and is west of the Continental Divide. Topographic relief is significant as the southwest aspect rises 3,200 feet above the Dolores River in approximately 2.5 miles. Neighbors include Golden Horn and Vermilion Peak to the east, and Lizard Head to the northwest. Sheep Mountain can be seen from the San Juan Skyway in the Lizard Head Pass and Trout Lake areas. 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">Cross Mountain (Colorado)</span> Mountain in the state of Colorado

Cross Mountain is a 12,703-foot-elevation (3,872-meter) summit on the border shared by Dolores and San Miguel County, in Colorado, United States.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ajax Peak, Colorado". Peakbagger.com.
  2. 1 2 "Ajax Peak - 12,785' CO". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  3. 1 2 "Ajax Peak". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior . Retrieved 2021-07-14.
  4. William Bright, Colorado Place Names, 2004, Johnson Books, ISBN   9781555663339, page 3.
  5. Don Scarmuzzi, 2005, Telluride Trails, Pruett Publishing Company, ISBN   9780871089380, page 60.
  6. Hugh McNaughtan, Lonely Planet Western USA, 2018
  7. Caroline Bancroft, Unique Ghost Towns and Mountain Spots, 1961, Johnson Publishing Company, ISBN   9780933472242, page 92.
  8. 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.