Mount Whitney is the highest mountain in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet (4,421 m). It is in East–Central California, on the boundary between California's Inyo and Tulare counties, 84.6 miles (136.2 km) west-northwest of North America's lowest point, Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park, at 282 ft (86 m) below sea level. The mountain's west slope is in Sequoia National Park and the summit is the southern terminus of the John Muir Trail, which runs 211.9 mi (341.0 km) from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley. The eastern slopes are in Inyo National Forest in Inyo County.
The exposed geology of the Yosemite area includes primarily granitic rocks with some older metamorphic rock. The first rocks were laid down in Precambrian times, when the area around Yosemite National Park was on the edge of a very young North American continent. The sediment that formed the area first settled in the waters of a shallow sea, and compressive forces from a subduction zone in the mid-Paleozoic fused the seabed rocks and sediments, appending them to the continent. Heat generated from the subduction created island arcs of volcanoes that were also thrust into the area of the park. In time, the igneous and sedimentary rocks of the area were later heavily metamorphosed.
Mount Gibbs is located in the Sierra Nevada of the U.S. state of California, 2.6 miles (4 km) south of Mount Dana. The mountain was named in honor of Oliver Gibbs, a professor at Harvard University and friend of Josiah Whitney. The summit marks the boundary between Yosemite National Park and the Ansel Adams Wilderness, and Mount Gibbs is the sixth-highest mountain, of Yosemite.
Mount Morgan is the highest point on Nevahbe Ridge in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada. It lies in Mono County, California, between McGee Canyon and Hilton Lakes. The mountain is in the John Muir Wilderness Area in the Inyo National Forest.
Convict Lake is a lake located in Mono County, California, United States, situated in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada. It is known for its turquoise-blue water, the dramatic mountains that surround it, the trout fishing it affords, and its unusual history. The lake was renamed from its traditional Mono name by American settlers after an incident on September 23, 1871, in which a group of convicts escaped from prison in Carson City, Nevada, and took refuge near the lake. They were pursued by a posse, and after it caught up to the convicts, a shootout followed, in which a number of both posse members and convicts were killed or wounded. The remaining convicts who survived initially escaped but were eventually captured to be taken back to prison. They were lynched instead.
Mount Langley is a mountain located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada, on the boundary between Inyo and Tulare counties in eastern California, in the United States. To the east is the Owens Valley, and to the west is the Kern River Valley. It is the ninth-highest peak in the state and the seventh-highest in the Sierra. Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous United States, lies 4.8 miles (7.7 km) to the northwest. Mount Langley also has the distinction of being the southernmost fourteener in the United States.
Mount Agassiz, at 13,899 feet (4,236 m), is one of the twenty highest peaks of California. It is the northernmost and easiest to climb of the major Palisades summits. This peak is not to be confused with the 9967 ft peak by the same name in Desolation Wilderness, also in the California Sierra.
In structural geology, a roof pendant, also known as a pendant, is a mass of country rock that projects downward into and is entirely surrounded by an igneous intrusion such as a batholith or other pluton. In lay terminology sometimes "rock hat" is used. A roof pendant is an erosional remnant that was created by the removal of the overlying country rock that formed the roof of the igneous intrusion that encloses it. If this downward protruding mass of roof rock still has a connection to the main, surrounding mass of country rock, they are known by structural geologists as either septa or screens. Roof pendants typically have been strongly metamorphosed through the processes of contact metamorphism.
Mount Mills is a Thirteener and California 4000 meter peak, on the Sierra Crest, north of Mount Abbot and south of Mono Pass in the Sierra Nevada.
Laurel Mountain is a peak in Mono County, California. It lies in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada and is in the Inyo National Forest and the John Muir Wilderness. It reaches a height of 11,818 feet (3,602 m) and is largely composed of metamorphic rock caused by contact with an intruding pluton in the late Cretaceous.
Mount Baldwin is a 12,614-foot-elevation (3,845-meter) mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness on land managed by Inyo National Forest. It is four miles north of Red and White Mountain, and approximately 10.5 miles (16.9 km) southeast of the community of Mammoth Lakes. The nearest higher neighbor is Red Slate Mountain, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south-southwest. Baldwin ranks as the 257th highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises 3,775 feet above McGee Canyon in 1.5 mile. The first ascent of the summit was made July 2, 1928, by Norman Clyde, who is credited with 130 first ascents, most of which were in the Sierra Nevada.
Black Mountain is an 11,797-foot-elevation (3,596 meter) summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County of northern California, United States. The mountain is set within the Hoover Wilderness, on the common boundary shared by Inyo National Forest with Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest, and 1.5 mile outside the boundary of Yosemite National Park. The peak is situated immediately southwest above Virginia Lakes, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) northeast of line parent Excelsior Mountain, and 1.8 miles (2.9 km) south of Dunderberg Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 1,500 feet above Cooney Lake in one-half mile (0.80 km), and the south aspect rises 3,600 feet above Lundy Canyon in one and a half miles (2.4 km). The first ascent of the summit was made in 1905 by George R. Davis, Albert Hale Sylvester, and Pearson Chapman, all with the United States Geological Survey.
Crystal Crag is a 10,377-foot-elevation summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Mono County of northern California, United States. This photogenic landmark, popular with rock climbers, is situated approximately three miles south of the community of Mammoth Lakes, on land managed by Inyo National Forest. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 1,300 feet above Lake George in one-half mile. Crystal Lake lies below the west aspect and T J Lake below the east aspect. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains into these three lakes, thence north to Mammoth Creek. This mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Mount Starr, elevation 12,835 feet (3,912 m), is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness on the common boundary shared by Sierra National Forest with Inyo National Forest, and along the common border of Fresno County with Inyo County. It is bound on the east by Little Lakes Valley, and is 0.8 mile northeast of Mono Pass. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,300 feet above Little Lakes Valley in approximately one-half mile (0.80 km). Neighbors include Mount Abbot, three miles to the south-southwest, Mount Morgan, 2.5 miles to the southeast, and Pointless Peak is 2.5 miles to the north.
Mount Warren is a 12,327-foot-elevation (3,757 meter) summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County, California, United States. The mountain is set within the Hoover Wilderness, on land managed by Inyo National Forest. The peak is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Gilcrest Peak, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) northwest of Lee Vining Peak, and 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Excelsior Mountain, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 5,955 feet above Mono Lake in 4.5 miles.
Mount Crocker is a remote 12,458-foot-elevation mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on the boundary shared by Sierra National Forest with Inyo National Forest, and along the common border of Fresno County with Mono County. Crocker ranks as the 291st-highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 2,500 feet above McGee Creek in approximately one mile. It is nine miles northeast of Lake Thomas A Edison, and approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of the community of Mammoth Lakes.
Mount Stanford is a 12,838-foot-elevation (3,913 meter) mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on the boundary shared by Sierra National Forest with Inyo National Forest, and along the common border of Fresno County with Mono County. It is 10 miles northeast of Lake Thomas A Edison, and approximately 15 miles (24 km) southeast of the community of Mammoth Lakes. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises 3,200 feet above McGee Creek in approximately 1.75 mile. There is another Mount Stanford in the Sierra Nevada which is named for Stanford University.
Mount Izaak Walton is a 12,077-foot-elevation (3,681 meter) mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Fresno County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed by Sierra National Forest. Mount Izaak Walton ranks as the 404th-highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the northwest aspect rises 1,800 feet above Izaak Walton Lake in approximately one mile. It is six miles northeast of Lake Thomas A Edison, and approximately 14 miles (23 km) south-southeast of the community of Mammoth Lakes. The peak is set on Silver Divide, so precipitation runoff from the north side of this mountain drains into Fish Creek which is a tributary of the San Joaquin River, and from the south slope to Mono Creek, also a tributary of the San Joaquin.
Mount Julius Caesar is a 13,213-foot-elevation mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness on the boundary that Sierra National Forest shares with Inyo National Forest, and along the common border shared by Fresno County with Inyo County. It is one mile southwest of line parent Bear Creek Spire, and 22 miles (35 km) west of the community of Bishop. Italy Pass is one-half mile immediately south of the summit, and Granite Park lies to the southeast. Mount Julius Caesar ranks as the 106th-highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 2,000 feet above Lake Italy in 0.7 miles (1.1 km).
Mount Lewis is a 12,350-foot-elevation mountain summit located along the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, on land managed by Inyo National Forest. The summit lies less than one mile outside of Yosemite National Park's eastern boundary, and some of the lower western slope lies within the park. The mountain rises 1.8 miles (2.9 km) southeast of Mono Pass, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Parker Pass, and two miles north of Parker Peak, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as it rises over 5,200 feet above Grant Lake in four miles which makes the mountain visible from Highway 395.
