Red Peak
From the north-northeast
Highest point
Elevation11,699 ft (3,566 m)[1]
Prominence539 ft (164 m)[1]
Parent peakMerced Peak (11,731 ft)[2]
Isolation1.52 mi (2.45 km)[2]
ListingSierra Peaks Section
Coordinates37°39′13″N 119°24′34″W / 37.6537248°N 119.4094953°W / 37.6537248; -119.4094953[3]
Geography
Red Peak is located in California
Red Peak
Red Peak
Location in California
Red Peak is located in the United States
Red Peak
Red Peak
Red Peak (the United States)
LocationYosemite National Park
Madera County
California, U.S.
Parent rangeSierra Nevada
Clark Range
Topo mapUSGS Merced Peak
Geology
Age of rockCretaceous
Mountain typeFault block
Type of rockMetamorphic rock
Climbing
Easiest routeclass 2[2]

Red Peak is an 11,699-foot-elevation (3,566 meter) mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Madera County of northern California, United States.[3] It is situated in Yosemite National Park, approximately 10.5 miles (16.9 km) southeast of Yosemite Valley, 1.5 mile (2.4 km) south-southeast of Gray Peak, and 1.5 mile (2.4 km) northwest of Merced Peak, the nearest higher neighbor. Red Peak is the second-highest peak in the Clark Range, which is a subset of the Sierra Nevada.[1] This geographical feature's brilliant color is caused by iron-bearing minerals weathered to an iron rust which colors the granite.[4]

History

The peak's name originated as "Red Mountain" as it was called by the Whitney Survey.[5] The Red Peak name was officially adopted in 1932 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[3] The California Geological Survey had climbed this peak by 1870, and in 1920 Ansel Adams placed a Sierra Club cylinder-type register at the summit.[4]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Red Peak is located in an alpine climate zone.[6] 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 into tributaries of the Merced River.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Red Peak, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  2. 1 2 3 "Red Peak - 11,699' CA". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  3. 1 2 3 "Red Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  4. 1 2 Richard M. Leonard, Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954)
  5. Peter Browning, Yosemite Place Names: The Historic Background of Geographic Names in Yosemite National Park, Great West Books, 1988, ISBN 9780944220009, page 116.
  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.
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