Devils Crags is a mountain summit located west of the crest of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

mountain range, in

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

of central

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. This jagged line of 11 pinnacles is situated at the southern end of the Black Divide in northern

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...

, south of

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, and one mile southeast of Wheel Mountain, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Devils Crags ranks as the 299th highest summit in California.

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as it rises above Le Conte Canyon in approximately two miles. An approach to this remote peak is made possible via the

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...

which passes through Le Conte Canyon, below to the east. The Northwest Arête is considered one of the classic climbing routes in the Sierra Nevada.

History

This mountain was bestowed its name in 1906 by Joseph Nisbet LeConte, a Sierra Nevada explorer and

cartographer Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
/ref> The name has been officially adopted by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

. The

first ascent In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...

of the highest summit, Crag 1, was made July 21, 1913, by Charles W. Michael, who in addition to being an accomplished climber, was the assistant postmaster at

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

. Crag 2 was first climbed July 25, 1933, by

Jules Eichorn Jules Marquard Eichorn (February 7, 1912 – February 15, 2000) was an American mountaineer, environmentalist, and music teacher. Early years Jules Marquard Eichorn was born in San Francisco on February 7, 1912, to Hilmar and Frieda Eichorn, w ...

, Glen Dawson, and Ted Waller.Alan M. Hedden and David R. Brower, ''A Climber's Guide to the High Sierra'' (1954)
/ref> Crags 3 and 4 were climbed June 24, 1934, by

David Brower David Ross Brower ( ; July 1, 1912 – November 5, 2000) was a prominent environmentalist and the founder of many environmental organizations, including the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies (1997), Friends of the Earth (1969), Ear ...

, Hervey Voge, and

Norman Clyde Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885 – December 23, 1972) was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada ...

. The next day, June 25, this same team made the first ascents of Crags 5, 6, 7, and 8. Crag 9 was first climbed August 1, 1933, by Glen Dawson and Jules Eichorn. Crags 10 and 11 were first climbed June 23, 1934, by David Brower, Hervey Voge, and Norman Clyde.

Climbing

Established climbing routes for Crag 1: * Southwest face – 1913 by Charles Michael * Northwest arête – July 25, 1933, by Jules Eichorn, Helen LeConte, and Alfred Weiler * Northeast face – August 5, 1938, by Raffi Bedayan, Kenneth Davis, and Jack Riegelhuth Devils Crag #1 has a bad reputation for unstable rock which has contributed directly to two climbing deaths, Mark Hoffman in 1988, and David Dykeman in 1997.

Climate

Devils Crags is located in an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical climate for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of alpine cli ...

zone. Most

weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...

s originate in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, 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 Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

onto the range (

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into tributaries of the

Middle Fork Kings River The Middle Fork Kings River is a tributary of the Kings River (California), Kings River in Kings Canyon National Park, California, in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. Draining – almost all of it National Wilderness Preservati ...

Gallery

File:Devils Crags from SE.jpg, Devils Crags centered and aligned, from southeast. File:Devils crags.jpg File:Lake 10236.jpg, Devils Crags highest peak on left, from southeast

References

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External links