Donner Peak is an

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

Placer County Placer County ( ; ''Placer'', Spanish language, Spanish for "sand deposit"), officially the County of Placer, is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was ...

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.

Description

Donner Peak is located one mile southeast of

Donner Pass Donner Pass is a mountain pass in the northern Sierra Nevada, above Donner Lake and Donner Memorial State Park about west of Truckee, California. Like the Sierra Nevada themselves, the pass has a steep approach from the east and a gradual a ...

, on land managed by Tahoe National Forest. It is situated in 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, with precipitation runoff from the peak draining to

Donner Lake Donner Lake, formerly known as Truckee Lake, is a freshwater lake in Northeast California on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada and about northwest of the much larger Lake Tahoe. A moraine serves as a natural dam for th ...

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 modest as the summit rises above Donner Lake in 1.5 mile. Neighbors include

George R. Stewart Peak George R. Stewart Peak is a summit in Nevada County, California, United States. Description George R. Stewart Peak is located one-half mile northeast of Donner Pass, on land managed by Tahoe National Forest. It is situated in the Sierra Nev ...

, to the north, and

line parent A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col ...

Mount Judah Mount Judah is an mountain summit in Placer County, California, United States. Description Mount Judah is located one mile southeast of Donner Pass at Sugar Bowl Ski Resort, on land managed by Tahoe National Forest. It is situated on the cr ...

, to the south. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

traverses the west slope of the peak, providing an approach from Donner Pass. Round-trip hiking distance to summit is with of elevation gain.

History

This landform's toponym was officially adopted in October 1940 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, having appeared on an 1873 topographic map made by California Geological Survey. The mountain was also called "Donner Peak" during 1865 construction of the route for the

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete most of the western part of the "First transcontinental railroad" in North Americ ...

. The railroad originally traversed the steep north cliffs of the peak via tunnels and

snow shed Avalanche control or avalanche defense activities reduce the hazard avalanches pose to human life, activity, and property.

s before the 10,322-foot-long (3,146 m) Tunnel #41 running under Mount Judah and Donner Peak was opened in 1925. The peak, pass, and lake are named for the ill-fated

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California interim government, 1846-1850, California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent ...

who spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound at the east end of Donner Lake.

Climate

According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Donner Peak 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 (

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 ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Donner Pass averages of precipitation per year, and with an average of of snow per year, it is one of the snowiest places in the contiguous United States. There are five ski areas at Donner Pass.

Gallery

File:Donner Peak.jpg, North aspect of Donner Peak with railroad snowshed. File:Donner Peak summit.jpg, Summit of Donner Peak, from northwest File:Donner Peak in California.jpg, Donner Peak seen from McGlashan Point File:Donner Peak north aspect.jpg, North aspect File:Donner Peak, Donner Lake.jpg, Donner Peak (centered) seen from Donner Lake, with parent Mount Judah partially visible behind, left. File:A Southern Pacific Freight Well Above Donner Lake, Roger Puta Style, August 1980 -- 5 Photos (32304744153).jpg, Donner Lake (left) and Donner Peak (right) File:Donner Lake from Donner Peak.jpg, The view of Donner Lake from Donner Peak File:Donner Peak, Mt. Judah.jpg, Mt. Judah (upper left), Donner Peak centered, from Donner Lake File:Donner Peak, ne.jpg, Northeast aspect of Donner Peak rises above the west end of Donner Lake File:Donner Peak from Mount Judah Loop.jpg, The top of Donner Peak from Mount Judah Loop Trail File:Above Donner Pass.jpg, View east to Donner Lake, McGlashan Point, Donner Peak (right). File:Old Donner and the snow sheds (49336753296).jpg, Donner Peak right of center

References

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External links