The East Humboldt Range is a
mountain range
A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...
in
Elko County,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. It is located along the eastern edge of the upper
watershed
Watershed may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage)
Music
* Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...
of the
Humboldt River
The Humboldt River is the longest river in the northern and central part of Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in northern Nevada's Jarbidge Mountains, Jarbidge, Independence Mountains, Independence, and ...
, which flows southwest from its source just north of the range. The range reaches a maximum elevation of atop
Hole in the Mountain Peak. Most of the range is included within the Ruby Mountains Ranger District of the
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. In 1989, the
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...
passed the
Nevada Wilderness Protection Act, establishing over of the range as the
East Humboldt Wilderness. The range takes its name from the Humboldt River.
The name ultimately is derived from the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...
.
The East Humboldts run north-to-south for approximately . To the north are
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
and the community of
Wells, while to the south are Secret Pass, the larger
Ruby Range, and
Ruby Valley
Ruby Valley is a large basin located in south-central Elko County, Nevada, Elko and northern White Pine County, Nevada, White Pine counties in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada in the western United States. From Secret Pass it runs ...
. To the east are
Clover Valley and
U.S. Route 93
U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south U.S. Numbered Highway in the western United States, that connects U.S. Route 60 (US 60) in Wickenburg, Arizona, with British Columbia Highway 93 at the Canadian border (north of ...
, and to the west are Starr Valley and Dennis Flats.
These mountains were formed by a tilted
fault-block
Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...
process, with gradual slopes and valleys to the west and a steep
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
to the east. Both sides of the range show extensive evidence of
glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...
during recent
ice age
An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...
s, including
U-shaped canyons,
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...
s, and steeply carved granite
mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher ...
,
cliffs
In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are com ...
, and
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...
s. All of these features can be seen from the
paved road
A road surface (British English) or pavement (North American English) is the durable surface material laid down on an area intended to sustain vehicular or foot traffic, such as a road or walkway. In the past, gravel road surfaces, macadam, ho ...
from Wells to scenic
Angel Lake.
The range begins with a dramatic rise from a point near the source of the Humboldt River and the community of Wells, at an elevation of , to the summit of
Greys Peak at . From there, the range continues south for nearly as a high crest, staying mostly above . The center section of this crest includes the range high point, Hole in the Mountain Peak. The southernmost high summit of the range is
Humboldt Peak (), after which the main crest begins a gradual descent, forming the northeastern slopes of Secret Pass and the eastern side of North Ruby Valley.
The range includes many
glacial
A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
tarns, including
Angel Lake, Smith Lake, Greys Lake, and Winchell Lake to the north, and Lizzie's Basin, Boulder Lakes, and Steele Lake in the central section.
Hiking trails run from Secret Pass up the western side of the range all the way around to Angel Lake, from Angel Lake to nearby Smith Lake, and from a trailhead near Angel Lake down the east side of the range to Winchell Lake and Lizzie's Basin. Public access is principally found at Angel Lake, a trailhead at the west end of Secret Pass, and via a primitive road at Weeks Canyon/Lizzie's Basin.
Image:ChimneyRockNV.jpg, Chimney Rock, above Angel Lake
Image:SmithLakeNV.jpg, Smith Lake (with Wells in the distance)
File:2015-10-27 14 56 50 View of the East Humboldt Range, Nevada from an airplane.jpg, View of the range from an airplane
See also
*
West Humboldt Range
References
External links
Angel Lake in the East Humboldt Range
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Nevada
Mountain ranges of Elko County, Nevada