Ervin Peak is a mountain
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 ...
in
Chaffee County,
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...
, United States.
Description
Ervin Peak is set approximately east of the
Continental Divide
A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...
in the
Collegiate Peaks
The Collegiate Peaks (or Collegiate Range) is a name given to a section of the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains located in central Colorado. Drainages to the east include headwaters of the Arkansas River.
The Collegiate Peaks include some of ...
which are a subrange of the
Sawatch Range
The Sawatch Range or Saguache RangeThe place name "Saguache” is pronounced “Sawatch” . This name derives from the Ute language noun "''sawup''" meaning "sand dunes" and is spelled using the Spanish language version of this name "Saguach ...
. The mountain is located southeast of
La Plata Peak
La Plata Peak is the fifth-highest summit of the Rocky Mountains of North America and the U.S. state of Colorado. The prominent fourteener is located in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, northwest by west ( be ...
on land managed by
San Isabel National Forest
San Isabel National Forest is located in central Colorado. The forest contains 19 of the state's 53 fourteeners, peaks over high, including Mount Elbert, the highest point in Colorado.
It is one of eleven national forests in the state of Col ...
.
It ranks as the 234th-highest summit in Colorado.
Precipitation runoff from the mountain's south slope drains into Clear Creek, whereas the north slope drains to Lake Creek, and both are tributaries of the
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...
.
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 the summit rises over above Clear Creek in .
Etymology
The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 2003 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 ...
to remember William Fulton Ervin (1884–1943) who climbed every peak over 14,000-feet-elevation in Colorado.
[ In 1923, Bill Ervin and climbing partner Carl Blaurock became the first to climb all of Colorado's 46 ]fourteener
In the mountaineering parlance of the Western United States, a fourteener (also spelled 14er) is a mountain peak with an elevation of at least . The 96 fourteeners in the United States are all west of the Mississippi River. Colorado
Co ...
s that were known at that time.[Mike Garratt, Bob Martin (1984), ''Colorado's High Thirteeners'', Johnson Books, , p. ix.][Robert M. Ormes (1992), ''Guide to the Colorado Mountains'', Johnson Books, , p. 344.] Mount Blaurock lies less than one mile northwest of Ervin Peak.
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, Ervin Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...
zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.
See also
*
*
*Thirteener
In mountaineering in the United States, a thirteener (abbreviated 13er) is a mountain that exceeds above mean sea level, similar to the more familiar "fourteeners," which exceed . In most instances, "thirteeners" refers only to those peaks betwe ...
References
External links
* Ervin Peak
weather forecast
{{Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of Chaffee County, Colorado
San Isabel National Forest
Four-thousanders of the United States