Gilcrest Peak is an 11,575-foot-elevation (3,528 meter)

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 a m ...

located 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, in

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

of northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, United States. The mountain is set within the

Hoover Wilderness The Hoover Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests. It lies to the east of the crest of the central Sierra Nevada in California, to the north and east of Yosemite National Park - a long strip stretching ...

, on land managed by

Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest po ...

. Gilcrest Peak is situated north of

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 of ...

Mount Warren Mount Warren () is located in the Wind River Range in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The peak is the third peak in the range and the fourth tallest in Wyoming. The summit is located in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness of Shoshone National Forest and rises ...

, east of

Mount Scowden Mount Scowden is an 11,182-foot-elevation (3,408 meter) summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County of northern California, United States. The mountain is set less than three miles east of the Sierra crest, within the ...

, and southeast of

Black Mountain Black Mountain may refer to: Places Australia * Black Mountain (Australian Capital Territory), a mountain in Canberra * Black Mountain, New South Wales, a village in Armidale Regional Council, New South Wales * Black Mountain, Queensland, a loca ...

Topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin w ...

is significant as the summit rises nearly above Lundy Lake in one mile. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from this mountain drains to Lundy Lake, Mill Creek, and ultimately

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water alka ...

. The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.

Climate

Gilcrest Peak is located in an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather ( 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 ...

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 ...

s originate in the

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

, 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 moisture in the form of rain or snowfall to drop onto the range.

Gallery

File:Mt. Warren, Gilcrest Peak.jpg, Gilcrest Peak and Lundy Lake. Mt. Warren in upper left corner. File:Gilcrest Peak, Lundy Lake.jpg, Gilcrest Peak and Lundy Lake seen from north-northeast. File:Warren, Gilcrest, Scowden.jpg, The north face of Gilcrest Peak rises above Lundy Lake as seen from Copper Mountain. Mt, Warren in upper left corner. Mt. Scowden and Tioga Crest to right. File:Gilcrest Peak east.jpg, East aspect of Gilcrest Peak and Lundy Lake from Copper Mountain. File:Conway Summit to Warren.jpg, North aspect of Mt. Warren (center), Gilcrest Peak (right), from

Conway Summit Conway Summit ( el. 8,143 feet (2,482 m)) is a mountain pass in Mono County, California. It is traversed by U.S. Highway 395, which connects Bridgeport and the East Walker River on the north side of the pass to Mono Lake and Lee Vining to the s ...

File:Conway Summit Area of Critical Environmental Concern (28173157674).jpg, Mt. Warren (left), Gilcrest Peak (right), from Conway Summit

References

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External links

* Weather forecast
Gilcrest Peak
Mountains of Mono County, California North American 3000 m summits Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States) Inyo National Forest

Climate

See also

Gallery

References

External links