Haydon Peak is an 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 ...

Alaska, United States Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the norther ...

Description

Haydon Peak is part of the

Saint Elias Mountains The Saint Elias Mountains () are a subgroup of the Pacific Coast Ranges, located in southeastern Alaska in the United States, Southwestern Yukon and the very far northwestern part of British Columbia in Canada. The range spans Wrangell-St. Elias ...

Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve is a United States national park and preserve in south central Alaska. The park, the largest in the United States, covers the Wrangell Mountains and a large portion of the Saint Elias Mountains, ...

. The glaciated peak is located southwest of

Mount Saint Elias Mount Saint Elias (Was'eitushaa also designated Boundary Peak 186), the second-highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, stands on the Yukon and Alaska border about southwest of Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada. The Cana ...

and northwest of

Yakutat, Alaska The City and Borough of Yakutat (, ; Tlingit: ''Yaakwdáat''; ) is a borough in the state of Alaska. Yakutat was also the name of a former city within the borough. The name in Tlingit is ''Yaakwdáat'' (meaning "the place where canoes rest"). I ...

. The mountain is surrounded by the Libbey Glacier to the east and Tyndall Glacier to the west. Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain flows south to the

Gulf of Alaska The Gulf of Alaska ( Tlingit: ''Yéil T'ooch’'') is an arm of the Pacific Ocean defined by the curve of the southern coast of Alaska, stretching from the Alaska Peninsula and Kodiak Island in the west to the Alexander Archipelago in the ...

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 8,300 feet (2,530 m) above the head of Libbey Glacier in two miles (3.2 km).

History

The mountain was named "Hadon Peak" in 1888 by mountaineer Harold Ward Topham for Mr. and Mrs. Henry E. Haydon.Donald J. Orth, ''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967, page 411. Henry Haydon was

Secretary A secretary, administrative assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...

of the

District of Alaska The District of Alaska was the federal government’s designation for Alaska from May 17, 1884, to August 24, 1912, when it became the Territory of Alaska. Previously (1867–1884) it had been known as the Department of Alaska, a military des ...

at the time of Topham's expedition to Mount Saint Elias. Topham's failed 1888 expedition only reached an elevation of 11,460-feet on Mt. Saint Elias' south side,Israel C. Russell, ''An Expedition to Mount St. Elias, Alaska''
DigiCat, 2022. so a close view of Haydon Peak was possible. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1917 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Climate

Based on 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 ...

, Haydon Peak is located in a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. It is classified as ET according to the Köppen climate classification. It is a climate which at least one month has an average temperature high enough ...

zone with long, cold, snowy winters, and cool summers. Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Saint Elias Mountains (

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 heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Winter temperatures can drop below −10 °F with wind chill factors below −20 °F. This climate supports several glaciers surrounding this peak. The months May through June offer the most favorable weather for viewing or climbing.

Gallery

File:Mount St. Elias (2) (21586923606).jpg, Haydon Peak in front of Mount St. Elias

References

External links

* Haydon Peak
Weather forecast
* First woman to summit Haydon Peak
Americanalpineclub.org
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Haydon Peak , North = Boundary Peak 187 , Northeast =

, East =

Mount Malaspina Mount Malaspina is a mountain summit in Yukon, Canada. Description Mount Malaspina is part of the Saint Elias Mountains in Kluane National Park where it ranks as the 31st-highest summit in Canada. The remote mountain is highly glaciated and sur ...

, Southeast = Agassiz Glacier , South =

Malaspina Glacier __NOTOC__ The Malaspina Glacier () in southeastern Alaska is the largest piedmont glacier in the world. Situated at the head of the Alaska Panhandle, it is about wide and long, with an area of some , approximately the same size as the state of ...