Mount Gakona 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
Alaska
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 north ...
.
Description
Mount Gakona is located northeast of
Paxson in the
Delta Mountains which are a subrange of the
Alaska Range
The Alaska Range is a relatively narrow, mountain range in the Southcentral Alaska, southcentral region of the U.S. state of Alaska, from Lake Clark at its southwest endSources differ as to the exact delineation of the Alaska Range. ThBoard on G ...
.
The heavily glaciated mountain ranks as the fourth-highest peak in the Delta Mountains.
[ Precipitation runoff and glacial meltwater from the mountain's north slope drains to Johnson Glacier → Johnson River → ]Tanana River
The Tanana River (Lower Tanana language, Lower Tanana: Tth'eetoo', Upper Tanana language, Upper Tanana: ''Tth’iitu’ Niign'') is a tributary of the Yukon River in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to linguist and anthropologist William Brig ...
, whereas the south slope drains to the Gakona Glacier → Gakona River
The Gakona River is a tributary of the Copper River (Alaska), Copper River in the U.S. state of Alaska. Beginning at Gakona Glacier on Mount Gakona in the Alaska Range, it flows generally south to meet the larger river at the community of Gakona ...
→ Copper River Copper River may refer to several places:
*Copper River (Alaska), in the United States
* Copper River (British Columbia), a tributary of the Skeena River
The Skeena River is the second-longest river entirely within British Columbia, Canada (afte ...
. 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 above the Johnson Glacier in 1.3 mile (2.1 km). The first ascent
In mountaineering and climbing, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in climbing guidebook, guide books), is the first successful documented climb to the top of a mountain or the top of a particular climbing route. Early 20th-century mountaineers a ...
of the summit was made on March 24, 1980, by Daniel Osborne, Steve O'Brien, Mark Hottman, and Toby Wheeler. The climbers reported that the mountain has two peaks separated one mile apart by a knife-edged ridge. The word "Gakona" (Ggax Kuna' in Ahtna language
Ahtna or Ahtena (, from'' ''" Copper River") is the Na-Dené language of the Ahtna ethnic group of the Copper River area of Alaska. The language is also known as Copper River or Mednovskiy.
The Ahtna language consists of four different diale ...
) means "rabbit" or "rabbit river."[Sandy Nestor, ''Indian Placenames in America'', Volume 1, McFarland, 2015, , p. 11.] The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted 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 ...
.[Donald J. Orth, ''Dictionary of Alaska Place Names'', U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967, page 358.]
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, Mount Gakona 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 cold, snowy winters, and cool summers.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 0 °F with wind chill factors below −10 °F. This climate supports the Johnson Glacier, Gakona Glacier, and smaller unnamed glaciers surrounding the peak.
See also
*Gakona, Alaska
Gakona (''Ggax Kuna’'' in Ahtna Athabascan) is a census-designated place (CDP) in the Copper River Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2020 census, the population of the CDP was 169, down from 218 in 2010. It is home to the ...
*Geography of Alaska
Alaska occupies the northwestern portion of the North American continent and is bordered only by Canada on the east. It is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state; Hawaii is the other. Alaska has more ocean coastline than all of the ...
References
External links
* Mount Gakona
weather forecast
* Mount Gakona (photo)
Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gakona, Mount
Alaska Range
Three-thousanders of the United States
Landforms of Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska
Mountains of Unorganized Borough, Alaska