Mount Hooper is a 12,349-foot (3,764 meter) high 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 ...

located west of the crest of 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

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populo ...

of northern

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. It is set within the

John Muir Wilderness The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California for , in the Inyo National Forest, Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist ...

, on land managed by

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California, bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and on the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is known for ...

. It is situated west of

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

, southwest of Seven Gables, and west-northwest of Mount Senger. Hooper ranks as the 326th-highest summit in California, and

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

Florence Lake Florence Lake Owens (born Florence Silverlake; November 27, 1904 – April 11, 1980) was an American actress best known as the leading lady in most of the Edgar Kennedy comedy shorts. Early life Florence Lake (née Silverlake) was born on ...

in approximately four miles. The

John Muir Trail The John Muir Trail (JMT) is a long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, passing through Yosemite National Park, Yosemite, Kings Canyon National Park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park, Se ...

traverses the east slope of the mountain, providing an approach option.

History

The mountain was named by R. B. Marshall of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

probably during the 1907–09 USGS survey, and officially adopted in 1911 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor Major William Burchell Hooper (October 8, 1836 – July 16, 1903), proprietor of the Occidental Hotel in San Francisco.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
/ref> Marshall also named nearby Rose Lake (one mile north) for Rosa Hooper, the daughter of William Hooper and sister of Selden Stuart Hooper, an assistant with the USGS from 1891 to 1898.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
/ref> Selden Pass, which the

crosses, is one mile east of the peak and was also named by Marshall. 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 in 1929 by Glen Dawson, William D. Horsfall, and John Nixon. Today this peak draws climbing interest because it is included on the

Sierra Peaks Section The Sierra Peaks Section (SPS) is a mountaineering society within the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club that serves to provide mountaineering activities for Sierra Club members in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, and to honor mountaineers ...

peak bagging Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which Hiking, hikers, climbing, climbers, and Mountaineering, mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the world ...

list.

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 Hooper is located in an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical 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 of alpine cli ...

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 ins ...

s originate in the

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

, 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 them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into the

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...

watershed.

Gallery

File:Hooper mtn.jpg, East aspect File:Mt Hooper.jpg, Hooper from the east

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Mount Hooper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hooper, Mount Sierra National Forest Mountains of Fresno County, California Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness Three-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

History

Climate

See also

Gallery

References

External links