Mount McDuffie is a mountain summit 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 central

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. This peak is situated in northern

Kings Canyon National Park Kings Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada, in Fresno and Tulare Counties, California. Originally established in 1890 as General Grant National Park, the park was greatly expanded and ren ...

, northwest of

The Citadel The Citadel Military College of South Carolina (simply known as The Citadel) is a public senior military college in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. Established in 1842, it is the third oldest of the six senior military colleges ...

, and two miles south of

Black Giant Black Giant is a mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Fresno County of central California, United States. Black Giant ranks as the 86th highest summit in California. It is the northernmost and highest ...

, which is the nearest higher neighbor. McDuffie ranks as the 93rd highest summit in California, and the second-highest point on Black Divide.

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 it rises nearly above Le Conte Canyon in approximately 2.5 miles. An approach to this remote peak is made possible via 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 ...

History

This mountain's name honors

Duncan McDuffie Duncan McDuffie (September 24, 1877 – 1951) was a real estate developer, conservationist, and mountaineer based in Berkeley, California, United States. Developer McDuffie is best known for developing the Claremont and Northbrae neighb ...

(1877–1951), to commemorate his interest in the national parks and his work as a conservationist. He was also an accomplished

mountaineer Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become sports ...

in the Sierra Nevada, having made first ascents of

Mount Abbot Mount Abbot is a mountain in California's Sierra Nevada, in the John Muir Wilderness. It is located between Mount Mills and Mount Dade along the Sierra Crest and straddles the border between Fresno and Inyo counties. The peak was named for ...

Bear Creek Spire Bear Creek Spire is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada in Inyo County, California, in the western United States, and is the 46th highest mountain in California and the 225th highest mountain in the United States. Bear Creek Spire is part of the John ...

, and

Black Kaweah Black Kaweah is a mountain of the Kaweah Peaks Ridge of the California's Sierra Nevada, in Sequoia National Park. The peak has a local magnetic disturbance that has caused compasses in the vicinity to vary by up to eight degrees. Fulgurite ...

. Along with James S. Hutchinson and Joseph Nisbet LeConte, he pioneered a high alpine route in 1908 from Yosemite National Park to Kings Canyon, roughly along the route of what would become the

. He served as President of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

from 1928 to 1931, and again from 1943 to 1946. The name was officially adopted in 1953 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 ...

. 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 July 23, 1951, by Charles Bays Locker, Karl Hufbauer, and Alfred Elkin via the north ridge.

Climbing

Established climbing routes: * North Ridge – – First ascent July 23, 1951 * Southeast Ridge – class 2-3 – July 15, 1952, by Charles Bays Locker, Karl Hufbauer, Don Albright, Gary Hufbauer * Northwest Slope and West Ridge – class 3 – August 1971, by Dave Gladstone * West Chute – class 3 – August 2, 1974, by Bob Rockwell * Southwest Ridge – class 2 – August 10, 1989, by Dave Helphrey, Ron Robson, Reiner Stenzel

Climate

Mount McDuffie 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, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (

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 ...

). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into tributaries of the

Middle Fork Kings River The Middle Fork Kings River is a tributary of the Kings River (California), Kings River in Kings Canyon National Park, California, in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada. Draining – almost all of it National Wilderness Preservati ...

Gallery

File:Mt. McDuffie and Ladder Lake.jpg, East aspect of Mt. McDuffie viewed from The Citadel. Ladder Lake below. File:Wheel and McDuffie.jpg, Wheel Mountain (left) and Mount McDuffie (right), from Dusy Basin File:Mount McDuffie.jpg, East aspect centered in the distance.
From Mt. Agassiz, with Dusy Basin lower foreground

References

External links