Mount Morrison is 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 ...

, in the

Sherwin Range The Sherwin Range is a mountain range that is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada system, in Mono County, eastern California. The range is also known locally as The Sherwins. Geography The Sherwin Range is immediately to the south of the Long Val ...

. It rises south of Convict Lake near the town of

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is a town in Mono County, California, and is the county's only incorporated community. It is located immediately to the east of Mammoth Mountain, at an elevation of . As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,191 ...

History

The mountain was named for Robert Morrison, a merchant in the town of

Benton Benton may refer to: Places Canada *Benton, a local service district south of Woodstock, New Brunswick *Benton, Newfoundland and Labrador United Kingdom * Benton, Devon, near Bratton Fleming * Benton, Tyne and Wear United States *Benton, Alabam ...

, who was killed near Convict Lake on September 23, 1871, while he was acting as member of a posse pursuing escaped convicts from the Nevada State Penitentiary. Nearby is Mono Jim Peak which is named for Mono Jim, a

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pa ...

guide, who died in the same gun fight.

Climbing

Sources state that Norman Clyde climbed to the peak on June 22, 1928, and that John Mendendhall also reached the summit in 1928 but the month of his ascent is not documented. There are several routes to the summit, the easiest consisting of a Class 2 scramble and bushwack. Due to its imposing north face, Mount Morrison is also nicknamed the "

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that exte ...

of the Sierra." The east face consists of extremely loose rock and one should exercise extreme caution when attempting the face.

Geology

Sierra Mountain Range by Ines Roberts (49494592728)

Highly tilted and faulted

metasedimentary In geology, metasedimentary rock is a type of metamorphic rock. Such a rock was first formed through the deposition and solidification of sediment. Then, the rock was buried underneath subsequent rock and was subjected to high pressures and tempera ...

rocks are exposed on Mount Morrison. Formations include the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years from the end of the Cambrian Period million years ago (Mya) to the start of the Silurian Period Mya. ...

Convict Lake Formation (argillite and siliceous

hornfels Hornfels is the group name for a set of contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and hardened by the heat of intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in some cases exceedingly tough and durable. These pr ...

and

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

), the Lower

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic era, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the Silurian, million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Carboniferous, Mya. It is named after Devon, England, w ...

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoi ...

Aspen Meadow Formation (siliceous and calc-silicate hornfels), the Middle Devonian Mount Morrison Sandstone (calcareous quartz

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

), and the Upper Devonian Squares Tunnel Formation (black

chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a ...

and

argillite :''"Argillite" may also refer to Argillite, Kentucky.'' Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amo ...

). The Mount Morrison Fault passes near the summit.Greene, DC, and CH Stevens (2002
''Geologic Map of Paleozoic Rocks in the Mount Morrison Pendant, Eastern Sierra Nevada.''
California Map Sheet no 53. California Division of Mines and Geology, Sacramento, California.

Fulgurite Fulgurites (), commonly known as "fossilized lightning", are natural tubes, clumps, or masses of sintered, vitrified, and/or fused soil, sand, rock, organic debris and other sediments that sometimes form when lightning discharges into ground ...

s, natural hollow glass tubes, are found at the top of the mountain. These oddities are formed by lightning acting on certain types of sand or soil.

References

External links

* Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness Mountains of Mono County, California Mountains of Northern California {{MonoCountyCA-geo-stub