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. It rises south of

Convict Lake Convict Lake (Mono language (California), Mono: ''Wit-sa-nap'') is a lake located in Mono County, California, United States, situated in the Sherwin Range of the Sierra Nevada. It is known for its turquoise-blue water, the dramatic mountains ( ...

near the town of

Mammoth Lakes Mammoth Lakes is the only incorporated town in Mono County, California, United States. 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, reflecting a ...

History

The mountain was named for Robert Morrison, a merchant in the town of Benton, 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 languages do not form a single subgroup and th ...

guide, who died in the same gun fight.

Climbing

Sources state that

Norman Clyde Norman Clyde (April 8, 1885 – December 23, 1972) was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self-trained naturalist. He is well known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada ...

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 extends ...

of the Sierra." The east face consists of extremely loose rock and one should exercise extreme caution when attempting the face. On April 14–15, 2023, climbers Jack Cramer, Tad McCrea, and Vitaliy Musiyenko made the first ascent of ''Troll Toll'' (600m, 16 pitches, WI3 M5/6) on Mount Morrison's northeast face. In 2024, members of the

Piolets d'Or The Piolets d'Or (, "Golden Ice Axe") is an annual mountaineering and alpine climbing award organized by the (GHM), and previously with co-founder ''Montagnes Magazine'', since its founding in 1992. Golden ice axes are presented to the annual w ...

technical committee named the climb one of the most notable climbs of 2023.

Geology

Highly

tilted Tilt may refer to: Music * Tilt (American band), a punk rock group, formed in 1992 * Tilt (British band), an electronic music group, formed in 1993 * Tilt (Polish band), a rock band, formed in 1979 Albums * ''Tilt'' (Cozy Powell album), 1981 ...

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 Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occu ...

rocks are exposed on Mount Morrison. Formations include the

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

Convict Lake Formation (argillite and siliceous

hornfels Hornfels is the group name for a set of Metamorphism#Contact .28thermal.29, contact metamorphic rocks that have been baked and hardened by the heat of Intrusive rock, intrusive igneous masses and have been rendered massive, hard, splintery, and in ...

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 period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 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 third and shortest period of t ...

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

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

), 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 prec ...

and

argillite Argillite () is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of Friability, indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and Pelagic sediment, oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. T ...

). 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 called "fossilized lightning", are natural tubes, clumps, or masses of sintered, vitrified, or fused soil, sand, rock, organic debris and other sediments that sometimes form when lightning discharges into ground. Whe ...

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