Mount Moss 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 ...

on the common boundary shared by La Plata County and

Montezuma County Montezuma County is a county located in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,849. The county seat is Cortez. Montezuma County contains many archaeologically significant Amerindian ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

Description

Mount Moss is located northwest of the community of

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

on land managed by

San Juan National Forest The San Juan National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering over 1,878,846 acres (2,935.7 sq mi, or 7,603.42 km²) in western Colorado. The forest occupies land in Archuleta, Conejos, Dolores, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mineral, Montezum ...

. It ranks as the third-highest summit of the

La Plata Mountains The La Plata Mountains are a small subrange of the San Juan Mountains in the southwestern part of Colorado, United States. They are located on the border between Montezuma and La Plata counties, about northwest of Durango. Their name is Spanish ...

which are a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's west slope drains to the Mancos River, the southeast slope drains to the

La Plata River LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smit ...

, and the northeast slope drains into the headwaters of Bear Creek which is a tributary of the

Dolores River The Dolores River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in the U.S. states of Colorado and Utah. The river drains a rugged and arid region of the Colorado Plateau west of the San Juan Mountains. Its name derives from the Spa ...

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 La Plata River in two miles (3.2 km) and above Owen Basin in one-half mile (0.8 km). Neighbors include Centennial Peak, to the north, Lavender Peak, to the northwest, and

Hesperus Mountain Hesperus Mountain (Navajo: meaning "Big Mountain Sheep") is the highest summit of the La Plata Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent thirteener is located in San Juan National Forest, northeast by east ( b ...

to the northwest.

Etymology

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 ...

. The name was applied by

Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union A ...

circa 1875 to honor John Thomas Moss (1839–1880), an American frontiersman, prospector, and miner. John Moss was the founder of Parrott City which was six miles south of the peak. Moss and E.H. Cooper platted the townsite in 1874 and by 1876 it had 50 buildings, a courthouse and two sawmills.''Parrott City'', Animasmuseum.org
Retrieved May 21, 2023

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 Moss has 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 ...

with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.

Gallery

File:Lavender Peak.jpg, Mount Moss (left) and Lavender Peak (right) viewed from Centennial Peak File:Hesperus aerial.jpg, Aerial from west: Hesperus, Lavender, Moss File:Hesperus Mountain Sunset.jpg, Hesperus Mountain (left) and Mount Moss (center) from the west at sunset

References

External links