Mount Powell is a mountain summit located on 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

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 situated on the shared boundary of

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 ...

with

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 ...

, and along the common border of

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 ...

with

Inyo County Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is ...

. It is also west of the community of Big Pine, and west of Mount Thompson, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Mount Powell ranks as the 81st highest peak in California, and the 10th highest of the Evolution Region of the Sierra Nevada. The west summit is unofficially known as "Point John."R. J. Secor, ''The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails'', 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, , page 290. Two other peaks on the mountain are informally called "Point Wesley" (13,356 ft) in the middle, and "Point Powell" (13,360+ ft) one-half mile to the east.

History

This mountain was named in 1911 by Robert B. Marshall, chief USGS geographer, to commemorate

John Wesley Powell John Wesley Powell (March 24, 1834 – September 23, 1902) was an American geologist, U.S. Army soldier, explorer of the American West, professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and director of major scientific and cultural institutions. He ...

(1834–1902), geologist, surveyor, map maker, explorer, and director 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 ...

from 1881 through 1894.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)
/ref> 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 peak was made August 1, 1925, by Walter L. Huber and James Rennie, two of the foremost mountaineers 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 ...

, with Huber serving as club president from 1925 to 1927.Alan M. Hedden and David R. Brower, ''A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra'' (1954)
/ref> In 1983 the U.S. Board on Geographic Names revised the location of the summit from Point Wesley to Point John.

Climbing

Established climbing routes on Mount Powell: * South plateau – – 1925 by Walter L. Huber, James Rennie * Northwest chute – class 3 – June 29, 1931 by

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 ...

* East ridge – class 3 – Norman Clyde * North-northwest face – class 3 – August 27, 1967 by Andy Smatko + 17 others

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 Powell 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 Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

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 south into the Middle Fork Kings River, and north into Bishop Creek. Maps from the 1980s show Powell Glacier drawn on the north aspect of the mountain, however satellite images show that the glacier has since disappeared, a result of

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Mount Powell
* Point Powell
Mountain-Forecast.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Mount Inyo National Forest Mountains of Inyo County, California Mountains of Fresno County, California Mountains of Kings Canyon National Park Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness Four-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

History

Climbing

Climate

See also

References

External links