Mount Randy Morgenson is a mountain summit located along 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

Tulare County Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lake ...

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 ...

. It is situated in

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in the southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and toda ...

, one mile north-northwest of

Mount Whitney Mount Whitney (Paiute: ''Too-man-i-goo-yah'' or ''Too-man-go-yah'') is a mountain in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, and the highest point in the contiguous United States, with an elevation of . It lies in East–Central Califor ...

, 0.85 mile east of Mount Hale, and one-half mile west of Mount Russell, the nearest higher neighbor. 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 ...

traverses to the south of the mountain, providing an approach option. Mt. Morgenson ranks as the 20th-highest summit in California.

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 northwest aspect rises above Wales Lake in less than one mile.

History

This mountain's name honors esteemed park ranger James Randall "Randy" Morgenson (1945–1996), who vanished in July 1996 while on patrol in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park. Despite one of the most intense search-and-rescue operations in National Park Service history, his body wasn't found until five years later. This peak's unofficial name has not been adopted by the U. S. Board on Geographic Names and so it does not appear on USGS maps. Instead, Mount Randy Morgenson is labeled "Peak 4245 m (13,920+ ft)" on USGS maps. 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 June 27, 1926, 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 ...

, who is credited with 130 first ascents, most of which were in the Sierra Nevada.

Climate

Mount Randy Morgenson 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 (

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 ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains west to the

Kern River The Kern River is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between ...

via Wallace and Whitney Creeks.

Gallery

File:Mt Randy Morgenson.jpg, Looking up the Arctic Lake drainage to the south aspect of Mount Randy Morgenson File:Mts. Morgenson and Russell from Mount Whitney summit.jpg, Mts. Morgenson (left), Williamson (top), and Russell (right) seen from Mount Whitney's summit. File:Mt. Morgenson.jpg File:Whitney Summit Morgenson, Russell view.jpg, Mt. Morgenson left, Mt. Russell right, Mt. Williamson in the background. File:"Thats some mountain youre on" (4897101088).jpg File:Mt. Whitney from the other side.jpg, Morgenson (left), Whitney/Hale (center). From the northwest. File:Mount Randy Morgenson snowy.jpg, As seen from Mt. Russell

References

External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Randy Morgenson photo
Backpacker.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Randy Morgenson, Mount Mountains of Tulare County, California Mountains of Sequoia National Park Four-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links