Mount Ritter is the highest mountain in Madera County,

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 ...

, in the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, at an elevation of . It is also the highest and most prominent peak of its namesake, the Ritter Range, a subrange 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 ...

in the

Ansel Adams Wilderness The Ansel Adams Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada of California, United States. The wilderness spans ; 33.9% of the territory lies in the Inyo National Forest, 65.8% is in the Sierra National Forest, and the remaining 0.3% co ...

of the Inyo and

Sierra National Forest Sierra National Forest is a U.S. national forest located on the western slope of the central Sierra Nevada in California, bounded on the northwest by Yosemite National Park and on the south by Kings Canyon National Park. The forest is known for ...

s. Mount Ritter is the 15th highest mountain peak in California with at least 500 meters of topographic prominence.

Geography

Mount Ritter is made of strikingly dark rock and is quite prominent due to its height and isolation. It is in the middle of the Ritter Range, which includes neighboring

Banner Peak Banner Peak is the second tallest peak in the Ritter Range of California's Sierra Nevada. The mountain is tall, and there are several glaciers on its slopes. It lies within the boundaries of the Ansel Adams Wilderness; at the foot of the pea ...

and the

Minarets A minaret is a type of tower typically built into or adjacent to mosques. Minarets are generally used to project the Muslim call to prayer (''adhan'') from a muezzin, but they also served as landmarks and symbols of Islam's presence. They can h ...

. The prominent and memorable shape of the Ritter–Banner pair is visible from high elevations far to the north and south in the Sierra Nevada. Mount Ritter was named by

Josiah Whitney Josiah Dwight Whitney (November 23, 1819 – August 18, 1896) was an American geologist, professor of geology at Harvard University (from 1865), and chief of the California Geological Survey (1860–1874). Through his travels and studies in the ...

, chief of the

California Geological Survey The California Geological Survey, previously known as the California Division of Mines and Geology, is the California state geology, geologic agency. History Although it was not until 1880 that the California State Mining Bureau, predecessor to ...

, for

Carl Ritter Carl Ritter (August 7, 1779September 28, 1859) was a German geographer. Along with Alexander von Humboldt, he is considered one of the founders of modern geography, as they established it as an independent scientific discipline. From 1825 until ...

, who had been a teacher of his when he was a student in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

during the 1840s.

Climate

References

External links

* * * Mountains of Madera County, California Inyo National Forest Sierra National Forest Mountains of the Ansel Adams Wilderness

Ritter Ritter (German for "knight") is a designation used as a title of nobility in German-speaking areas. Traditionally it denotes the second-lowest rank within the nobility, standing above " Edler" and below "" (Baron). As with most titles and desig ...

Mountains of Northern California {{MaderaCountyCA-geo-stub

Geography

Climate

See also

References

External links