Mount Tallac is a

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

peak southwest of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; Washo language, Washo: ''dáʔaw'') is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the Western United States, straddling the border between California and Nevada. Lying at above sea level, Lake Tahoe is the largest a ...

, in

El Dorado County El Dorado County (; ''El Dorado'', Spanish language, Spanish for "The Golden ne), officially the County of El Dorado, is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

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 ...

. The peak lies within the

Desolation Wilderness The Desolation Wilderness is a federally protected wilderness area in the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in El Dorado County, California. The crest of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada runs through it, just ...

in the

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others countie ...

. It is quite visible from State Routes 89 and 28, and

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. A "cross of snow" is clearly visible on the mountain's face during the winter, spring, and early summer months. The

Aetherius Society The Aetherius Society is a new religious movement founded by George King in the mid-1950s, also in the " Marburg Journal of Religion"link to the article/ref> as the result of what King claimed were contacts with extraterrestrial intelligences, w ...

considers it to be one of its 19 holy mountains.

History

The mountain is shown on maps of the

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

as Chrystal Peak. In 1877, the

Wheeler Survey The Wheeler Survey, carried out in 1872-1879, was one of the "Four Great Surveys" conducted by the United States government after the Civil War primarily to document the geology and natural resources of the American West. Supervised by First Lieu ...

named the peak "Tallac", after the Washo word "daláʔak", meaning 'big mountain'.

Access

An estimated 10,000 climb the peak each year via routes approaching the summit from Desolation Wilderness to the west, Fallen Leaf Lake to the East, and access roads from the north. Wilderness permits are required to hike Mount Tallac. For day hikes, permits are free and self-issued at the trailhead. There is a quota for overnight hikes on Mount Tallac (and throughout Desolation Wilderness), but there is no quota for day hiking.

Climate

Mount Tallac 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 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.

In popular culture

The opening sequence of the TV series ''

Bonanza ''Bonanza'' is an American Western television series that ran on NBC from September 12, 1959, to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 431 episodes, ''Bonanza'' is NBC's longest-running Western, the second-longest-running Western series on ...

'' was filmed at the McFaul Creek Meadow, with Mount Tallac in the background.

References

External links

*
Alpine Ski Tours - Lake Tahoe: Southwest Topographic Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tallac, Mount Mountains of the Desolation Wilderness Mountains of El Dorado County, California Tourist attractions in El Dorado County, California Mountains of Northern California Sacred mountains of the United States