Mount Warlow is a mountain summit located west of 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

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 ...

of northern

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 Goddard Divide in northern

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 ...

, north of

Muir Pass Muir Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada of California, United States, in Kings Canyon National Park. It is named for John Muir. The pass is near the midway point of the John Muir Trail and around mile 841 of the Pacific Crest Trail. ...

, southeast of Mount Huxley, and southwest of

Mount Fiske Mount Fiske is a mountain summit located near the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Fresno County of northern California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the U ...

, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Mount Warlow ranks as the 108th highest summit in California. The approach to this remote peak is made via 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 ...

History

The mountain is named after Chester H. Warlow (1889–1963), attorney,

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

civic leader, and conservationist, who was instrumental in the creation of Kings Canyon National Park. Each year from 1913 through 1930 he used his 30-day vacations to visit the High Sierras between Yosemite and Mount Whitney. He was California Highway Commissioner from 1943 through 1961, and also has a highway

rest area A rest area is a public facility located next to a large thoroughfare such as a motorway, Limited-access road, expressway, or highway, at which drivers and passengers can rest, eat, or refuel without exiting onto secondary roads. Other names ...

near Kingsburg named after him. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1969 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

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 in 1926 by Nathaniel Goodrich and Marjory Hurd.R. J. Secor, ''The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails'', 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, , page 228.

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 Warlow 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 ...

). This climate until recently supported the Mount Warlow Glacier in the northwest

cirque A (; from the Latin word ) is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by Glacier#Erosion, glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from , meaning a pot or cauldron) and ; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform a ...

. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains southeast into headwaters of the Middle Fork Kings River, or northwest into Evolution Creek which is a

San Joaquin River The San Joaquin River ( ; ) is the longest river of Central California. The long river starts in the high Sierra Nevada and flows through the rich agricultural region of the northern San Joaquin Valley before reaching Suisun Bay, San Francis ...

tributary.

Gallery

File:Mt. Warlow from Helen Lake.jpg, Mt. Warlow from Helen Lake File:Warlow Fiske Helen Lake.jpg, Mt. Warlow (left) and Mt. Fiske (right) seen from Helen Lake

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Mount Warlow
* Aerial photo of east aspect
Flickr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warlow, Mount Mountains of Fresno County, California Mountains of Kings Canyon National Park Four-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links