Rafferty Peak is an mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

located in

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

, 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 common border shared by Mariposa and Tuolumne Counties. It is set south of

Tuolumne Meadows Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumn ...

in the

Cathedral Range The Cathedral Range is a mountain range immediately to the south of Tuolumne Meadows in Yosemite National Park. The range is an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada. The range is named after Cathedral Peak, which resembles a cathedral spire. Geograp ...

which is a sub-range 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. The mountain rises northwest of Tuolumne Pass, 1.4 mile south of

Johnson Peak Johnson Peak is the highest mountain, in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park. Johnson Peak is made of eroded granite. At 85 Year#SI_prefix_multipliers, Ma, the Johnson Granite Porphyry is the youngest granite rock in the Yosemite Nationa ...

, and 2.5 miles east of

Matthes Crest Matthes Crest is an approximately mile-long fin of rock with two summits separated by a deep notch. It is a part of the Cathedral Range, which is a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park. The range is part of the S ...

. Tuolumne Pass is the low point of the saddle between Rafferty Peak and

Fletcher Peak Fletcher Peak is an mountain summit located in Yosemite National Park, in Mariposa County, California, United States. It is situated south of Tuolumne Meadows in the Cathedral Range which is a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. T ...

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 summit rises above Nelson Lake in one mile.

History

This geographical feature was named in 1895 by Lieutenant

Nathaniel Fish McClure Nathaniel Fish McClure (July 21, 1865 – June 26, 1942) was a United States Army officer in the early 20th century who became a brigadier general. He served in several conflicts, including World War I. Early life and education Nathaniel Fish ...

who prepared a map of Yosemite National Park for use by troops. The name honors Captain Ogden Rafferty (1860–1922), Medical Corps, United States Army, who accompanied McClure on a patrol of

Yosemite Valley Yosemite Valley ( ; ''Yosemite'', Miwok for "killer") is a U-shaped valley, glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountains of Central California, United States. The valley is about long a ...

. This geographical feature's toponym was submitted by the National Park Service and officially adopted in 1932 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. 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 by Edward W. Hernden, date unknown.

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, Rafferty Peak 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 landform drains north to the

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River ( Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

via Rafferty Creek, and south to the

Merced River The Merced River (), in the central part of the U.S. state of California, is a -long tributary of the San Joaquin River flowing from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the San Joaquin Valley. It is most well known for its swift and st ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

* Weather forecast
Rafferty Peak
Mountains of Yosemite National Park Mountains of Mariposa County, California Mountains of Tuolumne County, California Three-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

History

Climate

See also

References

External links