Red Lake Peak (elevation ) is believed to be the vantage point from which
John C. Fremont and
Charles Preuss made the first recorded sighting of
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake ...
by Europeans in February 1844 as Fremont's exploratory expedition made a desperate crossing 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 ...
through what is now
Carson Pass
Carson Pass is a mountain pass on the crest of the central Sierra Nevada, in the Eldorado National Forest and Alpine County, eastern California.
The pass is traversed by California State Route 88. It lies on the Great Basin Divide, with the We ...
on their way to obtain provisions at
Sutter's Fort
Sutter's Fort was a 19th-century agricultural and trade colony in the Mexican '' Alta California'' province.National Park Service"California National Historic Trail."/ref> The site of the fort was established in 1839 and originally called New Hel ...
.
The peak lies just north of the pass and generally northwest of the small lake east of the pass for which the peak is named. Lake Tahoe and
Stevens Peak are visible to the north from the peak.
Elephants Back and
Round Top can be seen to the south.
Climate
According to the
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
system, Red Lake Peak is located in an
alpine climate
Alpine climate is the typical weather ( 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 ...
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 ...
s originate in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
, 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 comprises 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 throughout ...
onto the range.
Gallery
File:Red Lake Peak.jpg, Red Lake Peak, south aspect
File:Red Lake Peak, Red Lake.jpg, South aspect, with Red Lake to the right
File:The Hope Valley Cabin.jpg, The Hope Valley Cabin and east slope of Red Lake Peak
References
External links
*
* Information on the 1844 route followed by Fremont and Charles Preuss.
*
Mountains of Alpine County, California
Mountains of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Mountains of Northern California
{{AlpineCountyCA-geo-stub