Reynolds Peak is a 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

Alpine County Alpine County is a county in the eastern part of the U.S. state of California located within the Sierra Nevada on the state border with Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,204, making it California's least populous county. Th ...

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.

Description

Reynolds Peak is set northwest of

Ebbetts Pass Ebbetts Pass (el. ), named after John Ebbetts, is a high mountain pass through the Sierra Nevada range in Alpine County, California. Ebbetts is the eastern of two passes in the area traversed by State Route 4. The western pass is the Pacific Gra ...

in the

Mokelumne Wilderness The Mokelumne Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area located east of Sacramento, California. It is within the boundaries of three national forests: Stanislaus, Eldorado and Toiyabe. First protected under the Wilderness Act of ...

, on the common boundary that

Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest The Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest (HTNF) is the principal National forest (United States), U.S. National Forest in the U.S. state of Nevada, and has a smaller portion further west in Eastern California in the state of California. With an a ...

shares with

Stanislaus National Forest Stanislaus National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest which manages of land in four counties in the Sierra Nevada in Northern California. It was established on February 22, 1897, making it one of the oldest natio ...

. Reynolds Peak is situated on 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, with precipitation runoff from the peak draining west to the North Fork

Mokelumne River The Mokelumne River ( or ; ''Mokelumne'', Miwok for "People of the Fish Net") is a -long river in northern California in the United States. The river flows west from a rugged portion of the central Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada into the C ...

, and east into tributaries of the East Fork

Carson River The Carson River is a northwestern Nevada river that empties into the Carson Sink, an endorheic basin. The main stem of the river is long although the addition of the East Fork makes the total length , traversing five counties: Alpine Count ...

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 modest as the east aspect rises above Raymond Meadows in one-half mile. Neighbors include Raymond Peak to the north and Highland Peak, southeast. The

Pacific Crest Trail The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), officially designated as the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, is a long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligned with the highest portion of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, which lie ...

traverses the eastern base of the mountain, providing an approach option from Ebbetts Pass.

Etymology

At the recommendation of the

US Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It administers the nation's 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands covering of land. The major divisions of the agency are the Chief's ...

, this landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1929 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor Gilbert Elmer Reynolds (1884–1928), for many years the managing editor of the

Stockton Record ''The Record'' is a daily newspaper based in Stockton, California, serving San Joaquin and Calaveras Counties. It is owned by Gannett. History ''The Record'' was first published by Irving Martin on April 7, 1895. Speidel Newspapers, Inc. b ...

and an advocate of

forest conservation Forest management is a branch of forestry concerned with overall administrative, legal, economic, and social aspects, as well as scientific and technical aspects, such as silviculture, forest protection, and forest regulation. This includes manag ...

. He was a member of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an American environmental organization with chapters in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded in 1892, in San Francisco, by preservationist John Muir. A product of the Pro ...

and one of California's leading conservationists.

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, Reynolds 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.

Gallery

File:Reynolds Peak, CA.jpg, Southeast aspect from PCT File:Reynolds Peak, ne.jpg, Northeast aspect File:Reynolds Peak, north.jpg, North aspect of Reynolds Peak seen from Raymond Peak File:Reynolds Peak summit block.jpg, Summit pinnacle File:Raymond Peak from Reynolds.jpg, Looking north from the summit to

line parent A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col ...

Peak 9860 on left, and Raymond Peak on the right. File:Reynolds Peak slope.jpg, Volcanic rock of Reynolds Peak File:Pacific Crest Trail, Reynolds Peak.jpg, Pacific Crest Trail and Reynolds Peak File:Supt. Lewis, Elmer Reynolds.tif, W. B. "Dusty" Lewis (Superintendent of Yosemite National Park) on the left, with G. Elmer Reynolds standing next to him.

References

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External links