Ajax Peak is a mountain summit located in
San Miguel County of southwest
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, United States.
It is situated on land managed by
Uncompahgre National Forest
Uncompahgre National Forest is a U.S. National Forest covering 955,229 acres (1,492.55 sq mi, or 3,865.68 km2) in (in descending order of land area) parts of Montrose, Mesa, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison, Hinsdale, San Juan, and Delta ...
, and is the iconic landmark visible three miles east of the community of
Telluride. Ajax is set immediately south of Savage Basin and the ghost town of
Tomboy
A tomboy is a term for a girl or a young woman with masculine qualities. It can include wearing androgynous or unfeminine clothing and actively engage in physical sports or other activities and behaviors usually associated with boys or men. W ...
, one mile southwest of
Chicago Peak
Chicago Peak is a mountain summit located on the shared boundary of San Miguel County with Ouray County in southwest Colorado, United States. It is situated east of the community of Telluride, on land managed by Uncompahgre National Forest. ...
, and one mile west of Telluride Peak. It is also immediately northeast of
Bridal Veil Falls, Colorado's highest waterfall at 365-feet high. It is part of the
San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains is a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico. The area is highly mineralized (the Colorado Mineral Belt) and figured in the gold and silver mining industry ...
which are a subset of the
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...
.
Topographic relief
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin w ...
is significant as the west aspect rises above the box canyon in approximately one mile. The old
mill
Mill may refer to:
Science and technology
*
* Mill (grinding)
* Milling (machining)
* Millwork
* Textile mill
* Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel
* List of types of mill
* Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...
town of
Pandora at the base of Ajax Peak was hit by
snow slides each winter, and one particularly bad event in 1884 came over the Ajax Mine and wrecked the mills.
Caroline Bancroft
Caroline Bancroft (1900–1985) was a journalist and performed in the Ziegfeld Follies. She is known for the books and booklets that she wrote about Colorado's history and its pioneers. In 1990, she was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of ...
, ''Unique Ghost Towns and Mountain Spots'', 1961, Johnson Publishing Company, , page 92.
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, notabl ...
system, Ajax Peak has an alpine
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...
with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.
Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring. Precipitation
runoff
Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to:
* RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program
* Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed
* Runoff or run-off, a stock marke ...
from the mountain drains into tributaries and headwaters of the
San Miguel River.
Gallery
File:Ajax Peak refection.jpg, Ajax Peak's west aspect (centered) in late winter
File:Telluride's main street.jpg, Ajax Peak from Telluride's Colorado Avenue
File:Massive (15451359446).jpg, Detail of lower southwest cliffs of Ajax Peak
File:Ajax Peak, San Miguel River.jpg, Ajax with San Miguel River
File:San Miguel River, Ajax Peak.jpg, Ajax left of center, with San Miguel River
File:Peaks over Telluride (5868861382).jpg
See also
*
References
External links
* Ajax Peak trail
US Forest Service* Weather forecast
Ajax Peak* Ajax summit view
YouTube{{Mountains of Colorado
Mountains of San Miguel County, Colorado
San Juan Mountains (Colorado)
Mountains of Colorado
North American 3000 m summits
Uncompahgre National Forest