Diamond Peak is a 3,512-foot-elevation (1,070 meter)

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

located in the western end of the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon (, yuf-x-yav, Wi:kaʼi:la, , Southern Paiute language: Paxa’uipi, ) is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a m ...

, on the

Hualapai Indian Reservation The Hualapai (, , yuf-x-wal, Hwalbáy) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Arizona with about 2300 enrolled members. Approximately 1353 enrolled members reside on the Hualapai Reservation, which spans over three counties in Nort ...

in Mohave County of northwestern

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. This

double summit A double summit, double peak, twin summit, or twin peak refers to a mountain or hill that has two summits, separated by a col or saddle. One well-known double summit is Austria’s highest mountain, the Großglockner, where the main summit of t ...

landmark is situated at the mouth of Peach Springs Canyon, where Diamond Creek meets the Colorado River. This peak is an erosional remnant composed of

Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized C with bar, Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million ...

Muav Limestone The Cambrian Muav Limestone is a geologic unit within the 5-member Tonto Group. It is about thick at its maximum. It is a resistant cliff-forming unit. The Muav consists of dark to light-gray, brown, and orange red limestone with dolomite and ...

and Mississippian

Redwall Limestone The Redwall Limestone is a resistant cliff-forming unit of Mississippian age that forms prominent, red-stained cliffs in the Grand Canyon, ranging in height from to . Lithology Redwall Limestone consists predominantly of light-olive-gray to ...

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 word ...

is significant as Diamond Peak towers 2,200 feet above the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

in one-half mile. 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, Diamond Peak is located in a

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

zone.

History

In 1858, Lieutenant Joseph Ives led an expedition up the Colorado River, starting at the river's mouth and making it to the lower Grand Canyon with a steamboat named Explorer. This steamboat struck a large rock, now known as

Explorer's Rock Explorer's Rock was a large rock in the Colorado River that was a hazard to navigation at the mouth of the Black Canyon of the Colorado between Arizona and Nevada during the 19th century. It got its name from incident where the iron hulled steam ...

, in the Colorado River at the mouth of the Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada, thereby damaging the boat. The exploratory party continued overland, and descended into the Grand Canyon via Peach Springs Canyon with the assistance of Hualapai guides. On April 5, 1858, this party spent two days camped near the mouth of Diamond Creek and became the first European Americans known to reach the Colorado River within Grand Canyon. John Strong Newberry was the geologist for the Ives' expedition, and the first geologist to see the Grand Canyon. For his part of the expedition report, Newberry described the first stratigraphic sections of the Grand Canyon and the first description of the fossils. Diamond Peak and Diamond Creek were named by Ives and Newberry. In his ''Report upon the Colorado River of the West; Explored in 1857 and 1858'', Ives wrote: "The extent and magnitude of the system of canyons is astounding. The plateau is cut into shreds by these gigantic chasms, and resembles a vast ruin. Belts of country miles in width have been swept away, leaving only isolated mountains standing in the gap. Fissures so profound that the eye cannot penetrate their depths are separated by walls whose thickness one can almost span, and slender spires that seem to be tottering upon their bases shoot up thousands of feet from the vaults below... The region is, of course, altogether valueless. It can be approached only from the south, and after entering it there is nothing to do but leave. Ours has been the first, and will doubtless be the last, party of whites to visit this profitless locality. It seems intended by nature that the Colorado River, along the greater portion of its lonely and majestic way, shall be forever unvisited and undisturbed." History shows that Ives failed to foresee the alluring adventure of riding the river via raft. Today, most Colorado River

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

adventures through the Grand Canyon terminate at Diamond Peak because of a beach at Diamond Creek and road which provides an easy exit from the lower Grand Canyon.Diamond Creek, grcahistory.org
/ref> Diamond Peak is the landmark that alerts rafters to this exit point. Diamond Peak is at river mile 225, that being the distance from

Lees Ferry Lees Ferry (also known as Lee's Ferry, Lee Ferry, Little Colorado Station and Saints Ferry) is a site on the Colorado River in Coconino County, Arizona in the United States, about southwest of Page and south of the Utah–Arizona state li ...

, where rafters start their journey.

Gallery

File:Diamond Peak, south aspect.jpg, Diamond Peak, south aspect. Muav Limestone overlain by conspicuous cliff-forming Redwall Limestone. File:Diamond Creek Road and Diamond Peak.jpg, Diamond Creek Road and Diamond Peak File:MÖLLHAUSEN(1861) 2.070 Der Diamant Bach (Diamond creek).jpg, Diamond Beach by

Balduin Möllhausen Heinrich Balduin Möllhausen (27 January 1825—28 May 1905) was a German writer, traveler and artist who visited the United States and participated in three separate expeditions exploring the American frontier. After his travel he became a popular ...

, artist for Ives' expedition File:Side Canyons of Diamond River, Grand Canyon.jpg, Diamond Peak by Balduin Möllhausen, the artist for Ives' expedition File:Diamond Peak aerial.jpg, View from airliner looking north with Diamond Peak centered in bullseye File:The Inner Canyon Tour. (39996875641).jpg, Peach Springs Canyon. Tip of Diamond Peak annotated on file. File:Diamond Peak, west Grand Canyon.jpg, Diamond Peak with Colorado River, from the north File:Diamond Peak, Colorado River.jpg

References

Robert Brewster Stanton Robert Brewster Stanton (5 August 1846, Woodville, Mississippi – 23 February 1922, New Canaan, Connecticut) was a United States civil and mining engineer. He was chief engineer of an expedition investigating the Grand Canyon for a possible rail ...

* Diamond Peak photo
Flickr
{{Geology of the Grand Canyon area, , state=collapsed Grand Canyon Mountains of Arizona Landforms of Mohave County, Arizona Colorado Plateau North American 1000 m summits Buttes of Arizona

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links