Dicks Peak is a 9,974-foot-elevation (3,040 meter) mountain

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

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 primarily ...

mountain range in

El Dorado County El Dorado County (), officially the County of El Dorado, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 191,185. The county seat is Placerville. The County is part of the Sacramento- Roseville-A ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States. It is the third-highest peak in the

Desolation Wilderness The Desolation Wilderness is a federally protected wilderness area in the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in El Dorado County, California. The crest of the Sierra Nevada runs through it, just west of Lake Tahoe. H ...

, and is set on land managed by

Eldorado National Forest Eldorado National Forest is a U.S. National Forest located in the central Sierra Nevada mountain range, in eastern California. Geography Most of the forest (72.8%) lies in El Dorado County. In descending order of land area the others counties ...

. It is situated south of

Lake Tahoe Lake Tahoe (; was, Dáʔaw, meaning "the lake") is a Fresh water, freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada of the United States. Lying at , it straddles the state line between California and Nevada, west of Carson City, Nevad ...

, and approximately west of the community of

South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the 2010 census. The city, along the southern edge of Lake ...

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 the west aspect rises over above Rockbound Valley in approximately one mile. One-half mile east of the peak 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 ...

and

Tahoe Rim Trail The Tahoe Rim Trail is a 170-mile (274 km) long-distance hiking trail that forms a loop around the Lake Tahoe Basin in the Sierra Nevada and ranges of Nevada and California in the United States.Hauserman, Tim ''The Tahoe Rim Trail'' The trail ...

traverse Dicks Pass, which provides an approach option for those climbing the peak. Inclusion on the

Sierra Peaks Section The Sierra Peaks Section (SPS) is a mountaineering society within the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club that serves to provide mountaineering activities for Sierra Club members in the Sierra Nevada, and to honor mountaineers who have summited Sier ...

peakbagging Peak bagging or hill bagging is an activity in which hikers, climbers, and mountaineers attempt to reach a collection of summits, published in the form of a list. This activity has been popularized around the world, with lists such as 100 Peaks ...

list generates climbing interest.

Etymology

This mountain's name remembers Captain Dick Barter, known as the "Hermit of Emerald Bay".

Fannette Island Fannette Island is the only island in Lake Tahoe, California/Nevada, United States. It lies within Emerald Bay State Park, Emerald Bay, on the California side of the lake. Over a long period of time, it was called many different names, including C ...

was Captain Dick's home from 1863 to 1873, and one night while rowing back to the island the retired sailor from England perished in a storm near Rubicon Point in 1873. This landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

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, Dicks 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 of ...

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 in ...

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 continen ...

, 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. 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 market ...

from the mountain ultimately drains to

Gallery

File:Dicks Peak, Velma Lakes.jpg, North aspect of Dicks Peak, from Phipps Peak File:Dicks Peak, east aspect.jpg, East aspect File:Dicks Peak.jpg, Dicks Peak and lake from northeast File:Jacks Peak, Dicks Peak.jpg, Jacks Peak (left) and Dicks Peak (right) from southeast File:Fontanillis Lake.jpg, North aspect of Dicks Peak reflected in Fontanillis Lake File:Dicks Peak summit vista.jpg, Summit view looking south at Jacks Peak, Pyramid Peak, and Mount Price File:Desolation Wilderness from Mt. Tallac.jpg, View from Mt. Tallac. Left to rightː Pyramid Peak, Mt. Price, Jacks Peak, Dicks Peak. File:Susie Lake, Dicks Peak.jpg, Southeast aspect of Dicks Peak seen from Susie Lake File:Dicks Peak, Lower Velma Lake.jpg, Dicks Peak and Lower Velma Lake

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Dicks Peak
* Story of Captain Dick
Hermit's Ghost Haunts Emerald Bay
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Dicks Peak , North =

, Northeast = Dicks Lake , East =

Mount Tallac Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, Southeast =

Susie Lake Lake Susie is an alpine lake West of South Lake Tahoe South Lake Tahoe is the most populous city in El Dorado County, California, United States, in the Sierra Nevada. The city's population was 21,330 at the 2020 census, down from 21,403 at the ...

, South =

Lake Aloha Lake Aloha is a large shallow backcountry reservoir located at an elevation of 8,116 feet in the Sierra Nevada Range, west of Lake Tahoe in El Dorado County, in eastern California. The reservoir is located in Desolation Valley, within the feder ...

, Southwest = Mount Price , West =

Crystal Range The Crystal Range is a small chain of mountain peaks in the Desolation Wilderness The Desolation Wilderness is a federally protected wilderness area in the Eldorado National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, in El Dorado County, Cali ...

, Northwest = Rockbound Valley Eldorado National Forest Mountains of El Dorado County, California Mountains of the Desolation Wilderness North American 3000 m summits Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States)

Etymology

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links