Elephants Back is a 9,585-foot-elevation (2,922 meter) mountain summit located in

Alpine County , other_name = , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_flag = Flag of Alpine County, California.svg , flag_size = , image_seal = Seal of Alpine Co ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States.

Description

This landmark of Hope Valley is set in the Mokelumne Wilderness of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The summit is situated one mile south of

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 West ...

and 1.4 mile (2.25 km) northeast of line parent Round Top. Elephants Back is a lava dome which was created in association with the now-inactive

volcanic vent A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

that is Round Top. 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 peak's east slope drains to the West 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 Coun ...

via Red Lake Creek, whereas the west slope drains to

Caples Lake Caples lake is a reservoir that is located near Kirkwood, California along highway 88 (also called Carson pass). The lake was used as a halting place for wagon travelers who were trekking the historic Mormon Emigrant trail during the Gold Rush. Th ...

via Woods Creek.

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 summit rises 1,600 feet (488 meters) above Forestdale Creek in less than one mile. 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 and northern slopes of this peak, providing an approach from California State Route 88.

History

During his second exploratory expedition, John C. Frémont camped at the base of Elephants Back's north ridge on February 9, 1844. At this spot, the party burned two trees to protect themselves from icy winds of a fierce winter storm. Frémont and

Kit Carson Christopher Houston Carson (December 24, 1809 – May 23, 1868) was an American frontiersman. He was a fur trapper, wilderness guide, Indian agent, and U.S. Army officer. He became a frontier legend in his own lifetime by biographies and ...

made the first known ascent of Elephants Back three days earlier, on February 6, 1844, and were able to see the Sacramento Valley from the summit. The

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

surveyed this area in 1889 and labelled this geographic feature on their 1893 Markleeville quadrangle map. This landform is so named because of its resemblance to the animal. 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 govern ...

. It has also been called "Elephant Mountain", "Elephant's Back", and "The Elephant."

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, Elephants Back 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 o ...

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 contin ...

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:Elephants Back.jpg, Winter scene from slopes of Red Lake Peak at Carson Pass with Elephants Back centered at top File:Elephants Back from trail to Winnemucca Lake.jpg, West aspect of Elephants Back from the trail to Winnemucca Lake. File:Elephants Back, sw.jpg, Southwest aspect of Elephants Back, with Winnemucca Lake File:Elephants Back and Round Top.jpg, Elephants Back (left) and Round Top (right) File:Elephants Back, north.jpg, North aspect of Elephants Back rises above Carson Pass File:Elephants Back from Round Top.jpg, Winnemucca Lake, Elephants Back, and Hope Valley seen from Round Top File:Autumn in the Sierra Nevada.jpg, Elephants Back (left) and Round Top (right) seen from Hope Valley. File:Elephants Back, east aspect.jpg, East aspect File:Caples Lake, California State Route 88, Kirkwood, California.jpg, Caples Lake with Elephants Back to left and Round Top centered. File:Elephant back.jpg, Elephants Back to left

References

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External links