The East Humboldt Range is a
mountain range in
Elko County
Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County.
Elko County is the fourth ...
,
Nevada,
United States. It is located along the eastern edge of the upper
watershed
Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...
of the
Humboldt River
The Humboldt River is an extensive river drainage system located in north-central Nevada. It extends in a general east-to-west direction from its headwaters in the Jarbidge, Independence, and Ruby Mountains in Elko County, to its terminus in t ...
, which flows to the southwest from its source just north of the range. The range reaches a maximum elevation of atop
Hole in the Mountain Peak. Most of the range is included within the Ruby Mountains Ranger District of the
Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. In 1989, the
United States Congress passed the
Nevada Wilderness Protection Act establishing over of the range as the
East Humboldt Wilderness. The range takes its name from the Humboldt River.
The name ultimately is derived from the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
naturalist
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, ...
.
The East Humboldts run north-to-south for approximately . To the north are
Interstate 80 and the community of
Wells, while to the south are Secret Pass, the larger
Ruby Range, and
Ruby Valley
{{coord, 40.400, -115.300, display=title
Ruby Valley is a large basin located in south-central Elko and northern White Pine counties in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada in the western United States. From Secret Pass it runs south-s ...
. To the east are
Clover Valley and
U.S. Route 93
U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the Canadian border north of Eureka in Lincoln Cou ...
, and to the west are Starr Valley and Dennis Flats.
These mountains were formed by a tilted
fault-block
Fault blocks are very large blocks of rock, sometimes hundreds of kilometres in extent, created by tectonic and localized stresses in Earth's crust. Large areas of bedrock are broken up into blocks by faults. Blocks are characterized by relat ...
process, with gradual slopes and valleys to the west and a steep
escarpment to the east. Both sides of the range show extensive evidence of
glaciation
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
during recent
ice ages, including
U-shaped canyons,
moraine
A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a glacier or ice she ...
s, and steeply carved granite
mountains,
cliffs
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs are common on coa ...
, and
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landfo ...
s. All of these features can be seen from the
paved road from Wells to scenic
Angel Lake.
The range begins with a dramatic rise from a point near the source of the Humboldt River and the community of Wells, at an elevation of , to the summit of
Greys Peak at . From there, the range continues south for nearly as a high crest, staying mostly above . The center section of this crest includes the range high point, Hole in the Mountain Peak. The southernmost high summit of the range is
Humboldt Peak (), after which the main crest begins a gradual descent, forming the northeastern slopes of Secret Pass and the eastern side of North Ruby Valley.
The range includes many
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betwe ...
tarns, including
Angel Lake, Smith Lake, Greys Lake, and Winchell Lake to the north, and Lizzie's Basin, Boulder Lakes, and Steele Lake in the central section.
Hiking trails run from Secret Pass up the western side of the range all the way around to Angel Lake, from Angel Lake to nearby Smith Lake, and from a trailhead near Angel Lake down the east side of the range to Winchell Lake and Lizzie's Basin. Public access is principally found at Angel Lake, a trailhead at the west end of Secret Pass, and via a primitive road at Weeks Canyon/Lizzie's Basin.
Image:ChimneyRockNV.jpg, Chimney Rock, above Angel Lake
Image:SmithLakeNV.jpg, Smith Lake (with Wells in the distance)
File:2015-10-27 14 56 50 View of the East Humboldt Range, Nevada from an airplane.jpg, View of the range from an airplane
See also
*
West Humboldt Range
The West Humboldt Range is a short mountain range in the western Great Basin in northwestern Nevada in the United States.
Geography
The mountain range runs for approximately southwest to northeast in northern Churchill County and southern Per ...
References
External links
Angel Lake in the East Humboldt Range
{{Authority control
Mountain ranges of Nevada
Mountain ranges of Elko County, Nevada