Gaylor Peak is an 11,004-foot-elevation (3,354 meter) mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern

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. The peak is situated on the common boundary shared by

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ...

with

Inyo National Forest Inyo National Forest is a United States National Forest covering parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. The forest hosts several superlatives, including Mount Whitney, the highest po ...

, as well as the border shared by

Mono County Mono County ( ) is a county located in the east central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,195, making it the fourth-least populous county in California. The county seat is Bridgeport. The coun ...

with

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

. It rises immediately above the park's

Tioga Pass Tioga Pass is a mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California. State Route 120 runs through it, and serves as the eastern entry point for Yosemite National Park, at the Tioga Pass Entrance Station. It is the highest elevation ...

entrance station and

Tioga Lake Tioga Lake is a small glacial lake in the Inyo National Forest of Mono County, California, about two miles (3 km) north of the Tioga Pass entrance to Yosemite National Park. The lake bed is alongside State Route 120 in the Sierra Nevada of ...

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 approximately 1,400 feet (427 meters) above the lake in one-half mile (1 km). The peak is a popular hiking destination on summer weekends due to easy access via the two-mile Gaylor Lakes Trail from State Route 120 which traverses the east base of the peak.

History

This mountain's toponym was officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names to honor Andrew Jack Gaylor (1846–1921), one of Yosemite's first park rangers. He died of a heart attack on April 19, 1921, while on patrol in the park, having worked 14 years for the National Park Service. Before this landform's name was adopted, early prospectors called the peak "Tioga Hill." The

Great Sierra Mine Historic Site The Great Sierra Mine Historic Site preserves the site of the largest mining operation in what would become Yosemite National Park. The mine was located on Tioga Hill on the crest and eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada, one of several claims in ...

is located one-half mile north of the peak.

Climate

Gaylor 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 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 moisture in the form of rain or snowfall to drop 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 marke ...

from this mountain drains west into Gaylor Lakes thence Dana Fork

Tuolumne River The Tuolumne River (Yokutsan: ''Tawalimnu'') flows for through Central California, from the high Sierra Nevada to join the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley. Originating at over above sea level in Yosemite National Park, the Tuolumne ...

, and east to

thence Lee Vining Creek and ultimately

Mono Lake Mono Lake ( ) is a saline soda lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in an endorheic basin. The lack of an outlet causes high levels of salts to accumulate in the lake which make its water a ...

Gallery

File:Gaylor Peak framed.jpg, Gaylor Peak framed, from

File:Lupine on Mt Dana.jpg, Looking northwest at Gaylor Peak (reddish top) with parent False White Mountain behind. Yosemite's Tioga Pass Entrance Station is visible on the road. File:Tioga Lake, Yosemite National Park.jpg,

Mount Dana Mount Dana is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. Its summit marks the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of , it is the second highest mountain in Yosemit ...

(left),

Kuna Crest Kuna Crest is a mountain range near Tuolumne Meadows, in Yosemite National Park, California. Name The word ''Kuna'' probably derives from a Shoshonean language, Shoshonean word meaning "fire," which appears in the Mono language (California), Mo ...

(centered in the distance), and Gaylor Peak (right) seen from Tioga Lake. File:Gaylor Peak panorama.jpg, Summit panorama File:Mount Dana to Gaylor Peak.jpg, Gaylor Peak seen from Mount Dana File:Andrew "Jack" Gaylor.jpg, Andrew "Jack" Gaylor, circa 1881

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Gaylor Peak
* Yosemite's First Rangers (photo)
Flickr
* Jack Gaylor
obituary
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Gaylor Peak , North =

, Northeast = Tioga Peak , East =

, Southeast =

, South = Dana Meadows , Southwest =

Tuolumne Meadows Tuolumne Meadows () is a gentle, dome-studded, sub-alpine meadow area along the Tuolumne River in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park in the United States. Its approximate location is . Its approximate elevation is . The term ''Tuolumne Me ...

, West = Granite Lakes , Northwest = False White Mountain Mountains of Mono County, California Mountains of Tuolumne County, California Mountains of Yosemite National Park North American 3000 m summits Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States) Inyo National Forest

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links