Hawksbeak Peak is a 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 ...

with an elevation of located on the

crest Crest or CREST may refer to: Buildings *The Crest (Huntington, New York), a historic house in Suffolk County, New York *"The Crest", an alternate name for 63 Wall Street, in Manhattan, New York *Crest Castle (Château Du Crest), Jussy, Switzerla ...

of 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 northern

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. The granitic summit 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 ar ...

with

Hoover Wilderness The Hoover Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Inyo and Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forests. It lies to the east of the crest of the central Sierra Nevada in California, to the north and east of Yosemite National Park - a long strip stretchin ...

, as well as the common border of Mono County and

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 ...

. This remote peak is set at the head of Thompson Canyon, approximately eight miles west of Twin Lakes and 17 miles southwest of

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

, the nearest town. Topographic relief is significant as the west aspect rises over in less than one-quarter mile. The West Face was first climbed in September 1989 by Alan Swanson and John Nye. 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, Hawksbeak 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 fronts 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), 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 market ...

from this landform drains northwest into headwaters of the

West Walker River The West Walker River is a tributary of the Walker River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 17, 2011 in eastern California and western Nevada in t ...

, and south to

Rancheria Creek Rancheria Creek may refer to: * Rancheria Creek (Tuolumne County, California), a stream in California *Rancheria Creek (Big Butte Creek tributary), a stream in Oregon See also * Rancheria River (disambiguation) * Rancheria (disambiguation) A Ran ...

via Thompson Canyon. Hawksbeak Peak, s

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Hawksbeak Peak
* Hawksbeak Peak's West Face (photo)
Flickr
* North Face above Kirkwood Lake
Flickr photo
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Hawksbeak Peak , North =

, Northeast = Grouse Mountain , East = Hunewill Peak , Southeast = Center Mountain , South = Ehrnbeck Peak , Southwest =

Wells Peak Wells Peak is a granitic mountain summit with an elevation of located in Yosemite National Park, in Tuolumne County, California, United States. The peak is situated between Stubblefield and Thompson canyons in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. T ...

, West =

Tower Peak Tower Peak may refer to: * Tower Peak (Antarctica) in Graham Land, Antarctica * Tower Peak (British Columbia) in the Beaverfoot Range The Beaverfoot Range () is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies, located in southeastern British Columbi ...

, Northwest = Tower Canyon Mountains of Mono County, California Mountains of Tuolumne County, California North American 3000 m summits Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States) Humboldt–Toiyabe National Forest Mountains of Yosemite National Park Mountains of the Sierra Nevada (United States)