Keefe 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 ...

Pitkin County Pitkin County is a county in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,358. The county seat and largest city is Aspen. The county is named for Colorado Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin. Pitkin County has the sev ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, United States.

Description

Keefe Peak is located west of the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

in the Elk Mountains which are a subrange of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

. It ranks as the 238th-highest peak in Colorado. The mountain is situated south-southwest of the community of

Aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

and northwest of Castle Peak. The peak is set in the

Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness The Maroon Bells–Snowmass Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located in the Elk Mountains (Colorado), Elk Mountains of central Colorado. The wilderness was established in 1980 in the Gunnison National Forest, Gunnison and White River Nationa ...

on land managed by

White River National Forest White River National Forest is a United States National Forest, National Forest in northwest Colorado. It is named after the White River (Green River), White River that passes through its northern section. It is the most visited National Forest ...

. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of the

Roaring Fork River Roaring Fork River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in west central Colorado in the United States. The river drains a populated and economically vital area of the Colorado Western Slope called the Roaring Fork Valley or ...

which is a tributary of the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts 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 word ...

is significant as the summit rises above Conundrum Creek in and above East Maroon Creek in .

Etymology

The mountain's toponym was officially adopted as "Keefe Mountain" on May 6, 1925, by the

United States 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 ...

and revised to "Keefe Peak" on February 2, 1927. The US Forest Service made the suggestion to commemorate one of their former employees, Lieutenant Thomas Victor Keefe (1888–1918), who died while serving in the US Army. The peak is within the territory he served the Forest Service as a deputy forest supervisor. He was born and raised in Blossburg, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1913 with a Bachelor of Science degree in forestry.''War Memorial Dedicated to the Heroic Men of the United States Department of Agriculture who Died in the World War'' (1932), p. 59.
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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, Keefe Peak is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.

References

External links

* Keefe Peak
weather forecast
* Thomas Victor Keefe in memoriam
Photo and biography
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Pitkin County, Colorado White River National Forest North American 4000 m summits

Description

Etymology

Climate

See also

References

External links