Kesler 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 ...
located in
Salt Lake County,
Utah
Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...
, United States.
Description
Kesler Peak is set in the
Wasatch Range which is a subset 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 is situated in
Big Cottonwood Canyon, on land managed by
Wasatch National Forest
Wasatch National Forest was established as the Wasatch Forest Reserve by the U.S. Forest Service in Utah on August 16, 1906 with to the east of Salt Lake City and Provo. It became a National Forest on March 4, 1907. On July 1, 1908 Grantsv ...
.
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...
is 13 miles to the northwest and
Solitude Mountain Resort is four miles to the east. Neighbors include
Mount Raymond
Mount Raymond () is a rock peak, 2,820 m, standing on the southernmost ridge of the Grosvenor Mountains, 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) southeast of Mount Cecily. Discovered by Ernest Shackleton of the British Antarctic Expedition (1907–09), ...
three miles to the northwest and
Gobblers Knob is 3.2 miles to the north. 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 the mountain's slopes drains to
Big Cottonwood Creek
Big Cottonwood Creek is one of the largest streams entering Salt Lake Valley from the east from the Wasatch Mountains. The creek flows through the Big Cottonwood Canyon in a westerly direction until it emerges into Salt Lake Valley about from its ...
.
Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Big Cottonwood Canyon in 1.5 mile.
History
The spelling of this mountain's toponym was officially changed in 2008 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 ...
.
Prior to that it was spelled "Kessler Peak" which appears on older maps, and was also known as "Kessler's Peak" in the early 1900s. This landform is named after
Frederick Kesler
Frederick Kesler (1816–1899) was an early member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Born in Meadville, Crawford Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Frederick Kesler and Mary Lindsay. He married Jane Elizabeth Pratt (October 27, 1837 – N ...
(1816–1899), Mormon bishop, mill architect, justice of the peace and school warden.
There is another Kesler Peak (elevation 8,747 ft) located in the Oquirrh Mountains of Tooele County, Utah, which is also named after this same person.
Kesler Peak is centrally located in the Big Cottonwood Mining District. From 1867 to 1976, the Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood mining districts combined to produce 30,600 ounces of gold, 17.5 million ounces of silver, 4.7 million pounds of zinc, 18.1 million pounds of copper, and 252 million pounds of lead. The Carbonate Mine, situated high on the east slope of Kesler Peak, was a major producer.
[Carl L. Ege (2005), ''Selected Mining Districts of Utah'', Utah Geological Survey, , p. 22]
Gallery
File:Kesler Peak, se.jpg, Southeast aspect
File:Kesler Peak 1.jpg, Kesler Peak seen from the trailhead to Doughnut Falls
File:Kesler Peak, s.jpg, South aspect
File:Kesler Peak - snowy.jpg
File:Kesler Peak, ne.jpg, Northeast slope of Kesler Peak
See also
*
References
External links
{{stack, {{commons category, Kessler Peak (Wasatch Range)
* Kesler Peak
weather forecast
Mountains of Utah
Mountains of Salt Lake County, Utah
North American 3000 m summits
Wasatch-Cache National Forest
Wasatch Range