Mount Ernest Gruening is a glaciated mountain summit located in the

Boundary Ranges The Boundary Ranges, also known in the singular and as the Alaska Boundary Range, are the largest and most northerly subrange of the Coast Mountains. They begin at the Nass River, near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle in the Canadian p ...

of the

Coast Mountains The Coast Mountains (french: La chaîne Côtière) are a major mountain range in the Pacific Coast Ranges of western North America, extending from southwestern Yukon through the Alaska Panhandle and virtually all of the Coast of British Columbia ...

, in the U.S. state of

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. The long ridge-like mountain is situated between the Herbert Glacier and Eagle Glacier at the west edge of the

Juneau Icefield The Juneau Icefield is an ice field located just north of Juneau, Alaska, continuing north through the border with British Columbia, extending through an area of in the Coast Range ranging north to south and east to west. The icefield is the so ...

, northwest of

Juneau, Alaska The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, and east of

Favorite Channel Favorite Channel is a channel in Southeast Alaska, northwest of Juneau, Alaska, United States. It is long, extending northwest from Stephens Passage to Lynn Canal, separating Lincoln and Shelter islands from the mainland to the east. It was named ...

, on land managed by

Tongass National Forest The Tongass National Forest () in Southeast Alaska is the largest U.S. National Forest at . Most of its area is temperate rain forest and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass, which i ...

. Although modest in elevation,

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

is significant since the east face of the mountain rises over 3,500 feet above the Herbert Glacier in less than one mile, and the west aspect rises 5,800 feet above the Eagle River valley in two miles.

History

This mountain had been called "Goat Mountain" and "Thane Mountain" until it was officially named in 1968 after Dr. Adolph Knopf, a geologist with the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, ...

who studied this area. Ernest Gruening (D-AK)

The mountain's toponym was officially changed in 1976 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 ...

to honor

Ernest Gruening Ernest Henry Gruening ( ; February 6, 1887 – June 26, 1974) was an American journalist and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Gruening was the governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a United States Senator from A ...

() (1887–1974), known as "the father of Alaska statehood", the

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; the ...

from 1939 through 1953, and one of Alaska's inaugural pair of Senators when Alaska gained statehood in 1959. The reason for the name change was Gruening had an affinity for this particular mountain within sight of his home at Eagle River Landing, and a helicopter ride to the top of this mountain was presented to him by grateful Alaskans on September 11, 1969. His cremated ashes lie scattered over the mountain as he had wished. The Adolph Knopf name was moved to a peak eight miles to the north of its previous location. Some maps continue to misidentify Mount Ernest Gruening as Adolph Knopf Mountain.

Climate

Based on 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 ...

, Mount Ernest Gruening is located in a subpolar

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

zone, with long, cold, wet winters, and cool summers. Weather systems coming off the Gulf of Alaska are forced upwards by the Coast Mountains ( orographic lift), causing heavy precipitation in the form of rainfall and snowfall. Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. The months May through July offer the most favorable weather for viewing this peak.

Gallery

File:Coast Range (6819994055).jpg, From west at Eagle River File:Gruening mountain.jpg, East aspect, aerial view File:Mt. Ernest Gruening - 2.jpg, View from Mt. Ernest Gruening of Herbert Glacier and The Snow Towers (left of center) Mount Ernest Gruening.jpg, Mount Ernest Gruening, west aspect across Lynn Canal File:Sunset on Mount Ernest Gruening.jpg, Sunset on Mount Ernest Gruening

References

External links

* Mount Ernest Gruenin
weather forecast
{{Coast Mountains

History

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links