Mount Haeckel is a mountain summit located on the crest 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, United States. It is situated on the shared boundary of Kings Canyon National Park with John Muir Wilderness, and along the common border of Fresno County with Inyo County. It is west of the community of Big Pine, south-southeast of Mount Darwin, and one mile north-northeast of Mount Fiske, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Mount Haeckel ranks as the 71st highest summit in California.

History

In 1895,

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

explorer

Theodore S. Solomons Theodore Seixas Solomons (1870–1947) was an explorer and early member of the Sierra Club. From 1892 to 1897 he explored and named the Mount Goddard, Evolution Valley and Evolution Basin region in what is now northern Kings Canyon National Park ...

named a group of mountains in the Sierra Nevada after exponents of Darwin's theory of evolution. These six peaks are now known collectively as the Evolution Group. This mountain is named for

Ernst Haeckel Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel (; 16 February 1834 – 9 August 1919) was a German zoologist, naturalist, eugenicist, philosopher, physician, professor, marine biologist and artist. He discovered, described and named thousands of new sp ...

(1834–1919), a German zoologist. The other five peaks were named after Charles Darwin, John Fiske,

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution through natural se ...

, Herbert Spencer, and Thomas Henry Huxley. On July 14, 1920, Walter L. Huber led a

party of nine climbers to the first ascent of the summit via the West Shoulder. A few minutes later, Edward O. Allen, Francis E. Crofts, and Olcott Haskell arrived via the South Ridge. This second Sierra Club party was surprised that they were not on Mount Darwin, their intended destination.

Climbing

Established climbing routes on Mount Haeckel: * West Shoulder – – First Ascent 1920 * South Ridge – class 3 – FA 1920 * North Face – class 3 – FA 1933 by Jack Riegelhuth * Northeast Ridge – class 4 – FA 1935 The Northwest Arête is considered one of the classic climbing routes in the Sierra Nevada.John Moynier, Claude Fiddler, 1993, Sierra Classics 100 Best Climbs in the High Sierra, Chockstone Press, .

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Haeckel is located in an alpine climate zone. Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or

snowfall Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

onto the range ( orographic lift). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains northeast into Bishop Creek, and west into Evolution Creek, which is a San Joaquin River tributary.

Gallery

File:Aspen Grove, Sierra Nevada, CA 10-8-18.jpg, Mt. Haeckel centered File:Road to Lake Sabrina, Sierra Nevada Range, CA 10-2017.jpg, Heackel centered, from Highway 168, (the road to Lake Sabrina) File:Sabrina Lake - panoramio.jpg, Haeckel left of center, from Lake Sabrina File:Sailor Lake Sabrina Basin.jpg, Haeckel in upper right corner in back.

Picture Peak Picture Peak is a 13,140+ foot (4,001+ meter) mountain summit located one mile east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Inyo County in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on land managed ...

centered, from Sailor Lake File:Mt. Haeckel SE.jpg, Southeast aspect of Haeckel from Mt. Wallace. Mt. Darwin behind, right File:Mount Haeckel 1920s.jpg, circa early 1920s

References

External links