Mount Tom is a large and prominent peak near the city of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Inyo County Inyo County () is a county in the eastern central part of the U.S. state of California, located between the Sierra Nevada and the state of Nevada. In the 2020 census, the population was 19,016. The county seat is Independence. Inyo County is o ...

of eastern

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 ...

. It is in 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 ...

and east of the

Sierra Crest The Sierra Crest is a roughly generally north-to-south ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountains and Sierran e ...

. The mountain is also in the

John Muir Wilderness The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California for , in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it encompa ...

. Along with its neighbor to the south, Basin Mountain, it dominates the western skyline from the upper

Owens Valley Owens Valley (Numic Numic is a branch of the Uto-Aztecan language family. It includes seven languages spoken by Native American peoples traditionally living in the Great Basin, Colorado River basin, Snake River basin, and southern Great Pl ...

History

The first name given to the mountain is ''Winuba'', meaning "Standing Tall" in Owens Valley Paiute (Nüümü). The mountain is currently named for Thomas Clark, a resident of the pioneer town of Owensville, who is credited with being the first white settler to ascend the peak in the 1860s. Mount Tom and Mount Morgan were part of the Pine Creek mining operation which was important producer of

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isolat ...

for much of the 20th century although the

scheelite Scheelite is a calcium tungstate mineral with the chemical formula Ca W O4. It is an important ore of tungsten (wolfram). Scheelite is originally named after Swedish chemist K. Scheele (1742-1786). Well-formed crystals are sought by collectors a ...

ore deposits are now largely depleted and mines have closed.

Climbing

The Owens Valley, at the base of Mt. Tom, is a little over 4,000 feet, and the summit of Mt. Tom is 13,658, for almost 10,000 feet of relief. The common routes up Mount Tom are not technically difficult, most are class 2–3, but they are all strenuous and long. Summiting Mount Tom is possible in a single day, but should only be attempted by those in very good physical condition. Horton Creek Canyon is a common out and back hiking route and 14 mile out and back trail with 5,652 feet of elevation gain. The trailhead at Horton Creek Canyon is 8000 feet in elevation, it is 3.6 miles hike with about 2000 feet of elevation gain to reach Horton Lake. There campers may, with an overnight wilderness permit, choose to spend the night. From Horton Lake hikers head up the southern ridge of Mount Tom to the summit with 1,750 feet of off trail class 2 scrambling. There are multiple technical climbing routes on Mount Tom including: * East Face Chimney Route, class IV, 5.9, First Ascent on August 18, 1988, by

Galen Rowell Galen Avery Rowell (August 23, 1940 – August 11, 2002) was a wilderness photographer, adventure photojournalist and mountaineer. Born in Oakland, California, he became a full-time photographer in 1972. Early life and education Rowell was intr ...

and Kevin Worral. * Golden Thread Arete, class IV, 5.9, First Ascent on September 5, 1999, by Stuart Polack and Walt Vennum. This is a 14 pitch route on the north face of Mount Tom.

Skiing

Mount Tom is a popular back-country ski descent in the Spring years when there is enough snow. Elderberry canyon is the most popular ski descent. It is 7000 vertical feet of skiing and is steeper towards to summit. On March 26, 2005, five skiers in Elderberry Canyon on Mount Tom were caught in two separate avalanches caused by the same party. One skier was injured, two skiers were buried and killed.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tom, Mount Mountains of Inyo County, California Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness Inyo National Forest Owens Valley Mount Tom Mountains of Northern California

History

Climbing

Skiing

See also

References

External links