Mount Conness is a mountain 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 ...

range, to the west of the

Hall Natural Area The Hall Natural Area or Harvey Monroe Hall Natural Area is a region on the eastern border of Yosemite National Park in California. The area is located about 1.25 miles (2.0 km) northwest of Tioga Pass, and is approximately four miles (6.4&nbs ...

. Conness is on the boundary between the Inyo National Forest and

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

. The Conness Glacier lies north of the summit.

History

Mount Conness is named for

John Conness John Conness (September 22, 1821 – January 10, 1909) was a first-generation Irish-American businessman who served as a U.S. Senator (1863–1869) from California during the American Civil War and the early years of Reconstruction. He intr ...

(1821–1909), a native of Ireland who came to United States in 1836. Conness was a member of California legislature (1853–1854, 1860–1861) and the United States Senator from California (1863–1869). He resided in Massachusetts from 1869 until his death in 1909. In 1860 Josiah Dwight Whitney, Jr. was appointed State Geologist of California and he organized the

California Geological Survey The California Geological Survey, previously known as the California Division of Mines and Geology, is the California state geology, geologic agency. History Although it was not until 1880 that the California State Mining Bureau, predecessor to ...

(1863–1870). Whitney, along with

William H. Brewer William Henry Brewer (September 14, 1828 – November 2, 1910) was an American botanist. He worked on the first California Geological Survey and was the first Chair of Agriculture at Yale University's Sheffield Scientific School. Biography Wi ...

Clarence King Clarence Rivers King (January 6, 1842 – December 24, 1901) was an American geologist, mountaineer and author. He was the first director of the United States Geological Survey from 1879 to 1881. Nominated by Republican President Rutherford B. Hay ...

, James T. Gardiner,

Charles F. Hoffmann Charles Frederick Hoffmann (February 29, 1838 – June 20, 1913) was a German-American topographer working in California U.S. from 1860 to 1880. Life Hoffmann was born in Frankfurt, Germany on February 29, 1838. After receiving an education in ...

, Lorenzo G. Yates, Richard D. Cotter and others, made an extensive survey of California, including the Sierra Nevada and

Yosemite Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an ar ...

region. Whitney wrote:

"Mount Conness bears the name of a distinguished citizen of California, now a United States Senator, who deserves more than any other person, the credit of carrying the bill, organizing the Geological Survey of California, through the Legislature, and who is chiefly to be credited for another great scientific work, the Survey of the 40th Parallel."

Clarence King, a geologist for the Survey and the first to ascend Mount Conness along with James T. Gardiner in 1864, wrote:

"I recognized the old familiar summit... and that firm peak with titan strength and brow so square and solid, it seems altogether natural we should have named it for California’s statesman, John Conness."

Climbing

Conness is a training ground for alpine climbing since it utilizes all aspects of mountaineering: trails, scrambling, and glacier trekking; all at a high altitude for California. Usually climbers camp near Tioga Pass and begin the climb at dawn. It takes about a full day to summit. The summit block consists of scrambling along a knife edge ridge leading to the summit consisting of views to the east of the Conness Glacier and to the west toward Tuolumne Meadows.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Conness, Mount Mountains of Yosemite National Park Mountains of Mono County, California Mountains of Tuolumne County, California Mountains of Northern California North American 3000 m summits