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The Never Summer Mountains are a
mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...
in 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 ...
in north central
Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
consisting of seventeen named peaks. The range is located along the northwest border of Rocky Mountain National Park, forming the continental divide between the headwaters of the
Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...
in Rocky Mountain National Park to the local-east and the upper basin of the
North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...
( North Park) to the local-west; the continental divide makes a loop in these mountains. The range is small and tall, covering only with a north-south length of while rising to over at over ten distinct peaks. The range straddles the
Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...
-
Grand Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and c ...
county line for most of its length, and stretches into Jackson and Larimer county at its northern end. A panoramic view of the range is available from sections of
Trail Ridge Road Trail Ridge Road is the name for the stretch of U.S. Highway 34 that traverses Rocky Mountain National Park from Estes Park, Colorado in the east to Grand Lake, Colorado in the west. Together with the connecting Beaver Meadow Road ( U.S. High ...
in Rocky Mountain National Park. One of the northernmost peaks, Nokhu Crags, is prominently visible from the west side of Cameron Pass.


Geology

The rocks of Never Summer Mountains are younger than most of the surrounding mountain ranges. They, along with the Rabbit Ears Range to the west, were formed by
volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates a ...
and intrusive processes 24–29 million years ago and consist mostly of igneous granitic formations along with preceding metamorphic formations. Most of the highest peaks in the range are
granodiorite Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...
that was uplifted during the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
epoch. The range's highest summit,
Mount Richthofen Mount Richthofen is the highest summit of the Never Summer Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent peak is located northwest by west ( bearing 308°) of Milner Pass, Colorado, United States, on the Continental ...
, is the remnant of an
andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomi ...
volcanic plug A volcanic plug, also called a volcanic neck or lava neck, is a volcanic object created when magma hardens within a vent on an active volcano. When present, a plug can cause an extreme build-up of high gas pressure if rising volatile-charged ma ...
. The Nokhu Crags in the north are mostly
Pierre Shale The Pierre Shale is a geologic formation or series in the Upper Cretaceous which occurs east of the Rocky Mountains in the Great Plains, from Pembina Valley in Canada to New Mexico. The Pierre Shale was described by Meek and Hayden in 1862 in th ...
dating from
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
times. A large
thrust fault A thrust fault is a break in the Earth's crust, across which older rocks are pushed above younger rocks. Thrust geometry and nomenclature Reverse faults A thrust fault is a type of reverse fault that has a dip of 45 degrees or less. If ...
underneath the
Kawuneeche Valley Kawuneeche Valley, also known as Kawuneeche or Coyote Valley, is a marshy valley of the Colorado River near its beginning. It is located on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The axis of the valley runs almost directly no ...
thrust older Precambrian rocks on top of the younger
Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...
rocks on the east side of the range. The southern peaks are Miocene-aged
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
, and finally Precambrian-aged biotite
gneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures a ...
and
schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...
. Beginning two million years ago,
glacier A glacier (; ) is a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires distinguishing features, such as ...
s began carving the jagged peaks of the Never Summer Mountains. Successive waves of glaciation continued to reshape the mountains until the Pinedale Glaciation ended twelve-thousand years ago. The peaks are enormous weathered masses of granitic rock heavily covered with green and orange lichens surrounded on all sides by large fields of talus shed from the original peaks. Many
alpine lake Alpine lakes are classified as lakes at high altitudes in mountainous zones, usually near or above the tree line, with extended periods of ice cover. These lakes are commonly formed from glacial activity (either current or in the past) but can al ...
s are nestled amongst the peaks. Most vegetation is low-growing and stunted. Few trees grow at the higher altitudes and
Krummholz ''Krummholz'' (german: krumm, "crooked, bent, twisted" and ''Holz'', "wood") — also called ''knieholz'' ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped b ...
abounds.


History

In 1879 prospectors discovered silver on Mount Shipler, starting a small mining rush. A mining town was platted and given the name Lulu City, located at . Other small settlements were founded in the area, including Dutchtown, located high in Hitchens Gulch. The population swelled as high as 5,000 miners and business owners catering to those miners. However, low grade ore, combined with difficult transportation and lack of a local smelter to process the ore, conspired against the boom. By late 1883 the mining rush ended and the miners moved on. The last miners in Dutchtown left by 1884. Today remnants of the towns and mines are accessible by hiking trails. In 1890 a project called the
Grand Ditch The Grand Ditch, also known as the Grand River Ditch and originally known as the North Grand River Ditch, is a water diversion project in the Never Summer Mountains, in northern Colorado in the United States. It is long, wide, and deep on aver ...
began. The ditch is a water diversion project. Streams and creeks that flow from the highest peaks are diverted into the ditch, which flows over La Poudre pass, delivering the water into the Atlantic Basin for the use of eastern plains farmers. The ditch wasn't completed until 1936. The ditch diverts between 20 and 40% of the runoff from the Never Summer Mountains and significantly impacts the ecology in the valley below. In May 2003 a section of the ditch breached causing the water to cascade down the slopes and into the Colorado River. The flood left a visible scar on the mountainside. In 1914, members of the
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho ba ...
tribe were brought to the region in a trip sponsored by the
Colorado Mountain Club The Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), formed in 1912, is a nonprofit, 501 (c)(3) outdoor education organization based in Golden, Colorado that gathers and disseminates information regarding Colorado's mountains in the areas of art, science, litera ...
. The tribe members spent their youth in the area and were asked to offer the Native American names for the various peaks, lakes and other geographic features in the area. They called the range ''Ni-chebe-chii'', which translates to ''Never No Summer''. Locals eventually settled on ''Never Summer Mountains'' for the range.''High Country Names'', Louisa Ward Arps and Elinor Eppich Kingery, (Rocky Mountain Nature Association; 1994), p. 115 Many of the peaks in the range are named after cloud types, such as Mount Cirrus and Mount Cumulus.


Recreation

The range is frequented by hikers and backpackers in the summer, and skiers and snowshoers in the winter. The area sees some mountaineering activity, but the rock tends to be rotten (or ''choss'') and the routes are dangerous. The Colorado River Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park has trails that lead to the Grand Ditch and remains of Lulu City. Trails from Cameron Pass lead to the Michigan Lakes, Lake Agnes and the Nokhu Crags area. Trails in nearby
Routt National Forest Routt may refer to: ;Places In the United States: * Routt, Louisville, Kentucky *Routt County, Colorado ;People *Joe Routt *John Long Routt *Stanford Routt Stanford Bermond Routt (born July 26, 1983) is a former American football cornerback. Aft ...
lead to the Never Summer Wilderness on the western and southern edges of the range.


Mountain Peaks

# Baker Mountain #
Bald Mountain Bald Mountain may refer to: Geographic locations in the United States * Bald Mountain (Heceta Island), Alaska * Bald Mountain (California), a name given to over fifty summits in California ** Bald Mountain (Humboldt County) * , a peak near Littl ...
# Bearpaws Peak # Blue Ridge # Bowen Mountain # Braddock Peak # Cascase Mountain # Fairview Mountain # Flat Top Mountain # Gravel Mountain # Green Knoll # Howard Mountain # Iron Mountain # Jackstraw Mountain # Lead Mountain # Little Yellowstone # Lulu Mountain # Mineral Point # Mount Cindy # Mount Cirrus # Mount Cumulus # Mount Mahler # Mount Nimbus # Mount Neota #
Mount Richthofen Mount Richthofen is the highest summit of the Never Summer Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The prominent peak is located northwest by west ( bearing 308°) of Milner Pass, Colorado, United States, on the Continental ...
# Mount Stratus # Never Summer Peak # Nokhu Crags # Parika Peak # Porphyry Peak # Radial Mountain # Red Mountain # Ruby Mountain #
Seven Utes Mountain Seven Utes Mountain, elevation , is a summit in the Never Summer Mountains of northern Colorado. The mountain is located in Jackson County in the Colorado State Forest, west-northwest of Mount Richthofen. See also * List of Colorado mountai ...
# Shipler Mountain # Specimen Mountain #
Static Peak Static Peak () is located in the Teton Range, Grand Teton National Park, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. Located southeast of Buck Mountain, the summit is also east of the Alaska Basin Trail, from a point known as Static Peak Divide, the summit ...
# Teepee Mountain # Thunder Mountain


References


External links


Rocky Mountain National Park, Geology Field Notes

Local Backcountry Advocacy


{{Authority control Ranges of the Rocky Mountains Mountain ranges of Colorado Landforms of Jackson County, Colorado Landforms of Grand County, Colorado Rocky Mountain National Park