Parika Peak is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

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 ...

, United States.

Description

Parika Peak is situated on the

Continental Divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, not ...

along the boundary shared by Grand County and Jackson County. It is the 13th-highest peak of the

Never Summer Mountains The Never Summer Mountains are a mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in north central Colorado in the United States consisting of seventeen named peaks. The range is located along the northwest border of Rocky Mountain National Park, forming t ...

which are a subrange of 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 ...

. The west side of the peak is in the

Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest is the official title to a U.S. Forest Service managed area extending over in the states of Wyoming and Colorado, United States. What were once three separate areas, Medicine Bow National Forest, Routt Nat ...

and the east side is in the

Never Summer Wilderness The Never Summer Wilderness is a U.S. Wilderness Area located immediately west of Rocky Mountain National Park in the Never Summer Mountains of Arapaho National Forest in northern Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mou ...

. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from the mountain's slopes drains to Jack Creek and the

Illinois River The Illinois River ( mia, Inoka Siipiiwi) is a principal tributary of the Mississippi River and is approximately long. Located in the U.S. state of Illinois, it has a drainage basin of . The Illinois River begins at the confluence of the D ...

, with the exception of the southeast slope which drains to 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 ...

via Baker Gulch. The counterintuitive direction of water flow is because the Continental Divide forms a loop in this area, whereby the peak's west slope runoff flows to the Atlantic Ocean and the east slope to the Pacific. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Jack Creek in and above Parika Lake in one-half mile (0.8 km). The summit can be reached from Parika Lake by hiking the south slope (class 1) or the east ridge (class 2).

Etymology

The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the

United States 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 ...

, and has appeared in publications since at least 1919. The name Parika is from the Pawnee language "paariiku" (puh REE kuh) and means "horn."William Bright (2004), ''Colorado Place Names'', Johnson Books, , p. 135.

Climate

According to 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 ...

system, Parika Peak is located in an alpine

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Parika Peak
{{Mountains of Colorado Mountains of Grand County, Colorado Mountains of Jackson County, Colorado Mountains of Colorado North American 3000 m summits Routt National Forest Great Divide of North America

Description

Etymology

Climate

See also

References

External links