Wells Peak is a granitic 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 ...

with an elevation of located in

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 ...

, in

Tuolumne County Tuolumne County (), officially the County of Tuolumne, is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 55,620. The county seat and only incorporated city is Sonora. Tuolumne County comprises the ...

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 ...

, United States. The peak is situated between Stubblefield and Thompson canyons 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 ...

mountain range. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Stubblefield Canyon in one mile. 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 this landform drains southwest to Hetch Hetchy via

Rancheria Creek Rancheria Creek may refer to: * Rancheria Creek (Tuolumne County, California), a stream in California *Rancheria Creek (Big Butte Creek tributary), a stream in Oregon See also * Rancheria River (disambiguation) * Rancheria (disambiguation) A Ran ...

History

Wells Peak was named in the 1890s by R. B. Marshall of the USGS to honor Rush Spencer Wells (1874–1951), US Army officer. The US Army had jurisdiction over Yosemite National Park from 1891 to 1914, and each summer 150 cavalrymen traveled from the Presidio of San Francisco to patrol the park. This landform's toponym was officially adopted by the

U.S. 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 ...

in 1932. The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of the summit was made July 27, 1945, by Arthur J. Reyman.

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, Wells Peak is located in an

alpine climate Alpine climate is the typical weather (climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate. Definition There are multiple definitions of ...

zone. Most weather fronts originate in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks ( orographic lift), causing moisture in the form of rain or snowfall to drop onto the range.

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Wells Peak

Rush Spencer Wells (photo)
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Wells Peak , North =

Hawksbeak Peak Hawksbeak Peak is a mountain summit with an elevation of located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in northern California, United States. The granitic summit is situated on the common boundary shared by Yosemite National Park with ...

, Northeast = Ehrnbeck Peak , East = Crown Point , Southeast = Acker Peak , South = Thompson Canyon , Southwest = Stubblefield Canyon , West = Craig Peak , Northwest =

Tower Peak Tower Peak may refer to: * Tower Peak (Antarctica) in Graham Land, Antarctica * Tower Peak (British Columbia) in the Beaverfoot Range The Beaverfoot Range () is a mountain range of the Canadian Rockies, located in southeastern British Columbi ...

Mountains of Tuolumne County, California North American 3000 m summits Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States) Mountains of Yosemite National Park Mountains of the Sierra Nevada (United States)