Sawtooth Peak is a jagged mountain rising to a height of . It is a landmark of the Mineral King region of the Sierra Nevada, in

Sequoia National Park Sequoia National Park is an American national park in the southern Sierra Nevada east of Visalia, California. The park was established on September 25, 1890, and today protects of forested mountainous terrain. Encompassing a vertical relief ...

. In the past, it was known as Miner's Peak. It contains a supply of gold and mercury.

Hiking

The trailhead up to Sawtooth Peak starts in Mineral King, 23 miles off of the 198 on Mineral King Road. The trailhead is located at the end of Mineral King Road in a parking lot/staging area. The trail up to the peak is 11.5 miles round trip and is rated difficult. The last half-mile of the trail is mainly loose gravel and steep switchbacks. The base of the trail is at 7800 Ft elevation and climbs up to 12,400 Ft at the top of the pass. Hiking is recommended from May to October. Permits are required for overnight stay.

Climbing

The easiest approach is from the valley to Sawtooth Pass, and then up the northwest slope of the peak. It was first climbed by Joseph Lovelace during a deer hunt in 1871. Today, this approach follows an established trail to Sawtooth Pass, then continues on a cross-country route to the peak. The section of trail from Monarch Lakes to Sawtooth Pass is steep and marred by granite sand, and as such is prone to erosion. The trailhead, shared with the Timber Gap trail, is located in the Mineral King Valley, about 1/2 mile (0.80 km) uphill from the Ranger Station. It starts at , is approximately round trip, and the route reaches a final elevation of at the peak.

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, Sawtooth 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 o ...

zone. Most

weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For in ...

s 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 contin ...

, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks (

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Columbine Lake Panorama (8090458406)

References

External links

* * Mountains of Sequoia National Park Mountains of Tulare County, California Mountains of Northern California Sierra Nevada (United States) North American 3000 m summits {{TulareCountyCA-geo-stub