Fremont Peak (California)

{{Short description|Mountain in the American state of California}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Fremont Peak
Gabilán Peak

| etymology = John C. Frémont

| photo=Fremont Peak (California) viewed from CA SR 1.jpg

| photo_caption=Fremont Peak viewed from California State Route 1

| elevation_ft = 3173

| elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}

{{cite ngs

| id = GU3819

| designation = Fremont Peak 2

| accessdate = 2009-08-04 }}

| map = California

| map_size = 200

| location = Monterey and San Benito counties, California, U.S.

| range = Gabilan Range

| coordinates = {{coord|36.7571964|N|121.5041329|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:NGS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| coordinates_ref =

| topo = USGS San Juan Bautista

| embedded = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=California|designation1_number=181}}

| easiest_route =

}}

Fremont Peak or Frémont Peak,[https://gilroydispatch.com/fremont-peak-is-a-site-filled-with-dramatic-history/ Gilroy Dispatch - Frémont Peak is a site filled with dramatic history] historically known as Gabilán Peak, is a summit in the Gabilan Range, one of the mountain ranges paralleling California's central coast. The peak affords clear views of the Salinas Valley, Monterey Bay, the southern part of the Santa Clara Valley, and surrounding mountain ranges.http://geologycafe.com/3Dbayarea/html/FremontPeak.htm It is located on Rocky Ridge, {{convert|11|mi}} northeast of Salinas, California.

{{cite gnis

| id = 223878

| name = Fremont Peak

| accessdate = 2010-02-03 }}

The peak is the site of Fremont Peak State Park which was established with {{convert|188|acres}} in 1936. Today the park has camping and picnic facilities,

{{cite web

| url = http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=564

| title = Fremont Peak SP

| publisher = California State Parks

| accessdate = 2010-02-02 }}

and is favored by astronomers for its clear views unsullied by artificial light. The Fremont Peak Observatory Association maintains a {{convert|30|in|adj=on}} diameter f/4.8 Newtonian "Challenger" telescope which was built by telescope maker Kevin Medlock in the early 1980s.

{{cite web

| url = http://www.fpoa.net/

| title = About FPOA

| publisher = Fremont Peak Observatory Association

| accessdate = 2010-02-03 }}

The peak is also the site of the transmitters for television stations such as KSBW

{{cite web

| url = http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=2612663

| title = KSBW TV Antenna Structure Registration

| publisher = Federal Communications Commission

| accessdate = 2010-02-02 }}

and KCBA

{{cite web

| url = http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=116602

| title = KCBA TV Antenna Structure Registration

| publisher = Federal Communications Commission

| accessdate = 2010-02-02 }}

and for radio stations such as KDON-FM.

{{cite web

| url = http://wireless2.fcc.gov/UlsApp/AsrSearch/asrRegistration.jsp?regKey=2612663

| title = KCBA Antenna Structure Registration

| publisher = Federal Communications Commission

| accessdate = 2010-02-02 }}

History

Previously called Gavilan Peak, it is now named for John C. Frémont, an American explorer and a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers at the time. In 1846, he and a crew of 60 armed surveyors mounted the peak to assess its military value. The peak commands the inland approach from Monterey. As a response to the threat, local Mexican authority General José Castro ordered Frémont and his men to leave California. In defiance, Frémont built a crude stockade and raised a modified American flag above the peak (or, according to some sources, on a lower peak nearby).{{cite web

| url = http://www.longcamp.com/hawks.html

| title = The Hawks Peak Affair, March 1846

| publisher = LongCamp.com

| accessdate = 2010-02-03

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140307214328/http://www.longcamp.com/hawks.html

| url-status = dead

| archive-date = 2014-03-07 }} The U.S. Consul in Monterey, Thomas O. Larkin supported Castro's decision to evict Frémont, and his men were duly ordered out of the area. Frémont took providence from a windy night which blew down the makeshift flagpole to hasten himself and his men from the peak. The peak is now registered as California Historical Landmark #181.{{cite ohp|181|Fremont Peek|2012-10-11}}

Following a ride to the summit on March 4, 1906, Frémont Peak Day was inaugurated by local residents. Nineteen years later, the Native Sons of the Golden West installed a commemorative plaque on the summit.

{{cite book

| author = Andrew Rolle

| title = John Charles Frémont, Character as Destiny

| url = https://archive.org/details/johncharlesfremo0000roll

| url-access = registration

| year = 1991

| location = Norman, Oklahoma

| publisher = University of Oklahoma Press

| page = [https://archive.org/details/johncharlesfremo0000roll/page/n315 296]

| isbn = 978-0-585-35954-0 }}

{{cite web

| url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fremont_Peak-1946_Plaque.jpg

| title = Fremont Plaque 1925

| date = 8 September 2009

| accessdate = 2010-01-24 }}

{{wide image|Fremontpeak_panorama.jpg|750px|360° panorama from the top of Fremont Peak}}

Geology

Fremont Peak lies along the Rocky Ridge fault, and is the largest of many small pendants and septa of pre-Cretaceous metasedimentary rocks in the deeply eroded granitic terrain of the northern Gabilan Range.{{cite journal |title=Structure and petrology of pelitic schist in the Fremont Peak pendant, northern Gabilan Range, California |author=David John |journal= Geological Society of America Bulletin|volume=92 |pages=237–246 |date=May 1, 1981 |issue=5 |doi=10.1130/0016-7606(1981)92<237:SAPOPS>2.0.CO;2 |bibcode=1981GSAB...92..237J |issn=0016-7606 |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/92/5/237/3419100/i0016-7606-92-5-237.pdf |accessdate=December 17, 2021}}