Minarets (California)

{{Short description|Series of jagged peaks in the American state of California}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = The Minarets

| photo = MinaretLake.jpg

| photo_size=224

| photo_caption = The Minarets from Minaret Lake

| highest = Clyde Minaret

| elevation = {{convert|12,270|ft|0|abbr=on}}

| elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}{{cite peakbagger |pid=2627 |name=Clyde Minaret, California |accessdate=2009-06-09}}

| prominence_ft = 1152

| prominence_ref =

| parent_peak = Mount Ritter{{cite loj |id=32651 |name=Clyde Minaret |accessdate=2012-04-01}}

| listing = Sierra Peaks Section Mountaineers peak

| location = Madera County, California, U.S.

| map = California#USA

| map_caption = Location in California

| map_size = 240

| label_position = below

| range = Ritter Range, Sierra Nevada

| coordinates = {{coord|37.6618792|N|119.1781938|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis |id=228781 |name=Minarets |accessdate=2009-08-10}}

| topo = USGS Mount Ritter

| type = Metamorphic rock

| age = Mid-cretaceous

| first_ascent = 1928 by Norman Clyde{{cite Roper |page=337}}

| easiest_route = Rock climb {{YDS|4}}{{cite sps |accessdate=2009-08-10}}

}}

The Minarets are a series of jagged peaks located in the Ritter Range, a sub-range of the Sierra Nevada in the state of California. They are easily viewed from Minaret Summit, which is accessible by auto. Collectively, they form an arête, and are a prominent feature in the Ansel Adams Wilderness which was known as the Minaret Wilderness until it was renamed in honor of Ansel Adams in 1984.

The peaks were named in 1868 by the California Geographical Survey, which reported: "To the south of Mount Ritter are some grand pinnacles of granite, very lofty and apparently inaccessible, to which we gave the name of 'the Minarets.'"

{{cite book

| last = Browning

| first = Peter

| title = Place Names of the Sierra Nevada

| year = 1986

| location = Berkeley

| publisher = Wilderness Press

| isbn = 0-89997-047-8 }}

Seventeen of the Minarets have been given unofficial names, including Michael Minaret, Adams Minaret, Leonard Minaret, and Clyde Minaret. Clyde Minaret, named after Norman Clyde, is the tallest of the spires. The Southeast Face Route of Clyde Minaret is a technical rock climb featured in Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.{{Fifty Classic Climbs}}

The area is notable for two fatalities:

Walter A. Starr, Jr., author of Starr’s Guide to the John Muir Trail and the High Sierra Region, fell to his death while solo-climbing the northwest face of Michael Minaret in 1933.{{cite web |title=The search for Peter Starr |publisher=Traditional Mountaineering |url=http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/News_PeterStarr.htm}}{{cite book|last=Alsup|first=William|year=2001|title=Missing in the Minarets: The Search for Walter A. Starr, Jr.|publisher=The Yosemite Association|location=El Portal California|pages=[https://archive.org/details/missinginminaret0000alsu/page/105 105-107+116]|isbn=978-1-930238-18-3|url=https://archive.org/details/missinginminaret0000alsu/page/105}}
Steve Fossett, an American aviator and adventurer, died in a plane crash near the Minarets in 2007.

{{cite news

| url = http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/02/MNEU13A99B.DTL

| title = Plane wreckage Fossett's - bone fragment found

| publisher = San Francisco Chronicle

| date = October 3, 2008

| first=Kevin

| last=Fagan}}

File:MinaretsClydeDetail.JPG