Mount Cirrus

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Cirrus

| photo = Mount Cirrus.jpg

| photo_caption = East aspect, centered, from Trail Ridge Road

| elevation_ft = 12808

| elevation_ref ={{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/1018|title=Cirrus, Mount - 12,808' CO|website=listsofjohn.com|accessdate=2023-04-21}}

| prominence_ft = 400.

| prominence_ref =

| isolation_mi = 0.56

| isolation_ref =

| parent_peak = Howard Mountain (12,826 ft)

| etymology = Cirrus cloud

| country = United States

| state = Colorado

| region = Grand County / Jackson County

| region_type = County

| part_type = Protected area | part = Rocky Mountain National Park
Never Summer Wilderness

| range = Rocky Mountains
Never Summer Mountains

| map = Colorado#USA

| map_caption = Location in Colorado

| label_position = right

| coordinates = {{coord|40.4346827|N|105.9019049|W|type:mountain_region:US-CO_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref ={{cite gnis|id=177486|name=Mount Cirrus|access-date =2023-04-21}}

| topo = USGS Mount Richthofen

| rock = shale and granodiorite[http://ngmdb.usgs.gov/Prodesc/proddesc_9119.htm Geologic map of the Mount Richthofen quadrangle and the western part of the Fall River Pass quadrangle], Grand and Jackson Counties, Colorado, J.M. O'Neill, U.S. Geological Survey, 1981.

| age =

| type =

| easiest_route = Southwest Ridge {{YDS|2}}Lisa Foster (2005), Rocky Mountain National Park: The Complete Hiking Guide, Westcliffe Publishers, {{ISBN|9781565795501}}, p. 338.

}}

Mount Cirrus is a {{convert|12808|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} mountain summit in Colorado, United States.

Description

Mount Cirrus is situated on the Continental Divide along the boundary shared by Grand County and Jackson County.{{cite peakbagger|pid=38452|title=Mount Cirrus, Colorado|access-date=April 21, 2023}} It is the third-highest peak of the Never Summer Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains.{{cite web|url=https://peakvisor.com/peak/mount-cirrus.html|title=Mount Cirrus, Peakvisor.com|access-date=April 21, 2023}} The mountain is situated on the western boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park and is visible from Trail Ridge Road within the park. The west side of the peak is in the Never Summer Wilderness, on land managed by Medicine Bow–Routt National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's west slope drains into tributaries of the Michigan River and the east slope drains into headwaters of the Colorado River except a portion which is diverted by the Grand Ditch. 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 {{convert|3600|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the Colorado River in {{convert|3|mi|km|spell=in}} and {{convert|2600|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the South Fork Michigan River in {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in}}.

Etymology

The mountain's toponym was applied in 1914 by James Grafton Rogers,William Bright (2004), Colorado Place Names, Johnson Books, {{ISBN|9781555663339}}, p. 38. and was officially adopted in 1932 by the United States Board on Geographic Names. Rogers also named Mount Cumulus and Mount Nimbus, with the three names referring to different types of common clouds. As President of the Colorado Geographic Society, Chairman of the Colorado Geographic Board, and President of the American Alpine Club, Rogers participated in naming many of Colorado's mountains.[http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12197223500/James-Grafton-Rogers-18831971 Stephen H. Hart (1972), James Grafton Rogers, 1883–1971, Americanalpineclub.org] The north ridge of Cirrus, officially named Hart Ridge, is named in remembrance of Eldon Charles Hart, Jr., of the Kansas Air National Guard, who was killed in the crash of his plane on this ridge on January 30, 1967, at age 26.{{cite gnis|id=177484|name=Hart Ridge|access-date =2023-04-21}}

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Cirrus is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.{{cite journal | author = Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson, B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. | year = 2007 | title = Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification | journal = Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. | volume = 11 | issn = 1027-5606}} 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.