Mount Haeckel
{{Short description|Mountain in the state of California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain
|name = Mount Haeckel
|other_name =
|photo = Haeckel Approach.jpg
|photo_caption = North face
|elevation_ft = 13,424
|elevation_ref = {{cite peakbagger |pid=2693|name=Mount Haeckel, California|accessdate=2021-04-18}}
|prominence_ft = 498
|isolation_mi = 1.07
|isolation_ref = {{cite loj |id=32313 |title=Haeckel, Mount |accessdate=2021-04-18}}
|parent_peak = Mount Fiske
|etymology = Ernst Haeckel
|listing = {{ubl
| Western States Climbers Star Peak
| Vagmarken Sierra Crest List }}
|map = California#USA
|map_caption = none
|map_size = 200
|label_position =
|location = {{ubl
| {{thinsp|Fresno / Inyo counties, California, U.S.}} }}
|range = Sierra Nevada
|coordinates = {{coord|37.1509924|N|118.6610067|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=261003|name=Mount Haeckel|accessdate=2021-04-18}}
|topo = USGS Mount Darwin
|rock = granite
|age =
|first_ascent = July 14, 1920
}}
Mount Haeckel is a {{convert|13,424|ft|adj=on}} mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated on the shared boundary of Kings Canyon National Park with John Muir Wilderness, and along the common border of Fresno County with Inyo County.
It is {{convert|21.5|mi}} west of the community of Big Pine, {{convert|1.27|mi}} south-southeast of Mount Darwin, and one mile north-northeast of Mount Fiske, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Mount Haeckel ranks as the 71st highest summit in California.
History
In 1895, Sierra Club explorer Theodore S. Solomons named a group of mountains in the Sierra Nevada after exponents of Darwin's theory of evolution.Francis Peloubet Farquhar, Exploration of the Sierra Nevada, 1925, California Historical Society, page 47.{{cite book |last=Browning |first=Peter |title=Place Names of the Sierra Nevada |publisher=Wilderness Press |year=1986 |location=Berkeley |page=[https://archive.org/details/placenamesofsier00brow/page/67 67] |isbn=0-89997-119-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofsier00brow/page/67 }} These six peaks are now known collectively as the Evolution Group. This mountain is named for Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), a German zoologist.Peter Browning, Place Names of the Sierra Nevada From Abbot to Zumwalt, 1986, Wilderness Press, {{ISBN|9780899970479}}, page 89. The other five peaks were named after Charles Darwin, John Fiske, Alfred Russel Wallace, Herbert Spencer, and Thomas Henry Huxley.
On July 14, 1920, Walter L. Huber led a Sierra Club party of nine climbers to the first ascent of the summit via the West Shoulder.Walter L. Huber, First Ascent of Mount Haeckel, Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. XI, 1923, page 145. A few minutes later, Edward O. Allen, Francis E. Crofts, and Olcott Haskell arrived via the South Ridge.[http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/h.html Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)] This second Sierra Club party was surprised that they were not on Mount Darwin, their intended destination.[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/evolution_black_divide.html Alan M. Hedden and David R. Brower, A Climber's Guide to the High Sierra (1954)]
Climbing
Established climbing routes on Mount Haeckel:
- West Shoulder – {{YDS|3}} – First Ascent 1920
- South Ridge – class 3 – FA 1920
- North Face – class 3 – FA 1933 by Jack Riegelhuth
- Northeast Ridge – class 4 – FA 1935
The Northwest Arête is considered one of the classic climbing routes in the Sierra Nevada.John Moynier, Claude Fiddler, 1993, Sierra Classics 100 Best Climbs in the High Sierra, Chockstone Press, {{ISBN|9780934641609}}.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Haeckel is located in an alpine climate zone.{{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}} Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains northeast into Bishop Creek, and west into Evolution Creek, which is a San Joaquin River tributary.{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}
Gallery
File:Aspen Grove, Sierra Nevada, CA 10-8-18.jpg|Mt. Haeckel centered
File:Road to Lake Sabrina, Sierra Nevada Range, CA 10-2017.jpg|Heackel centered, from Highway 168, (the road to Lake Sabrina)
File:Sabrina Lake - panoramio.jpg|Haeckel left of center, from Lake Sabrina
File:Sailor Lake Sabrina Basin.jpg|Haeckel in upper right corner in back.
Picture Peak centered, from Sailor Lake
File:Mt. Haeckel SE.jpg|Southeast aspect of Haeckel from Mt. Wallace. Mt. Darwin behind, right
File:Mount Haeckel 1920s.jpg|circa early 1920s
See also
- {{Portal-inline|Mountains|size=tiny}}
- List of the major 4000-meter summits of California
- Mount Wallace
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Weather forecast: [https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Haeckel/forecasts/4095 Mount Haeckel]
- Account of first ascent: [https://books.google.com/books?id=SnlHAAAAYAAJ&dq=mount+haeckel&pg=PA145 Sierra Club Bulletin]
- Mt. Haeckel Rock Climbing: [https://www.mountainproject.com/area/110944855/mt-haeckel Mountainproject.com]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haeckel, Mount}}
Category:Mountains of Inyo County, California
Category:Mountains of Fresno County, California
Category:Mountains of Kings Canyon National Park
Category:Mountains of the John Muir Wilderness
Category:Four-thousanders of the United States