Mount Pickering

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

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Pickering

| other_name =

| photo = Mount Pickering.jpg

| photo_caption = East aspect, from Mount Langley

| elevation_ft = 13474

| elevation_ref = {{cite peakbagger |pid=2844|name=Mount Pickering, California|accessdate=2021-06-08}}

| prominence_ft = 547

| prominence_ref =

| isolation_mi = 1.88

| isolation_ref = {{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/32305|title=Pickering, Mount - 13,474' CA|website=listsofjohn.com|accessdate=2021-06-08}}

| parent_peak = Mount McAdie (13,799 ft)

| etymology = Edward Charles Pickering

| listing = Sierra Peaks Section

| map = California#USA

| map_caption = Location in California

| map_size = 260

| label_position = bottom

| location = Sequoia National Park
Tulare County
California, U.S.

| range = Sierra Nevada

| coordinates = {{coord|36.5272735|N|118.2908888|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=264700|name=Mount Pickering|accessdate=2021-06-08}}

| topo = USGS Mount Whitney

| rock = granitic

| type = Fault block

| age = Cretaceous

| first_ascent = 1936

| easiest_route = {{YDS|2}}Steve Roper, The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra, 1976, Sierra Club Books, {{ISBN|9780871561473}}, page 322. Southeast arête

}}

Mount Pickering is a {{convert|13,474|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} mountain summit located just west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, and is {{convert|3.1|mi|km}} south of Mount Whitney, {{convert|1.2|mi|km}} southeast of Mount Chamberlin, and one mile south of Mount Newcomb. Mt. Pickering ranks as the 65th highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as it rises nearly 2,000 feet above Sky Blue Lake in approximately one mile. This mountain's name was proposed by the Sierra Club and officially adopted in 1940 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names to honor American astronomer Edward Charles Pickering (1846–1919). The immediate area has other geographical features named for astronomers, including Mount Newcomb, Mount Langley, Mount Young, and Mount Hale. The first ascent of the summit was made July 16, 1936, by Chester Versteeg, Tyler Van Degrift, and Oliver Kehrlein.[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/whitney.html John D. and Ruth Mendenhall, Arthur B. Johnson, Braeme Gigas, Howard Koster, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra, (1954)]

Climate

Mount Pickering has an alpine climate. 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 west to the Kern River via Rock Creek.

Gallery

File:Joe Devel and Pickering.jpg|Joe Devel Peak (left) and Mt. Pickering (right) from the east.

File:Joe Devel, Pickering, Newcomb from Mt. Langley.jpg|Joe Devel Peak (left), Mt. Pickering centered, Kaweah peaks centered in the distance, Mt. Newcomb (right), viewed from Mt. Langley.

File:Mt. Pickering.jpg|The top of Mount Pickering centered, as seen from Mount Whitney.

See also

References

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