Mount Stanford (Fresno and Mono counties, California)

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Mount Stanford

| photo = Mount Stanford, Pioneer Basin Lakes.jpg

| photo_caption = Southwest aspect

| elevation_ft = 12838

| elevation_ref = R. J. Secor, The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails, 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, {{ISBN|9781594857386}}{{cite peakbagger|pid=2652|name=Mount Stanford, California|accessdate=2022-05-19}}

| prominence_ft = 158

| prominence_ref =

| isolation_mi = 1.45

| isolation_ref = {{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/32463|title=Stanford, Mount - 12,838' CA|website=listsofjohn.com|accessdate=2022-05-19}}

| parent_peak =

| listing = Sierra Peaks Section
Vagmarken Club Sierra Crest List{{cite vagmarken |access-date=2022-05-18}}

| etymology = Leland Stanford

| map = California#USA

| map_caption = Location in California

| map_size = 250

| label_position = bottom

| location = Fresno County / Mono County
California, U.S.

| range = Sierra Nevada

| coordinates = {{coord|37.4893393|N|118.7962871|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=267671|name=Mount Stanford|accessdate=2022-05-19}}

| topo = USGS Mount Abbot

| type = Fault block

| rock = Granodiorite

| age = Cretaceous

| first_ascent = 1929

| easiest_route = {{YDS|2}} via Pioneer BasinR. J. Secor, The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails, 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, {{ISBN|9781594857386}}

}}

Mount Stanford is a {{convert|12,838|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated in the John Muir Wilderness, on the boundary shared by Sierra National Forest with Inyo National Forest, and along the common border of Fresno County with Mono County. It is 10 miles northeast of Lake Thomas A Edison, and approximately {{convert|15|mi}} southeast of the community of Mammoth Lakes. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises {{convert|3,200|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above McGee Creek in approximately 1.75 mile. There is another Mount Stanford (elevation 13,979 ft) in the Sierra Nevada which is named for Stanford University.

History

This mountain's toponym was adopted as "Stanford Peak" in 1911 and officially revised to Mount Stanford in 1982 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The name was applied during a 1907–09 survey by Robert Bradford Marshall of the USGS to honor Leland Stanford (1824–1893), the 8th governor of California.Erwin G. Gudde, California Place Names, University of California Press, 2010, {{ISBN|9780520266193}}, page 373. Later, he was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the First transcontinental railroad.[http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/s.html Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)] Stanford was one of four principal investors, along with Mark Hopkins, Collis Huntington and Charles Crocker (also known as The Big Four), who formed the Central Pacific Railroad. Mount Stanford is one of four peaks named after the Big Four that surrounds Pioneer Basin, the others being Mount Hopkins, Mount Huntington, and Mount Crocker.

The first ascent of the summit was made by Robert B. Marshall, George R. Davis, C. F. Urquhart and L. F. Biggs, during the 1907–1909 Goddard Quadrangle survey for the USGS.[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/mammoth_pass_to_mono_pass.html George Bloom and John D. Mendenhall, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954)]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Stanford is located in an alpine climate zone.{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sierra-Nevada-mountains/Climate |title=Climate of the Sierra Nevada |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}} 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 (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Precipitation runoff from the north side of this mountain drains to Crowley Lake via McGee and Hilton creeks, and from the south aspect to Pioneer Basin Lakes, thence the South Fork San Joaquin River via Mono Creek.