Picket Guard Peak
{{Short description|Mountain in the state of California}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox mountain
| name = Picket Guard Peak
| photo = Picket Guard Peak.jpg
| photo_caption = East aspect, right of center
| elevation_ft = 12302
| elevation_ref = R. J. Secor, The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, Trails, 2009, Third Edition, Mountaineers Books, {{ISBN|9781594857386}}.
| prominence_ft = 459
| prominence_ref = {{cite peakbagger |pid=13524|name=Picket Guard Peak, California|accessdate=2022-06-01}}
| isolation_mi = 1.54
| isolation_ref = {{cite web|url=https://listsofjohn.com/peak/32639|title=Picket Guard Peak - 12,303' CA|website=listsofjohn.com|accessdate=2022-06-01}}
| parent_peak =
| etymology = Picket guard
| 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|36.5766088|N|118.4722102|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=253752|name=Picket Guard Peak|accessdate=2022-06-01}}
| topo = USGS Mount Kaweah
| rock = Granodiorite
| type = Fault block
| age = Cretaceous
| first_ascent = 1936
| easiest_route = {{YDS|2}}[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/whitney.html Mildred Jentsch, Arthur J. Reyman, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra, (1954)] East Ridge
}}
Picket Guard Peak is a {{convert|12,302|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} mountain summit located west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Tulare County, California. It is situated in Sequoia National Park, two miles southwest of Kern Point, {{convert|3.4|mi|km}} north of Mount Kaweah, and three miles east of the junction of Kaweah Peaks Ridge with Great Western Divide. Picket Guard Peak ranks as the 345th-highest summit in California, and topographic relief is significant as the summit rises {{convert|4,265|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above Kern Canyon in approximately three miles.
History
William Russel Dudley, writing in the Sierra Club Bulletin in 1898: "There is a fine pyramidal peak at the eastern end of the third range, which was always in the background of the view as we entered and ascended the narrow cleft of the Kern-Kaweah. This was named the Picket Guard."[http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/place_names_of_the_high_sierra/p.html Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926)]
This landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1928 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.
The first ascent of the summit was made August 1, 1936, by C. Dohlman, H. Manheim, and B. Breeding.[https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/climbers_guide/whitney.html Mildred Jentsch, Arthur J. Reyman, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra, (1954)] Except for the north cirque, an ascent of the peak is non-technical, and inclusion on the Sierra Peaks Section peakbagging list generates climbing interest in this remote peak.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Picket Guard Peak 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 this mountain drains east to the Kern River via Picket Creek and Kern-Kaweah River.
See also
- {{Portal-inline|Mountains|size=tiny}}
- List of mountain peaks of California
Gallery
File:Picket Guard mtn.jpg|North aspect
File:Kaweah Peaks, Picket Guard Peak.jpg|Kaweah Peaks Ridge with Picket Guard Peak to right
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- Weather forecast: [https://www.yr.no/en/forecast/daily-table/2-5382477/United%20States/California/Tulare/Picket%20Guard%20Peak Picket Guard Peak]
- Picket Guard Peak (photo): [https://www.flickr.com/photos/moosepics621/7741917114/in/photolist-LbFWx-E66xw2-SbhjsJ-izRxBj-iwSi9E-izExvD-izAZ92-izEC75-fACMBo-ooye57-izHAKb-izHQBX-izHef6-izHXqQ-iCviod-iCvcRi-iCv8xG-iCuwYa-iCuABx-5Kr8aZ-zhgsF1-cfa9y1-XnbXc9-yd1ysh-yd1axY-H2nShN-yd746P-GwcEa8-yd1UUY-yd2Dm1-oyg8ez-of1Nhs-yd6rLv-xxAyHs-yuCKwi-yvn2Kc-xxKBhg-yuCbbR-yd7Aax-xxANp5-pmgjBB-cN8mey-p53kbT-2iVRLyj-2k4EV4D-fs51xu-5eriXH-2Ri1Kn-6xzYzG-cUuSRo Flickr]
Category:Mountains of Tulare County, California
Category:Mountains of Sequoia National Park
Category:Three-thousanders of the United States