Sierra Crest

{{Short description|500 mi (800 km) generally north-to-south ridgeline}}

{{Infobox mountain

|photo = Sierra Nevada aerial.jpg

|photo_caption = View of Sierra Crest near Mount Abbot and Mount Mills

|photo_size = 260px

|location = California, United States

|highest = Mount Whitney

|elevation_ft = 14505

|elevation_system = NAVD88

|length_mi = 500

}}

The Sierra Crest is a roughly {{Convert|500|mi|km|abbr=on}} generally north-to-south ridgeline that demarcates the broad west and narrow east slopes of the Sierra Nevada and that extends as far east as the Sierra's topographic front (e.g., Diamond Mountains and Sierran escarpment{{cite web |last=Wilkerson |first=Gregg |year=2007 |title=Roadside Geology and Mining History: Owens Valley and Mono Basin |url=http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/bakersfield/geology.Par.56332.File.dat/ovm07_guidebook.pdf |format=PDF |publisher=BLM.gov |page=51 |accessdate=2010-06-22 |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614224852/http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/ca/pdf/bakersfield/geology.Par.56332.File.dat/ovm07_guidebook.pdf |archivedate=2011-06-14 }}). The northern and central Sierra Crest sections coincide with over {{Convert|300|mi|km|abbr=on}} of the Great Basin Divide,{{cite web |title=Boundary Descriptions and Names of Regions, Subregions, Accounting Units and Cataloging Units |url=http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc_name.html |publisher=USGS.gov |accessdate=2010-06-07 |archive-date=2012-04-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427215107/http://water.usgs.gov/GIS/huc_name.html |url-status=live }} and the southern crest demarcates Tulare and Inyo counties and extends through Kern County to meet the Tehachapi crest. The Sierra Crest also forms two paths (bifurcates) around endorheic cirques (e.g., Cup Lake) between the west and east Sierra slopes.

Theodore Solomons made the first attempt to map a crest route along the Sierras.{{cite book |last=Roper |first=Steve |year=1997 |title=Sierra High Route: Traversing Timberline Country |publisher=The Mountaineers Press |isbn=0-89886-506-9}} He was instrumental in envisioning, exploring, and establishing the route of what became the John Muir Trail from Yosemite Valley along the crest of the Sierra Nevada to Mount Whitney.

{{Location map+|USA California |caption=Sierra Crest extreme points |float=left|places=

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=40.406699 |lon_deg=120.95252 |label=Pegleg.Mountain |position=top}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=39.591634 |lon_deg=120.096059 |label=closest.to.Nevada |position=right}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=39.083006 |lon_deg=120.251369 |label=local.westernmost.point |position=right}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=38.663933 |lon_deg=119.985595 |label=Sacramento/San.Joaquin.triple.point|position=bottom}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=37|lat_min=8 |lat_sec=28|lon_deg=118|lon_min=39|lon_sec=16|label=San.Joaquin/Kings.triple.point |position=top}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=36|lat_min=34|lat_sec=43|lon_deg=118|lon_min=17|lon_sec=31|label=Mt.Whitney (highest) |position=left}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=35.926938 |lon_deg=117.979345 |label=117.979°W |position=right}}

{{Location map~|USA California |lon_dir=W|lat_dir=N|lat_deg=35|lat_min= 6|lat_sec= 8|lon_deg=118|lon_min=16|lon_sec=58|label=Tehachapi Pass |position=bottom}}

}}

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