Sunlight Peak

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Sunlight Peak

| photo = Sunlight Peak.jpg

| photo_caption = Sunlight Peak from Twin Lakes

| elevation_ft = 14065

| elevation_ref = The elevation of Sunlight Peak includes an adjustment of +1.804 m (+5.92 ft) from NGVD 29 to NAVD 88.{{cite peakbagger|pid=5858|title=Sunlight Peak, Colorado|access-date=October 22, 2014}}

| prominence_ft = 399

| prominence_ref =

| isolation_mi = 0.48

| isolation_ref =

| listing = Colorado Fourteener 39th

| location = La Plata County, Colorado, U.S.

| range = San Juan Mountains,
Needle Mountains

| map = Colorado

| map_caption = Location in Colorado

| coordinates = {{coord|37.6272215|N|107.5958933|W|type:mountain_region:US-CO_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| range_coordinates =

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis|id=187843|name=Sunlight Peak|access-date=October 22, 2014}}

| topo = USGS 7.5' topographic map
Storm King Peak, Colorado

| first_ascent =

| easiest_route = South Face: Climb, {{YDS|4}}{{cite web | url = https://www.14ers.com/routelist.php?peakid=10039 | title = Sunlight Peak Routes | publisher = 14ers.com }}

}}

Sunlight Peak is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The {{convert|14065|ft|0|adj=on}} fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, {{convert|45.8|km|order=flip}} northeast by north (bearing 32°) of the City of Durango in La Plata County, Colorado, United States.

Sunlight Peak was so named in 1902; the name is likely descriptive.{{cite book|last=Dziezynski|first=James|title=Best Summit Hikes in Colorado: An Opinionated Guide to 50+ Ascents of Classic and Little-Known Peaks from 8,144 to 14,433 Feet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KT0Uf6MLtisC&pg=PA275|date=1 August 2012|publisher=Wilderness Press|isbn=978-0-89997-713-3|page=275}}

File:Sunlight Peak from Windom Peak.jpg

File:Sunlight Peak w.jpg

Climbing

Sunlight Peak is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the other two are Mount Eolus and Windom Peak. Windom and Sunlight lie on the east side of Twin Lakes, in upper Chicago Basin, while Eolus lies on the west side. All three peaks are relatively remote by Colorado standards, and have a strong wilderness character; however they can be popular in summer.

The standard route up Sunlight Peak is from the south, known as the "Red Couloir". It is a non-technical scramble, but achieving the top of the summit block does require an exposed rock climbing move.{{cite book |author=Louis W. Dawson II |title=Dawson's Guide to Colorado's Fourteeners, Volume 2 |publisher=Blue Clover Press |year=1996 |isbn=0-9628867-2-6 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/dawsonsguidetoco00daws }}

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Sunlight Peak is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.{{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}} Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.