Sierra Nevada

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The Sierra Nevada extends for over 400 miles along eastern California, from the Mojave Desert in the south to the Feather River Basin in the north. The southern third of the Sierra Nevada is the highest and most rugged, with eleven peaks topping 14,000 feet. This area is known as the High Sierra, and is well known for its startling beauty and contrasts. Heavy snow falls during most winters, and there are many permanent snow patches and several small glaciers. Glaciers were much heavier in the past, evidenced by the extensive erosion in the range, which has created spectacularly sculpted valleys and cirques. The western slopes of the mountains are covered in lofty forests of sequoia, pine, incense-cedar, fir and aspen. The sequoia are particularly awesome, rising to 300 feet, with 30 feet-diameter trunks. The eastern side of the range is an escarpment, descending as a great mountain wall 10,000 feet to the arid deserts. From Death Valley, 280 feet below sea level, with 120 degree Fahrenheit temperatures, the often snow-capped Sierra Nevada, rises just 80 miles away on the horizon. The most interesting (and popular) part of the range is that area extending through Yosemite, Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. Yosemite Valley is a seven-mile canyon that cuts deep into the high country west of the Sierra Crest. The valley is known for its sheer granite walls, high plunging waterfalls, and dependable weather conditions. Half Dome (8,842 ft.) and El Capitan (7,569 ft.) are its best known climbs, 2,000 and 3,000 vertical feet respectively. The highest peak of Yosemite National Park is Mount Lyell (13,114 ft.), but the higher summits of the Sierra Nevada are located east of Yosemite, on the main crest of the range. Thirteen of California's fifteen fourteeners are located in the Sierra Nevada, the other two being Mount Shasta (14,162 ft.) of the Cascade Range and White Mountain Peak (14,246 ft.) of the White Range, one of the basin ranges east of the Sierra Nevada. There are also over one hundred Sierra Nevada peaks topping 13,000 feet.

Peaks of Sierra Nevada

Check out any of the following peaks for additional information:

Airola Peak - 9942 ft./3030 m.
Banner Peak - 12947 ft./3946 m.
Basin Mountain - 13181 ft./4018 m.
Bear Creek Spire - 13713 ft./4180 m.
Black Giant - 13330 ft./4063 m.
Black Kaweah - 13675 ft./4168 m.
Breckenridge Mountain - 7548 ft./2301 m.
Bull Run Peak - 9495 ft./2894 m.
Carson Peak - 10909 ft./3325 m.
Castle Rock Spire - 7600 ft./2317 m.
Charlotte Dome - 10700 ft./3261 m.
Checkered Demon - 13112 ft./3997 m.
Chinese Peak - 8705 ft./2653 m.
Cirque Peak - 12900 ft./3932 m.
Clouds Rest - 9926 ft./3025 m.
Clyde Minaret - 12281 ft./3743 m.
Clyde Spires - 13267 ft./4044 m.
Donner Peak - 8019 ft./2444 m.
Ebbetts Peak - 9160 ft./2792 m.
Echo Peak - 8895 ft./2711 m.
El Capitan - 7569 ft./2307 m.
Folger Peak - 9680 ft./2950 m.
Garnet Peak - 5900 ft./1798 m.
Half Dome - 8842 ft./2695 m.
Henery Peak - 9334 ft./2845 m.
Hiram Peak - 9795 ft./2986 m.
Keeler Needle - 14260 ft./4347 m.
Laurel Mountain - 11812 ft./3600 m.
Lembert Dome - 9450 ft./2880 m.
Little Baldy - 8044 ft./2452 m.
Lone Pine Peak - 12944 ft./3945 m.
Mammoth Mountain - 11053 ft./3369 m.
Matterhorn Peak - 12264 ft./3738 m.
Middle Palisade - 14040 ft./4279 m.
Milestone Mountain - 13641 ft./4158 m.
Mount Abbot - 13704 ft./4177 m.
Mount Agassiz - 13893 ft./4235 m.
Mount Conness - 12590 ft./3837 m.
Mount Dade - 13600 ft./4145 m.
Mount Dana - 13053 ft./3979 m.
Mount Darwin - 13831 ft./4216 m.
Mount Gilbert - 13103 ft./3994 m.
Mount Guyot - 12300 ft./3749 m.
Mount Haeckel - 13435 ft./4095 m.
Mount Humphreys - 13986 ft./4263 m.
Mount Irvine - 13914 ft./4241 m.
Mount Langley - 14027 ft./4275 m.
Mount Lyell - 13114 ft./3998 m.
Mount Morgan (South) - 13748 ft./4190 m.
Mount Muir - 14012 ft./4271 m.
Mount Ritter - 13143 ft./4006 m.
Mount Rose - 10776 ft./3285 m.
Mount Russell - 14086 ft./4293 m.
Mount Sill - 14153 ft./4314 m.
Mount Tallac - 9735 ft./2967 m.
Mount Thompson - 13494 ft./4113 m.
Mount Tom - 13652 ft./4161 m.
Mount Tyndall - 14018 ft./4273 m.
Mount Whitney - 14494 ft./4418 m.
Mount Williamson - 14370 ft./4380 m.
Mount Winchell - 13775 ft./4199 m.
Mt. Atkinson - 12241 ft./3731 m.
Mt. Brewer - 13570 ft./4136 m.
Mt. Gayley - 13510 ft./4118 m.
Mt. Gibbs - 12773 ft./3893 m.
Norman Clyde Peak - 13920 ft./4243 m.
North Palisade - 14242 ft./4341 m.
North Peak - 12242 ft./3731 m.
Olancha Peak - 12123 ft./3695 m.
Point Powell - 13360 ft./4072 m.
Polemonium Peak - 14200 ft./4328 m.
Pyramid Peak - 9983 ft./3043 m.
Red Lake Peak - 10062 ft./3067 m.
Split Mountain - 14058 ft./4285 m.
Starlight Peak - 14200 ft./4328 m.
Temple Crag - 12999 ft./3962 m.
Tenaya Peak - 10280 ft./3133 m.
Thunderbolt Peak - 14000 ft./4267 m.
Tioga Peak - 11526 ft./3513 m.
Tryon Peak - 9970 ft./3039 m.
University Peak - 13632 ft./4155 m.
Wheeler Peak - 9115 ft./2778 m.

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Sierra Nevada

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