Gray Peak (California)

Gray Peak is an 11,573-foot-elevation (3,527-meter) mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Madera County of northern California, United States.^[3] It is situated in Yosemite National Park, approximately 9 miles (14 km) southeast of Yosemite Valley, 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north of Red Peak, and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-southeast of Mount Clark. Gray Peak is the fourth-highest peak in the Clark Range, which is a subset of the Sierra Nevada.^[1]

Gray Peak
At sunset, from WNW
Highest point
Elevation	11,573 ft (3,527 m)[1]
Prominence	573 ft (175 m)[1]
Parent peak	Red Peak (11,699 ft)[2]
Isolation	1.46 mi (2.35 km)[2]
Listing	Sierra Peaks Section
Coordinates	37°40′25″N 119°25′07″W[3]
Geography
Gray Peak Location in California Show map of California Gray Peak Gray Peak (the United States) Show map of the United States
Location	Yosemite National Park Madera County California, U.S.
Parent range	Sierra Nevada Clark Range
Topo map	USGS Merced Peak
Geology
Rock age	Cretaceous
Mountain type	Fault block
Rock type	Metamorphic rock
Climbing
Easiest route	class 2[2] Southwest slope[4]

History

The peak was probably named by the Wheeler Survey when it explored the Yosemite region in 1878 and 1879.^[5] This geographical feature's descriptive name, due to black iron-bearing minerals, was shown on an 1893 Le Conte map as Gray Peak, and was officially adopted in 1897 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.^[3][6] In 1920, Ansel Adams left a Sierra Club cylinder-type register at the summit.^[4]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Gray Peak is located in an alpine climate zone.^[7] 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, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into tributaries of the Merced River.

See also

• Geology of the Yosemite area
• Mountains portal

Gray Peak centered, Red Peak to left, Mount Clark to right. From northeast.