Mount Fairweather
Mount Fairweather, is the highest mountain in the Canadian province of British Columbia, with an elevation of 4,671 metres. It is located 20 km east of the Pacific Ocean on the border of Alaska, United States and western British Columbia, Canada. Most of the mountain lies within Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve in the City and Borough of Yakutat, though the summit borders Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park, British Columbia, it is designated as Boundary Peak 164 or as US/Canada Boundary Point #164. The mountain was named on May 3, 1778 by Captain James Cook for the unusually good weather encountered at the time; the name has been translated into many languages. It was called "Mt. Beautemps" by La Perouse, "Mte. Buen-tiempo" by Galiano, "Gor-Khoroshy-pogody" on Russian Hydrographic Dept. Chart 1378 in 1847, "G Fayerveder" by Captain Tebenkov, Imperial Russian Navy, it was called "Schönwetterberg" by Constantin Grewingk in 1850 and "Schönwetter Berg" by Justus Perthes in 1882. Fairweather was first climbed in 1931 by Allen Carpé and Terris Moore.
Mount Fairweather is located right above Glacier Bay in the Fairweather Range of the Saint Elias Mountains. Mount Fairweather marks the northwest extremity of the Alaska Panhandle. Like many peaks in the St. Elias Mountains, Mount Fairweather has great vertical relief due to its dramatic rise from Glacier Bay. However, due to poor weather in the area, this effect is obscured with the clouds which hides the summit from view. Known in the Tlingit language as Tsalxhaan, it is said this mountain and Yaas'éit'aa Shaa were next to each other but had an argument and separated, their children, the mountains in between the two peaks, are called Tsalxhaan Yatx'i Despite its name, Mount Fairweather has harsh weather conditions. It receives over 100 inches of precipitation each year and sees temperatures of around -50 °F. 1926 Allen Carpe, Andy Taylor and W. S. Ladd reached 2,890 m on the West Ridge, but were forced back due to a steep notch in the ridge that made ferrying supplies difficult. 1930 Bradford Washburn made an attempt on the West Ridge but traveling conditions forced a retreat at 2,040 metres.
1931 Allen Carpe and Terris Moore summited via the Southeast Ridge on June 8, 1931 1958 Paddy Sherman and 7 other Canadians reached the summit via the SE Ridge on June 26, 1958. 1968 West Ridge, Loren Adkins, Walter Gove, Paul Myhre, John Neal and Kent Stokes - summit reached June 12, 1968 1973 Southwest Ridge, Peter Metcalf, Henry Florschutz, Toby O'Brien and Lincoln Stoller. Summit reached on July 10, 1973. After failing to reach the summit in 1926 due to terrain difficulty on their chosen route, Allen Carpe, W. S. Ladd, Andy Taylor returned in 1931 along with a new member Terry Moore. In early April the group began their approach by boat but stormy weather delayed them rounding Cape Fairweather until April 17, they unloaded their supplies on the beach. Backtracking 21 kilometres along the coast, they made their way to the Fairweather Glacier. From base camp in a spot they called Paradise Valley, they decided to attempt the mountain from the south rather than via the west ridge. Due to deep snow, they realized that skis and snowshoes would be of great help so Carpe and Moore made the 80 km round trip to fetch them from Lituya Bay.
They ascended the glacier from base setup camp at 1,520 m on the mountain's south face. On May 25, they established high camp at 2,740 m after making significant progress up a ridge on a rare day of good weather. However, the weather turned and they were forced to descend after an overnight coating of snow. After waiting out the snowstorm for six days at lower camp, they made their way back up to high camp on June 2, they left for the summit at 1:30 am on June 3 and having reached the southeast shoulder by mid-morning, they were feeling so confident that they left the willow wands behind. However, higher altitude and the weeks of hard effort slowed their progress and the weather changed. By 1 pm not far from the summit, they decided to retreat and had to descend without the wands to guide them, they managed to reach the tents by 4 pm. Ladd and Taylor volunteered to descend due to dwindling supplies at high camp with the hope that Carpe and Moore would be able to make another attempt in good weather.
The storm raged for four days before it cleared in the evening on June 7. At 10 pm, Carpe and Moore set out for the summit and with no further difficulties made it to the top. List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of Canada List of mountain peaks of the United States List of Boundary Peaks of the Alaska-British Columbia/Yukon border NOAA Ship Fairweather Sherman, Paddy. Cloud Walkers. MacMillan. ISBN 0-916890-79-1
Topographic map
In modern mapping, a topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief using contour lines, but using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both man-made features. A topographic survey is published as a map series, made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A contour line is a line connecting places of equal elevation. Natural Resources Canada provides this description of topographic maps:These maps depict in detail ground relief, forest cover, administrative areas, populated areas, transportation routes and facilities, other man-made features. Other authors define topographic maps by contrasting them with another type of map. However, in the vernacular and day to day world, the representation of relief is popularly held to define the genre, such that small-scale maps showing relief are called "topographic"; the study or discipline of topography is a much broader field of study, which takes into account all natural and man-made features of terrain.
Topographic maps are based on topographical surveys. Performed at large scales, these surveys are called topographical in the old sense of topography, showing a variety of elevations and landforms; this is in contrast to older cadastral surveys, which show property and governmental boundaries. The first multi-sheet topographic map series of an entire country, the Carte géométrique de la France, was completed in 1789; the Great Trigonometric Survey of India, started by the East India Company in 1802 taken over by the British Raj after 1857 was notable as a successful effort on a larger scale and for determining heights of Himalayan peaks from viewpoints over one hundred miles distant. Topographic surveys were prepared by the military to assist in planning for battle and for defensive emplacements; as such, elevation information was of vital importance. As they evolved, topographic map series became a national resource in modern nations in planning infrastructure and resource exploitation. In the United States, the national map-making function, shared by both the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Interior migrated to the newly created United States Geological Survey in 1879, where it has remained since.1913 saw the beginning of the International Map of the World initiative, which set out to map all of Earth's significant land areas at a scale of 1:1 million, on about one thousand sheets, each covering four degrees latitude by six or more degrees longitude.
Excluding borders, each sheet was up to 66 cm wide. Although the project foundered, it left an indexing system that remains in use. By the 1980s, centralized printing of standardized topographic maps began to be superseded by databases of coordinates that could be used on computers by moderately skilled end users to view or print maps with arbitrary contents and scale. For example, the Federal government of the United States' TIGER initiative compiled interlinked databases of federal and local political borders and census enumeration areas, of roadways and water features with support for locating street addresses within street segments. TIGER was used in the 1990 and subsequent decennial censuses. Digital elevation models were compiled from topographic maps and stereographic interpretation of aerial photographs and from satellite photography and radar data. Since all these were government projects funded with taxes and not classified for national security reasons, the datasets were in the public domain and usable without fees or licensing.
TIGER and DEM datasets facilitated Geographic information systems and made the Global Positioning System much more useful by providing context around locations given by the technology as coordinates. Initial applications were professionalized forms such as innovative surveying instruments and agency-level GIS systems tended by experts. By the mid-1990s user-friendly resources such as online mapping in two and three dimensions, integration of GPS with mobile phones and automotive navigation systems appeared; as of 2011, the future of standardized, centrally printed topographical maps is left somewhat in doubt. Topographic maps have multiple uses in the present day: any type of geographic planning or large-scale architecture; the various features shown on the map are represented by conventional symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads; these signs are explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet. Topographic maps are commonly called contour maps or topo maps.
In the United States, where the primary national series is organized by a strict 7.5-minute grid, they are called topo quads or quadrangles. Topographic maps conventionally show land contours, by means of contour lines. Contour lines are curves. In other words, every point on the marked line of 100 m elevation is 100 m above mean sea level; these maps show
Mount Blackburn
Mount Blackburn is the highest peak in the Wrangell Mountains of Alaska in the United States. It is the twelfth-highest peak in North America; the mountain is an old, eroded shield volcano, the second-highest volcano in the U. S. behind Mount Bona and the fifth-highest in North America. It was named in 1885 by Lt. Henry T. Allen of the U. S. Army after Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, a U. S. senator from Kentucky. It is located in the heart of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park, the largest national park in the country; the mountain's massif is covered entirely by icefields and glaciers, is the principal source of ice for the Kennicott Glacier, which flows southeast over 20 miles to just above the town of McCarthy. The mountain contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Nabesna Glacier and the Kuskulana Glacier system. Mount Blackburn is a large, dramatic peak, with great local relief and independence from higher peaks, its west face drops over 11,000 ft to the Kuskulana Glacier in less than 4 horizontal miles.
Its other faces drop 8,000–10,000 ft, all in less than 8 miles. The toe of the Kuskulana Glacier, less than 12 miles from the summit, lies at an elevation of 2,400 ft, giving a rise of 14,000 ft. While these figures speak to the peak's relief, one measure of its independence is that it is the 50th-most topographically prominent peak in the world; the western of Blackburn's two summits is the mountain's highest point, a fact, not understood until the 1960s when new USGS maps were published. The first ascent of the west peak, hence Mount Blackburn, was done on May 30, 1958, by Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, Leon Blumer via the North Ridge; this team made the first ascent of Blackburn, but did not know it at the time due to the incorrect identification of the highest point. In fact, Blumer's article in the 1959 American Alpine Journal is titled "Mount Blackburn – Second Ascent." Kennedy Peak, or East Blackburn, 16,286 ft, is the eastern summit and was thought to be the highest point.
The first ascent of this summit was made in 1912 by Dora Keen and George Handy via the Kennicott Glacier and East Face. This heady exploit was ahead of its time. Dora Keen, driven by a deep desire for the climb, solicited miners from the nearby Kennecott Copper Mines, forged a route up the crevassed East Face to the East Peak, but did not traverse over to the West Peak. Keen went on to write a famous article for the Saturday Evening Post titled, "First up Mount Blackburn." In 1912, Keen and Handy thought. Mount Blackburn represents the eroded core of a shield volcano; because it is shrouded in permanent ice, its internal structure cannot be determined. It is believed to have a summit caldera modified by glaciation; the oldest rocks in the area are granites, about 4.2 million years old, representing an intrusive mass. The majority of the mountain is 3.4 million year old granite. From this it is inferred that a caldera collapse took place between 4.2 and 3.4 million years ago, after which activity ceased.
Today's standard route on the peak is the 1958 ascent route, the North Ridge, approached from the Nabesna Glacier, on the north side of the mountain, opposite from Keen and Hardy's route. The route starts from an airstrip on the glacier at an altitude of 7,200 feet, it is a moderate climb by Alaskan standards. List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of the United States List of mountain peaks of Alaska List of the highest major summits of the United States List of the most prominent summits of the United States List of the most isolated major summits of the United States List of volcanoes in the United States Wood, Michael. Alaska: A Climbing Guide. Mountaineers Books. ISBN 0-89886-724-X. Richter, Donald H.. Guide to the Volcanoes of the Western Wrangell Mountains, Alaska. USGS Bulletin 2072. Winkler, Gary R.. A Geologic Guide to Wrangell—Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska: A Tectonic Collage of Northbound Terranes. USGS Professional Paper 1616. ISBN 0-607-92676-7.
Richter, Donald H.. Geologic Map of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. USGS Scientific Investigations Map 2877
Mount Bona
Mount Bona is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Mountains in eastern Alaska, is the fifth-highest independent peak in the United States. Mount Bona and its adjacent neighbor Mount Churchill are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes. Bona has the distinction of being the highest volcano in the United States and the fourth-highest in North America, outranked only by the three highest Mexican volcanoes, Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl, Iztaccíhuatl, its summit is a small stratovolcano on top of a high platform of sedimentary rocks. The mountain's massif is covered entirely by icefields and glaciers, it is the principal source of ice for the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for over 40 miles into the Yukon Territory of Canada; the mountain contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Russell Glacier system. Mount Bona was named by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi in 1897, who saw the peak while making the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias about 80 miles to the southeast.
He named it after his racing yacht. The mountain was first climbed in 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, Andrew Taylor, from the Russell Glacier on the west of the peak; the current standard route is the East Ridge. List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of the United States List of mountain peaks of Alaska List of the highest major summits of the United States List of the most prominent summits of the United States List of the most isolated major summits of the United States List of volcanoes in the United States List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of the United States List of mountain peaks of Alaska Mount Bona at the Alaska Volcano Observatory "Mount Bona". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2009-01-06. "Churchill". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2009-01-06
Duchesne County, Utah
Duchesne County is a county in the northeast part of the U. S. state of Utah. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 18,607, its county seat is Duchesne, the largest city is Roosevelt. Much of Duchesne County was part of the Uintah Reservation, created 1861 by US President Abraham Lincoln as a permanent home of the Uintah and White River Utes; the Uncompahgre Utes were moved to the Uintah and newly created Uncompahgre Indian reservations from western Colorado. At the turn of the century under the Dawes Act, both Indian reservations were thrown open to homesteaders; this was done. The homesteading process was opened on the Uintah on August 27, 1905. Unlike much of the rest of Utah Territory, settlement of the future Duchesne County area did not occur due to LDS Church pressures, it was settled by individuals. Homesteaders were required to prove. After five years of living on the land, making improvements, paying $1.25 per acre, homesteaders were given title to their homesteads. On July 13, 1914 a referendum was presented to voters of Wasatch County to partition the eastern part into a separate county.
The referendum passed, so Utah Governor William Spry issued a proclamation to take effect on January 4, 1915. The county seat was decided by county vote in 1914 election; the new county was named for its county seat, which in turn was called for the Duchesne River which flows southward and eastward through the central part of the county near the city. Its name is of uncertain origin, but the holding theory is that it was named by fur trappers in the 1820s in honor of Mother Rose Philippine Duchesne, founder of the School of the Sacred Heart near St. Louis, although other theories as to the name exist; the county boundary with Uintah County was adjusted by legislative act on March 5, 1917. Duchesne County terrain is semi-arid and scarred with drainages; the Duchesne River drains the central part of the county. The county slopes to the south and east; the county has a total area of 3,256 square miles, of which 3,241 square miles is land and 15 square miles is water. The northern part of the county contains much of the east-west oriented Uinta Mountains.
The highest natural point in Utah, Kings Peak at 13,528 feet, is located in Duchesne County. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 18,607 people, 6,003 households, 4,703 families in the county; the population density was 5.74/sqmi. There were 6,988 housing units at an average density of 2.16/sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 89.15% White, 0.24% Black or African American, 4.53% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.27% Pacific Islander, 2.64% from other races, 2.89% from two or more races. 6.00% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 6,003 households out of which 40.23% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.72% were married couples living together, 8.65% had a female householder with no husband present, 21.66% were non-families. 45.0% of all households had individuals under 18 and 22.6% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.05 and the average family size was 3.47. The county population contained 33.91% under the age of 18, 6.56% from 20 to 24, 25.38% from 25 to 44, 20.92% from 45 to 64, 10.66% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 29.7 years. For every 100 females there were 102.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,298, the median income for a family was $35,350. Males had a median income of $31,988 versus $19,692 for females; the per capita income for the county was $12,326. About 14.20% of families and 16.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.60% of those under age 18 and 12.40% of those age 65 or over. As of 2015 the largest self-reported ancestry groups in Duchesne County, Utah are: Clair Poulson, West Side Precinct Justice Court Judge Dave Boren, Sheriff JoAnn Evans, County Clerk-AuditorDuchesne County voters are traditionally Republican. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate. Duchesne Myton Roosevelt Altamont Tabiona Bluebell Neola Utah portal List of counties in Utah National Register of Historic Places listings in Duchesne County, Utah Official website
Mount Steele
For the mountain in Antarctica, see Mount Steele. Mount Steele is the fifth-highest mountain in Canada and the eleventh-highest peak in North America reaching the height of 5,073 metres. A lower southeast peak of Mt. Steele stands at 4,300 m, it was named after Sir Sam Steele, the North-West Mounted Police officer in charge of the force in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush. Walter A. Wood led a team consisting of Foresta Wood, Swiss guide Hans Fuhrer, Joseph W. Fobes, Harrison Wood and I. Pearce Hazard; the expedition approached the peak on the eastern side from Kluane Lake. Base camp was established at the foot of the Steele Glacier with horses carrying loads to Advance Base Camp further along the glacier. ABC provided good views of the mountain and the team decided on the east ridge as their line of ascent. After waiting for the weather to improve after heavy snowfalls, a four-man team consisting of Walter Wood, Harrison Wood and Forbes left Camp 8 at the base of the ridge, their plan to was to make a 2,440-meter push to the summit.
After steady upwards progress, deteriorating weather forced them to return to Camp 8 where they waited out a five-day storm which dumped over a metre of fresh snow. They started out again on August 15 and the ascent was made easier this time by windblown and hard steep snow slopes rather than steep soft snow on their earlier attempt. At 4,570 m, a plateau of wretched snow forced the team to crawl on all fours. Walter Wood commented: The humour of it impressed me. Here were four normal human beings crawling across a snow field 15,000 ft. up in the air, engaged in what they fondly believed to be a sporting venue. Alternating the lead every 100 paces, they made their way from the plateau to the top reaching the summit at 2:30 pm; the team enjoyed a blissful thirty minutes of windless conditions on top before beginning their descent. List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of Canada
Mount Saint Elias
Mount Saint Elias designated Boundary Peak 186, is the second highest mountain in both Canada and the United States, being situated on the Yukon and Alaska border. It lies about 42 kilometres southwest of the highest mountain in Canada; the Canadian side is part of Kluane National Park and Reserve, while the U. S. side of the mountain is located within Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, its name in Tlingit is Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa, meaning "mountain behind Icy Bay", is called Shaa Tlein "Big Mountain" by the Yakutat Tlingit. It is one of the most important crests of the Kwaashkʼiḵwáan clan since they used it as a guide during their journey down the Copper River. Mount Fairweather at the apex of the British Columbia and Alaska borders at the head of the Alaska Panhandle is known as Tsalx̱aan, it is said this mountain and Yasʼéitʼaa Shaa were next to each other but had an argument and separated, their children, the mountains in between the two peaks, are called Tsalx̱aan Yátxʼi. The mountain was first sighted by European explorers on July 1741 by Vitus Bering of Russia.
While some historians contend that the mountain was named by Bering, others believe that eighteenth century mapmakers named it after Cape Saint Elias, when it was left unnamed by Bering. Mount Saint Elias is notable for its immense vertical relief, its summit rises 18,008 feet vertically in just 10 miles horizontal distance from the head of Taan Fjord, off of Icy Bay. In 2007, an Austrian documentary, Mount. St. Elias, was made about a team of skier/mountaineers determined to make "the planet's longest skiing descent" – ascending the mountain and skiing nearly all 18,000 feet down to the Gulf of Alaska; the climbers ended up summiting on the second attempt and skiing down to 13,000 ft. Mt. St. Elias was first climbed on July 31, 1897 by an Italian expedition led by famed explorer Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi, included noted mountain photographer Vittorio Sella; the second ascent was not until 1946, when a group from the Harvard Mountaineering Club including noted mountain historian Dee Molenaar climbed the Southwest Ridge route.
The summit party comprised Molenaar, his brother Cornelius and Betty Kauffman, Maynard Miller, William Latady, Benjamin Ferris. William Putnam did not make the summit, they used eleven camps, eight of which were on the approach from Icy Bay, three of which were on the mountain. They were supported by multiple air drops of food; the first winter ascent was made on February 13, 1996 by David Briggs, Gardner Heaton and Joe Reichert. After being flown by pilots Steve Ranney and Gary Graham, in to 2,300 feet on the Tyndal Glacier, they climbed the southwest ridge and followed the "Milk Bowl" variation in order to avoid 2,000 feet of loose rock on the normal route; the team had planned to begin their ascent from the ocean and cross the Tyndal Glacier but the terrain was in poor condition. Mount Saint Elias is infrequently climbed today, despite its height, because it has no easy route to the summit and because of its prolonged periods of bad weather. Abruzzi Ridge Livermore Ridge List of mountain peaks of North America List of mountain peaks of Canada List of mountain peaks of the United States List of Boundary Peaks of the Alaska-British Columbia/Yukon border Wood, Michael.
Alaska: a climbing guide. The Mountaineers. Media related to Mount Saint Elias at Wikimedia Commons Mt. St. Elias on Peakware
Media related to Kings Peak (Utah) at Wikimedia Commons
