Mount Winchell, a thirteener

Thirteener

In mountaineering in the United States, a thirteener is a mountain that exceeds above mean sea level, similar to the more familiar "fourteeners," which exceed...

, is among the thirty highest peaks of California. It is in the Palisades

Palisades (California Sierra)

The Palisades are a group of peaks in the central part of the Sierra Nevada in the US state of California. They are located about southwest of the town of Big Pine, California...

 region of the Sierra Nevada, on the Sierra Crest

Sierra Crest

The Sierra Crest is a ~ 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...

 between Mount Agassiz

Mount Agassiz (California)

Mount Agassiz, at , is one of the twenty highest peaks of California. It is the northernmost, and easiest to climb, major summit of the Palisades.-Geography:Agassiz is at the north end of the Palisades in the eastern Sierra Nevada, near Bishop Pass...

 and Thunderbolt Peak.

Geography

The Inyo

Inyo County, California

-National protected areas:* Death Valley National Park * Inyo National Forest * Manzanar National Historic Site-Major highways:* U.S. Route 6* U.S. Route 395* State Route 127* State Route 136* State Route 168* State Route 178...

-Kern County

Kern County, California

Spreading across the southern end of the California Central Valley, Kern County is the fifth-largest county by population in California. Its economy is heavily linked to agriculture and to petroleum extraction, and there is a strong aviation and space presence. Politically, it has generally...

 line follows Winchell's northwest-southeast ridges. Hydrologically

Hydrology

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets, including the hydrologic cycle, water resources and environmental watershed sustainability...

, this same boundary divides the Big Pine Creek drainage from Dusy Basin, part of the Kings River's

Kings River (California)

The Kings River is a major river of south-central California. About long, it drains an area of the high western Sierra Nevada and the Central Valley. A large alluvial fan has formed where the river's gradient decreases in the Central Valley so the river divides into distributaries...

 headwaters. Its west slopes fall within Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park

Kings Canyon National Park is a National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada, east of Fresno, California. The park was established in 1940 and covers...

, while its east slopes are in the John Muir Wilderness

John Muir Wilderness

The John Muir Wilderness is a wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California, USA for , in the Inyo and Sierra National Forests. Established in 1964 by the Wilderness Act and named for naturalist John Muir, it contains...

 of the Inyo National Forest

Inyo National Forest

Inyo National Forest is a federally administered forest in the United States. The forest covers parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. It contains two wilderness areas: the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness...

.

History

Two mountain peaks in the vicinity were christened Mount Winchell during the 1870s, but neither of them were present day Mount Winchell. The United States Geological Survey

United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology,...

 applied the name to the present peak. The name's original application was made by Elisha Winchell for his cousin, Alexander Witchell, who was a founding member of the Geological Society of America

Geological Society of America

The Geological Society of America is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. The society was founded in New York in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitchcock, John R. Proctor and Edward Orton and has been headquartered at 3300 Penrose...

.

The first recorded climb of Mount Winchell was by Harvey C. Mansfield, Sr., John M. Newell, and Windsor B. Putnam, in June 1923. Their route, a scramble up the east arête

Arete

Areté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....

, is the least technical route. The first known winter climb by Norman Clyde

Norman Clyde

Norman Clyde was a mountaineer, mountain guide, freelance writer, nature photographer, and self trained naturalist. He is well-known for achieving over 130 first ascents, many in California's Sierra Nevada and Montana's Glacier National Park...

, Morgan Harris, and David Brower used this same route in January 1938.

See also

• Mountain peaks of California
  Mountain peaks of California
  This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the U.S. State of California.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface...
  
  
• Palisades of the Sierra Nevada
• Thirteener
  Thirteener
  In mountaineering in the United States, a thirteener is a mountain that exceeds above mean sea level, similar to the more familiar "fourteeners," which exceed...