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Mount Wilson (Colorado)
Encyclopedia
Mount Wilson is a fourteen thousand foot
mountain peak in the U.S. state
of Colorado
. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness
in Dolores County
approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Rico
and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Telluride
. It is the highest peak in the San Miguel Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains
. It is not to be confused with the lower, nearby Wilson Peak
.
The peak was named for A. D. Wilson, a topographer with the Hayden Survey. He was in the first ascent party, which climbed the peak on September 13, 1874, via the south ridge (a difficult route, not often climbed today).
s to climb. The standard climbing route ascends the North Face from Navajo Basin. Some permanent snowfields exist high in the basin (sometimes termed "Navajo Glacier") and the climb usually involves snow travel, with ice axe
and crampons recommended. Scrambling on rock then leads to the summit.
A popular, though long, outing for expert climbers is the mile-long ridge connecting Mount Wilson to El Diente Peak
. The ridge is sharp and rocky, and requires difficult scrambling and often a small amount of rappelling.
igneous intrusion
.
The Mount Wilson region became the site of intense mining
activity, particularly for silver
, in the early 1880s. The most famous of these mines was the Silver Pick Mine, which gave its name to Silver Pick Basin, just north of Navajo Basin.
beer products.
Fourteener
In mountaineering terminology in the United States, a fourteener is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet above mean sea level. There are 547 fourteeners in the world. The importance of fourteeners is greatest in Colorado, which has the majority of such peaks in North America...
mountain peak in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness
Lizard Head Wilderness
The Lizard Head Wilderness is a wilderness area in southwest Colorado. It contains 41,309 acres and is jointly managed by the Uncompahgre and San Juan National Forests. It is 10 miles southwest of the town of Telluride and is named for a prominent rock formation that is said to look like a...
in Dolores County
Dolores County, Colorado
Dolores County is the seventh least populous of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county population was 1,844 at U.S. Census 2000. The county seat is Dove Creek.- History :...
approximately 10 miles (16 km) north of Rico
Rico, Colorado
Rico is a Home Rule Municipality in Dolores County, Colorado, United States. The population was 205 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rico is located at ....
and 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Telluride
Telluride, Colorado
The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains...
. It is the highest peak in the San Miguel Mountains, a subrange of the San Juan Mountains
San Juan Mountains
The San Juan Mountains are a high and rugged mountain range in the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. The area is highly mineralized and figured in the gold and silver mining industry of early Colorado. Major towns, all old mining camps, include Creede, Lake City, Silverton, Ouray, and...
. It is not to be confused with the lower, nearby Wilson Peak
Wilson Peak
Wilson Peak is a mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness of the Uncompahgre National Forest, in the southern San Juan Mountains. It is the highest point in San Miguel County...
.
The peak was named for A. D. Wilson, a topographer with the Hayden Survey. He was in the first ascent party, which climbed the peak on September 13, 1874, via the south ridge (a difficult route, not often climbed today).
Climbing
Mount Wilson is ranked among the top ten hardest of the Colorado fourteenerFourteener
In mountaineering terminology in the United States, a fourteener is a mountain that exceeds 14,000 feet above mean sea level. There are 547 fourteeners in the world. The importance of fourteeners is greatest in Colorado, which has the majority of such peaks in North America...
s to climb. The standard climbing route ascends the North Face from Navajo Basin. Some permanent snowfields exist high in the basin (sometimes termed "Navajo Glacier") and the climb usually involves snow travel, with ice axe
Ice axe
An ice axe, is a multi-purpose ice and snow tool used by mountaineers both in the ascent and descent of routes which involve frozen conditions. It can be held and employed in a number of different ways, depending on the terrain encountered...
and crampons recommended. Scrambling on rock then leads to the summit.
A popular, though long, outing for expert climbers is the mile-long ridge connecting Mount Wilson to El Diente Peak
El Diente Peak
El Diente Peak is a fourteen thousand foot mountain peak in the U.S. state of Colorado. It is located in the Lizard Head Wilderness in the San Miguel Mountains of the San Juan Mountains, in Dolores County approximately north of Rico....
. The ridge is sharp and rocky, and requires difficult scrambling and often a small amount of rappelling.
Geology and history
Mount Wilson, and the rest of the San Miguel Mountains, are made up of a large, irregular tertiaryTertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
igneous intrusion
Intrusion
An intrusion is liquid rock that forms under Earth's surface. Magma from under the surface is slowly pushed up from deep within the earth into any cracks or spaces it can find, sometimes pushing existing country rock out of the way, a process that can take millions of years. As the rock slowly...
.
The Mount Wilson region became the site of intense mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
activity, particularly for silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
, in the early 1880s. The most famous of these mines was the Silver Pick Mine, which gave its name to Silver Pick Basin, just north of Navajo Basin.
Pop culture
Mount Wilson is most recognizable as a staple icon on many CoorsCoors Brewing Company
The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
beer products.
See also
- List of Colorado fourteeners
- Mountain peaks of ColoradoMountain peaks of ColoradoThis article comprises three sortable tables of the major mountain peaks of the U.S. State of Colorado.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...
- Mountain ranges of ColoradoMountain ranges of ColoradoThe following table lists the major mountain ranges of the U.S. State of Colorado.-Mountain Ranges:-See also:*4000 meter peaks of Colorado*Colorado mountain passes*Geography of Colorado*Lists of mountains*Mountain peaks of Colorado...