Vancouver Island Ranges

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coordinates: 49°40′40″N, 125°50′40″W The Vancouver Island Ranges extend the length of Vancouver Island which has an area of 31,788 km². The Vancouver Island Ranges comprise the central and largest part of the island.[1] The Geological Survey of Canada refers to Vancouver Island, the Queen Charlotte Islands the Alaska Panhandle as the Insular Belt including the sea floor out to 100 km west of Vancouver Island.[2]

Contents

[edit] Explorations

The first European sighting[3] of these ranges was likely Sir Francis Drake. A sighting of land on June 5, 1579 was recorded by his crew aboard the vessel Golden Hind at a latitude of 48 degrees north but not finding safe harbour, they moved on southward. The highest peak of the Vancouver Island Ranges, the Golden Hinde is named for his vessel.

The first explorer of which there is a record was Captain Juan Jose Perez aboard the Spanish frigate Santiago. Although he anchored off Estevan Point, on August 8, 1774 he did not land. Captain James Cook entered Nootka Sound March 29, 1778 and spent about a month refitting his ships Discovery and Resolution. His logs contain the first recorded reference to the mountains of Vancouver Island. In 1788 British Captain John Meares began a small settlement at Nootka Sound and the following year, the Spanish built a permanent fort at Friendly Cove (Yuquot) in Nuu-chah-nulth territory. The Spanish claimed sovereignty and a dispute arose which was resolved with the Nootka Convention of the 1794. There was little further explanation until the the Hudson's Bay Company was granted rights to Vancouver Island on January 13, 1849 leading to the first attempt, by Captain Hamilton Moffat in 1852 to ascend a major peak on the Island when he attempted Rugged Mountain.

Adam Grant Horne located a trail across the island from the Qualicum River to the Alberni Inlet in 1856 and Joseph Despard Pemberton, Surveyor General of the Colony of Vancouver Island explored much of the southern half of the Island in 1857. By the mid 1880s the southern half of the island had been explored and by 1890 the northern region had been explored as well. The central part of the island, the area now within Strathcona Provincial Park, was explored by Reverend William Washington Bolton, Headmaster of the Victoria School for Boys, in 1894 and 1896.

[edit] Ranges

Named Ranges of Vancouver Island
Named Ranges of Vancouver Island

Only a few of the many subranges of the Vancouver Island Ranges have official names. These are:

  1. Refugium Range: On the Brooks Peninsula.
  2. Sophia Range: On Nootka Island, on the peninsula between Esperanza Inlet and Nuchatlitz Inlet.
  3. Genevieve Range: Nootka Island.
  4. Karmutzen Range: Between Nimpkish Lake, Tlakwa Creek and Karmuzten Creek.
  5. Hankin Range: Between Nimpkish Lake and Bonanza Lake.
  6. Franklin Range: Near Robson Bight on the Johnstone Strait between the Tsitika River and Kokish River.
  7. Bonanza Range: Between the Nimpkish River and the Tsitika River by Bonanza Lake.
  8. Sutton Range: Between Nimpkish River, White River, Oktwanch River, Gold River.
  9. Newcastle Range: Johnstone Strait, west of Sayward-Kelsey Bay and east/north of Adams River
  10. Prince of Wales Range: East coast of Vancouver Island 40 km north of Campbell River.
  11. Halifax Range: Along Johnstone Strait between Amor de Cosmos Creek and Pye Creek.
  12. Beaufort Range: North of Port Alberni and west of Qualicum Beach.
  13. Pelham Range: Between the Sarita River and Alberni Inlet.
  14. Somerset Range: Between The Pacheena-Sarita River basins and the Klanawa River (between Nitinat Lake and Imperial Eagle channel)
  15. Seymour Range (Vancouver Island): Between the valley of Cowichan Lake, San Juan River and Gordon River.
  16. Gowlland Range: Near Victoria between Saanich Inlet and Brentwood Bay. Includes Mount Work Regional Park.
  17. Pierce Range: South of Gold River between the Jacklah River and the Burman River.
  18. Haihte Range: Between Tashsis River, the Nomash River, Zeballos Lake and Woss Lake.

The Elk River Mountains, located in Strathcona Provincial Park, are considered a range by some sources. [4]

[edit] Peaks of the Vancouver Island Ranges

Mountain/Peak Height (metres) Prominence (metres) Range
Golden Hinde 2,201 0 Elk River
Elkhorn Mountain 2,195 996 Elk River
Victoria Peak 2,163 1,849 Sutton
Mount Colonel Foster 2,135 864 Elk River
Mount Albert Edward 2,094 1,203
Rambler Peak 2,092 647 Elk River
Mount McBride 2,083 918
King's Peak 2,065 328 Elk River
Mount Celeste 2,041 369
The Comb 2,040 0
Mount Filberg 2,035 0
Red Pillar 2,035 0
Mount Cobb 2,031 0
Behinde 1,989 0
Mount Colwell 1,989 0
Alexandra Peak 1,983 0
Argus Mountain 1,982 0
Mount Harmston 1,982 0
Mount Regan 1,982 0
Iceberg Peak 1,977 0
Warden Peak 1,970 0
El Piveto Mountain 1,969 500
Mount Rosseau 1,962 0
Comox Glacier 1,960 0
Mount Haig Brown 1,947 0
Mount Frink 1,921 0
Shepherd Ridge 1,921 0
Peak 1920 1,920 0
Peak 1909 1,909 0
Mount George V 1,884 0
The Misthorns 1,880 0
Tzela Mountain 1,880 0
Rugged Mountain 1,875 0 Haihte
Mount Adrian 1,870 0
Mount Shoen 1,862 0
Big Interior Mountain 1,863 0
Sutton Peak 1,862 0
Mount Septimus 1,850 0
Crown Mountain 1,846 1339
Nine Peaks 1,842 0
Syd Watts Peak 1,840 0
Siokum Mountain 1,840 0
Siocomb Peak 1,840 0
Mount Mitchell 1,838 0
Jutland Mountain 1,838 0
Puzzle Mountain 1,828 0
Maquilla Peak 1,821 0
Mount Arrowsmith 1,817 1,429 Beaufort
Mount Donner 1,812 0
Mount Kent-Urquhart 1,811 0
Mount Myra 1,810 0
Matchlee Mountain 1,806 0
Moyeha Mountain 1,804 0
Mount Cain 1,804 0
Mount Abel (British Columbia) 1,800 0
Ptarmigan Pinnacles 1,800 0
Morrison Spire 1,800 0
Merlon Mountain 1,798 0
Mount Laing 1,798 0
Mount Tom Taylor 1,778 0
Mariner Mountain 1,778 0
Big Den Mountain 1,776 0
Peak 5800 1,768 0
Bonanza Peak 1,767 0
Mount Hapush 1,767 0
Marble Peak 1,767 0
Splendour Mountain 1,766 0
Mount Palmerston 1,763 0
Mount Burman 1,756 0
Mount Judson 1,747 0
Mount Beadnell 1,746 0
Mount Ashwood 1,744 0
Mount Con Reid 1,744 0
Mount Alston 1,743 0
Watchtower Peak 1,740 0
Mount Russell 1,740 0
Elk Mountain 1,737 0
Ya'ai Peak 1,736 0
Trio Mountain 1,732 0
Phillips Ridge 1,732 0
Mount Thelwood 1,731 0
Mount Phillips 1,723 0
Wolf Mountain 1,731 0
Mount Adam 1,729 0
Mount DeVoe 1,710 0
Haihte Spire 1,706 0
Jagged Mountain 1,701 0
Whiltilla Mountain 1,693 0
Popsicle Peak 1,682 0
Mount Bate 1,680 0
Volcano Peak 1,676 0
Mount Abraham 1,676 0
South Blades 1,676 0
Scimitar Peak 1,676 0
Tyee Mountain 1,672 0
Hkusam Mountain 1,670 0
Mount Heber 1,666 0
Crest Mountain 1,661 0
Tsitika Mountain 1,657 0
Mount Juliet 1,637 0
M.S. Mountain 1,655 0
Mount Nora 1,648 0
Mount Sarai 1,646 0
Mount Derby 1,646 0
Mount Klitsa 1,642 0
Queen Peak 1,640 0
Mount Romeo 1,637 0
Mount McKelvie 1,630 0
Hyro Peak 1,628 0
Mount Eden 1,625 0
Mount Cokely 1,616 0
Kokummi Mountain 1,615 0
Thumb Peak 1,615 0
Mount Moriarty 1,610 0
Big Baldy Mountain 1,610 0
Bancroft Peak 1605? 0
Waring Peak 1,601 0
The Scissors 1,597 0
Woss Mountain 1,594 0
Mount Elliot 1,581 0
Zeballos Peak 1,576 0
Mount McQuillan 1,575 0
Malaspina Peak 1,573 0
Peak 5150 1,570 0
Nahmint Mountain 1,568 0
Mount Peel 1,564 0
Mount Joan 1,557 0
Mount Grattan 1,550 0
Mount Flannigan 1,550 0
Mount Alava 1,550 0
Pinder Peak 1,542 0
Mount Whymper 1,541 0
Abco Mountain 1,526 0
Peak 5005 1,525 0
Stevens Peak 1,509 0
Barad-dur 1,505 0
Mook Peak 1,505 0
El Capitan Mountain 1,492 0
Mount Service 1,490 0
Douglas Peak 1,490 0
Genesis Mountain 1,486 0
Mount Titus 1,481 0
Conuma Peak 1,481 0
Lone Wolf Mountain 1,481 0
Limestone Mountain 1,480 0
Adder Peak 1,480 0
Megin Mountain 1,480 0
The Stone Trolls 1,478 0
Ursus Mountain 1,471 0
Mount Milner 1,470 0
Steamboat Peak 1,465 0
Mount Roberts 1,463 0
Mount Leiner 1,458 0
Mount Kitchener 1,457 0
Tlakwa Mountain 1,457 0
Mount Sir John 1,429 0
Karmutzen Mountain 1,426 0
Leighton Peak 1,411 0
Merry Widow Mountain 1,402 0
Snowsaddle Mountain 1,400 0
Jacklah Mountain 1,400 0
Mount Cederstedt 1,379 0
Half Dome 1,365 0
Mount De Cosmos 1,355 0
Peak 4400 1,341 0
Peak 4330 1,319 0
Kaouk Mountain 1,309 0
Peak 4225 1,287 0
Kwois Peak 1,274 0
Mount Wolfenden 1273 0
Garibaldi Peaks 1,235 0
Mount Hannah 1,250 0
Shelbert Mountain 1,207 0
Mount Brenton 1,200 0
Mamat Mountain 1,161 0
Lukwa Mountain 1,142 0
Mount Renwick 1,139 0
Mount Gore 1,120 0
Grayback Peak 1,119 0
Carter Peak 1,097 0
Comestock Peak 1,097 0
Mount Rufus 1,080 0
False Ears 1,063 0
Mount Albemarie 1,040 0
Mount Clark 1,036 0
Pretty Girl Peak 1,020 0
Mount Pickering 1,006 0
Sydney Cone 996 0
Mount Seaton 957 0
Mount Crespi 920 0
Mount Lombard 920 0
Nunatak Mountain 909 0
Saxifrage Mountain 800 0
Doom Mountain 762 0

[edit] Sources

  • Philip Stone (2003). Island Alpine, A Guide to the Mountains of Strathcona Park and Vancouver Island. Wild Isle Publications: Heriot Bay, BC. ISBN 0-9680766-5-3. 
  • Lindsay Elms (1996). Beyond Nootka, A Historical Perspective of Vancouver Island Mountains. Misthorn Press: Courtenay, BC. ISBN 0-9680159-0-5. 

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Guthrie, R.H. 2005. Geomorthology of Vancouver Island (electronic resource); mass wasting potential. BC Ministry of Environment, Victoria BC Report No RR01. PDF p 1 (and see map at p 2 for area of Vancouver Island Ranges) ISBN 0-7726-5468-9
  2. ^ Geodetic Survey of Canada, Cordilleran Geoscience Island mountains and sea floor
  3. ^ see Elms, p 17-29 for the sources of this section
  4. ^ Philips
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../v/a/n/Vancouver_Island_Ranges_cfa1.html"