| Mount Stanford | |
|---|---|
Mount Stanford's profile from Mount Gould to the north, May 2009. |
|
| Elevation | 13,973 ft (4,259 m) NGVD 29[1] |
| Prominence | 981 ft (299 m) [1] |
| Parent peak | Mount Ericsson [2] |
| Listing | Sierra Peaks Section [3] |
| Location | |
| Location | Kings Canyon National Park, Tulare County, California, USA |
| Range | Sierra Nevada |
| Topo map | USGS Mount Brewer |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | 1896 by Bolton C. Brown [4] |
| Easiest route | Scramble with exposure,, class 3 [4] |
Mount Stanford, at an elevation of 13,973 feet (4,259 m), is on the Kings-Kern Divide in Kings Canyon National Park. It is named for Stanford University. Although it is one of the highest peaks in California, Mount Stanford does not usually qualify for lists of California's highest peaks because it has a prominence of less than 500 metres (1,640 ft) The peak is located about 3.6 miles (5.8 km) from University Peak which was named for University of California.[5]
On August 1, 1896 Professor Bolton Coit Brown of Stanford made the first to recorded ascent and requested that it be named Mount Stanford. Since there was another peak with the same name in Placer County, he suggested the peak he climbed be named Stanford University peak if his first choice was rejected. The decision was make to give the name Castle Peak to the summit in Placer County and Brown's first choice was accepted. Three years later, on August 16, 1899, Stanford University's President, David Starr Jordan, also make the ascent with his wife and a party from Stanford. He had previously climbed in the Alps.[6]
In 1911 the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) named a peak in honor of the Leland Stanford, an American tycoon, politician and founder of Stanford University.[5] The name originally given this summit was Stanford Peak but in 1982 the USGS changed its name to Mount Stanford.[7] This other peak, with an elevation of 12,838 feet (3,913 m), is located 59 miles (95 km)[8] to the north-northeast overlooking Pioneer Basin in the John Muir Wilderness.[9]
Mount Stanford is described as a (class 3) scramble.[4] It can be ascended by experienced mountaineers without ropes or special equipment during the late summer months. It can be most easily be reached from the Onion Valley trailhead, west of Independence and off U. S. Route 395.