Mount Lukens

Mount Lukens
Sister Elsie Peak

Mt. Lukens overlooking La Crescenta-Montrose
Elevation 5,075 ft (1,547 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence 1,794 ft (547 m)[2]
Listing Hundred Peaks Section[3]
Location
Mount Lukens

Location in California

Location Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Range San Gabriel Mountains
Coordinates 34°16′08″N 118°14′20″W / 34.269000714°N 118.238990497°WCoordinates: 34°16′08″N 118°14′20″W / 34.269000714°N 118.238990497°W[1]
Topo map USGS Condor Peak
Climbing
Easiest route Hike from Deukmejian Wilderness Park in Glendale[3]

Mount Lukens is a mountain located in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California in the United States.[4] Standing in the northeast corner of the city of Los Angeles, the summit is the highest elevation within the city's limits.[5] The summit reaches an elevation of 5,075 feet (1,547 m) making Los Angeles the large city with the highest and lowest (sea level) elevation difference in the country.[6] Because of its location, prominence and proximity to Los Angeles, the summit is dotted with television, radio and cellular transmission towers.[7] The mountain is within the boundaries of Angeles National Forest and Los Angeles County.

Name origin

The mountain was named after Theodore Lukens, a former supervisor of the Angeles National Forest and later, the mayor of Pasadena, California.[8] Previously, the mountain was known as Sister Elsie Peak. It has been said that she was a Catholic nun who died while caring for the sick during a smallpox epidemic. On the USFS map of 1925, the mountain was shown as Mount Lukens and subtitled Sister Elsie Peak.[9] The identity of Sister Elsie (also referred to as Sister Else) is not certain and the stories surrounding her have not been verified.[10]

2009 California wildfires

Mount Lukens is in an area that was impacted by a wildfire in 2009 known as the Station Fire, the largest conflagration in the history of Los Angeles County.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Sister Elsie". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  2. ↑ "Mount Lukens, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Mount Lukens". Hundred Peaks Section, Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  4. ↑ "Mount Lukens". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  5. ↑ "Mount Lukens". Local Hikes.com. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  6. ↑ "Elevations and Distances in the United States". U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved 2014-03-05. Note: Juneau, AK has a greater range.
  7. ↑ "Mount Lukens". Peakery.com. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  8. ↑ Derby, George (1891-). The National cyclopaedia of American biography (eBook) 18. New York: J.T. White & Co. p. 282. OCLC 844617289. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ↑ "Mount Lukens". SummitPost.org. Retrieved 2014-03-05.
  10. ↑ "Summit Signatures: Mount Lukens". Retrieved 2011-09-14.
  11. ↑ "Station fire's effects still smolder". Glendale News-Press. Retrieved 2014-03-05.