Cathey Peak

Cathey Peak
Cathey Peak

Location in New Mexico

Highest point
Elevation 9,645 ft (2,940 m) [1]
Coordinates 32°48′27″N 105°47′59″W / 32.8075924°N 105.799703°W / 32.8075924; -105.799703Coordinates: 32°48′27″N 105°47′59″W / 32.8075924°N 105.799703°W / 32.8075924; -105.799703 [2]
Geography
Location Otero County, New Mexico, U.S.
Parent range Sacramento Mountains
Topo map USGS Sacramento Peak
Climbing
Easiest route Road

Cathey Peak is a peak in the Sacramento Mountains, in the south-central part of the US State of New Mexico. It lies in Otero County, 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the community of Alamogordo.

Sacramento Peak, at 9,262 feet (2,823 m),[3] is a nearby subpeak of Cathey Peak, and is more widely known due to the presence of several observatories on or near its summit. It is located at 32°47′16″N 105°49′15″W / 32.7878701°N 105.8208140°W / 32.7878701; -105.8208140 (Sacramento Peak),[4] 1.6 miles (2.6 km) southwest of Cathey Peak, and has a topographic prominence of approximately 80 feet (24 m).[5] One of the two locations of the National Solar Observatory is on the summit itself, and the small town of Sunspot is less than one-half mile (0.8 km) to the northeast. The Apache Point Observatory is located on a promontory about one-half mile (0.8 km) south of the summit,[6] and a cosmic ray observatory lies just over a mile (1.6 km) to the northeast.

Both peaks lie on the high western crest of the Sacramento Mountains, and hence have gentle, forested eastern slopes, and a steep, high escarpment to the west, descending to the Tularosa Basin. Both peaks can be accessed using New Mexico Scenic Byway 6563 from Cloudcroft.

References

  1. ↑ "Cathey Peak". ListsOfJohn.com. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  2. ↑ "Cathey Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-01-22.
  3. ↑ "Sac". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  4. ↑ "Sacramento Peak". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  5. ↑ "Sacramento Peak, New Mexico". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2014-02-12.
  6. ↑ "Welcome to Apache Point Observatory". Apache Point Observatory. Retrieved 2009-01-22.


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