Mount Clark (California)

{{Short description|Mountain in the American state of California}} {{distinguish|Clark Mountain (California)}} {{Use American English|date=February 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox mountain | name = Mount Clark | image = Mount Clark west face winter.jpg | image_caption = West face from Glacier Point Road, January 2008. | elevation_ft = 11527 | elevation_ref = {{NAVD88}}<ref name="pb">{{cite peakbagger |id=2638 |name=Mount Clark |accessdate=2011-05-05}}</ref> | prominence_ft = 722 | prominence_ref = <ref name="pb"/> | parent_peak = [[Gray Peak (California)|Gray Peak]] (11,573 ft)<ref name="loj">{{cite loj |id=56062 |name=Mount Clark |accessdate=2011-05-31}}</ref> | listing = {{unbulleted list | [[Sierra Peaks Section|{{abbr|SPS|Sierra Peaks Section}}]] Mountaineers peak<ref name="sps">{{cite sps |accessdate=2009-08-09}}</ref> | Western States Climbers Star peak<ref name="wsc">{{cite wsc |accessdate=2016-03-27}}</ref> }} | map = California#USA | map_size = 230 | map_caption = Location in California | label_position = bottom | location = [[Yosemite National Park]]<br/>[[Mariposa County, California|Mariposa County]], [[California]], [[United States|U.S.]] | range = [[Clark Range (California)|Clark Range]], [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] | coordinates = {{coord|37.6963183|N|119.4284859|W|type:mountain_region:US-CA_scale:100000_source:GNIS|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | range_coordinates = | coordinates_ref = <ref name="gnis">{{cite gnis |id=254748 |name=Mount Clark |accessdate=2009-08-09}}</ref> | topo = [[United States Geological Survey|USGS]] Merced Peak | first_ascent = 1866 by [[Clarence King]] and [[James Terry Gardiner|James T. Gardiner]]<ref name="Farquhar">{{cite Farquhar |id=C |name=accessdate=2008-01-27}}</ref> | easiest_route = [[Rock climbing|Rock climb]], {{YDS|4}}<ref name="Secor">{{cite Secor |edition=3 |pages=409–411}}</ref> }}

'''Mount Clark''' is a {{convert|11527|ft|m|0|adj=on}} [[granite]] peak in the [[Clark Range (California)|Clark Range]], a sub-range of the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]]. It is a popular destination for [[mountaineering|mountaineers]].

Both the mountain and the range are named in honor of [[Galen Clark]], an early explorer and the first guardian of [[Yosemite National Park]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Browning |first=Peter |title=Yosemite Place Names: The Historic Background of Geographic Names in Yosemite National Park |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N3Rs7E7_J_IC&pg=PA27 |year=2005 |publisher=Great West Books |isbn=978-0-944220-19-1 |page=27}}</ref> It was summited in 1866 by Clarence King and James Gardener of the US Geological Survey.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mount Clark : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost |url=https://www.summitpost.org/mount-clark/150527 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=www.summitpost.org}}</ref> Before it received its present name, it was known as Gothic Peak and then The Obelisk, the name used by the [[California Geological Survey|Whitney Survey]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Browning |first=Peter |title=Place Names of the Sierra Nevada |publisher=[[Wilderness Press]] |year=1986 |location=Berkeley |page=[https://archive.org/details/placenamesofsier00brow/page/40 40] |isbn=978-0-89997-119-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/placenamesofsier00brow/page/40 }}</ref> Obelisk Lake, at {{convert|9853|ft}} lies on the mountain's northeast flank.

==Climate== Mount Clark is located in an [[alpine climate]] zone.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sierra-Nevada-mountains/Climate |title=Climate of the Sierra Nevada |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref> Most [[weather front]]s originate in the [[Pacific Ocean]], and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks ([[orographic lift]]), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range.

==Gallery== <div style="max-width: 500px;"> <gallery mode=slideshow> File:Mt. Clark aerial.jpg|Aerial view from the southwest File:Clark Range.jpg|Clark Range, Mt. Clark to right (north aspect) File:The Clark Range. Yosemite National Park, California, crop.jpg|Red Peak (left), Gray Peak, Mt. Clark (right) File:Mt. Clark.jpg|North aspect of Mount Clark seen from Clouds Rest. [[Gray Peak (California)|Gray Peak]] to right. </gallery></div>

==See also== * {{Portal-inline|Mountains|size=tiny}} * [[Geology of the Yosemite area]]

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * {{cite summitpost |id=150527 |name=Mount Clark}} * {{cite web | url = https://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/mountaineering_in_the_sierra_nevada/09.html#page_244 | title = Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada by Clarence King, Chapter IX - Merced Ramblings 1866 | publisher = Yosemite Online Library}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Mount}} [[Category:Mountains of Yosemite National Park]] [[Category:Mountains of Mariposa County, California]] [[Category:Three-thousanders of the United States]] [[Category:Mountains of Northern California]] [[Category:Sierra Nevada (United States)]]