Mount Warren (California)

Mount Warren is a 12,327-foot-elevation (3,757-meter) summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County, California, United States. The mountain is set within the Hoover Wilderness, on land managed by Inyo National Forest. The peak is situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Gilcrest Peak, 1.8 miles (2.9 km) northwest of Lee Vining Peak, and 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Excelsior Mountain, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 5,955 feet (1,815 meters) above Mono Lake in 4.5 miles.

History

The mountain's toponym was officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names to honor Gouverneur K. Warren (1830–1882), topographer and United States Army general during the American Civil War. Mt. Warren is labeled on the 1901 Bridgeport Quadrangle map.

The first ascent of the summit was made by Vitus Wackenreuder, a cartographer with the California Geological Survey, sometime during the 1860s before 1868.

Climate

Mount Warren is located in an alpine climate zone. Most weather fronts 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 moisture in the form of rain or snowfall to drop onto the range. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains to Mono Lake.