Mount Dana

This article is about the mountain in California. For other uses, see Mount Dana (disambiguation).
Mount Dana
Mount Dana seen from Gaylor Peak.
The hike to the top goes up this west face.
Highest point
Elevation13,061 ft (3,981 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence2,417 ft (737 m)[2]
Parent peakMount Lyell[3]
ListingCalifornia highest major peaks 18th
Coordinates37°54′00″N 119°13′16″W / 37.899901553°N 119.2210926°W / 37.899901553; -119.2210926[1]
Geography
Map
LocationMono / Tuolumne counties, California, U.S.
Parent rangeSierra Nevada
Topo mapUSGS Mount Dana
Geology
Age of rockCretaceous
Mountain typeMetamorphic rock
Climbing
First ascentJune 28, 1863 by Whitney, Brewer, and Hoffmann[4]
Easiest routeHike, class 1[5]

Mount Dana is a mountain in the U.S. state of California. Its summit marks the eastern boundary of Yosemite National Park and the western boundary of the Ansel Adams Wilderness. At an elevation of 13,061 feet (3,981 m), it is the second highest mountain in Yosemite (after Mount Lyell), and the northernmost summit in the Sierra Nevada which is over 13,000 feet (3,962.4 m) in elevation. Mount Dana is the highest peak in Yosemite that accessible to summit. The mountain is named in honor of James Dwight Dana, who was a professor of natural history and geology at Yale.[6]

Mount Dana is composed of prebatholithic rock that is mostly reddish metamorphic rock, which was composed by metavolcanics of surfacing magma from the Mesozoic Era.[7][8]

Mount Dana's northern face includes a small, receding glacier known as the Dana Glacier. The Dana Meadows lie at the foot of the mountain. From the top, lakes throughout Dana Meadows, Mono Lake, Tioga Peak and many other mountains are in view.

  1. ^ a b "Mount Dana". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce.
  2. ^ "Mount Dana, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
  3. ^ "Mount Dana". ListsOfJohn.com. Retrieved 2012-04-01.
  4. ^ Farquhar, Francis P. (March 1925). "Exploration of the Sierra Nevada". California Historical Society Quarterly. 4 (1): 3–58. doi:10.2307/25177743. hdl:2027/mdp.39015049981668. JSTOR 25177743.
  5. ^ Secor, R.J. (2009). The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, and Trails (3rd ed.). Seattle: The Mountaineers. pp. 397f. ISBN 978-0898869712.
  6. ^ Browning, Peter (1986). Place Names of the Sierra Nevada. Berkeley: Wilderness Press. p. 51. ISBN 0899971199.
  7. ^ "America's Volcanic Past - Yosemite National Park". USGS/Cascades Volcano Observatory. September 20, 2002. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006. Retrieved July 11, 2006.
  8. ^ "Biology 314 — Sierra Nevada". Sonoma State University. pp. 69–94. Retrieved 2006-07-08.