Mount Haeckel is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in northern California, United States. It is situated on the shared boundary of Kings Canyon National Park with John Muir Wilderness, and along the common border of Fresno County with Inyo County. It is west of the community of Big Pine, south-southeast of Mount Darwin, and one mile north-northeast of Mount Fiske, which is the nearest higher neighbor. Mount Haeckel ranks as the 71st highest summit in California.

History In 1895, Sierra Club explorer Theodore S. Solomons named a group of mountains in the Sierra Nevada after exponents of Darwin's theory of evolution.Francis Peloubet Farquhar, Exploration of the Sierra Nevada, 1925, California Historical Society, page 47. These six peaks are now known collectively as the Evolution Group. This mountain is named for Ernst Haeckel (1834–1919), a German zoologist.Peter Browning, Place Names of the Sierra Nevada From Abbot to Zumwalt, 1986, Wilderness Press, , page 89. The other five peaks were named after Charles Darwin, John Fiske, Alfred Russel Wallace, Herbert Spencer, and Thomas Henry Huxley.

On July 14, 1920, Walter L. Huber led a Sierra Club party of nine climbers to the first ascent of the summit via the West Shoulder.Walter L. Huber, First Ascent of Mount Haeckel, Sierra Club Bulletin, Vol. XI, 1923, page 145. A few minutes later, Edward O. Allen, Francis E. Crofts, and Olcott Haskell arrived via the South Ridge.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) This second Sierra Club party was surprised that they were not on Mount Darwin, their intended destination.Alan M. Hedden and David R. Brower, A Climber's Guide to the High Sierra (1954)

Climbing Established climbing routes on Mount Haeckel:

West Shoulder – – First Ascent 1920 South Ridge – class 3 – FA 1920 North Face – class 3 – FA 1933 by Jack Riegelhuth Northeast Ridge – class 4 – FA 1935

The Northwest Arête is considered one of the classic climbing routes in the Sierra Nevada.John Moynier, Claude Fiddler, 1993, Sierra Classics 100 Best Climbs in the High Sierra, Chockstone Press, .

Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Haeckel 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, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift). Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains northeast into Bishop Creek, and west into Evolution Creek, which is a San Joaquin River tributary.

Gallery

See also

List of the major 4000-meter summits of California Mount Wallace

References

External links Weather forecast: Mount Haeckel Account of first ascent: Sierra Club Bulletin Mt. Haeckel Rock Climbing: Mountainproject.com