Marion Peak is a remote mountain summit located in Kings Canyon National Park, in Fresno County of northern California, United States. It is situated on Cirque Crest which is west of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, northeast of State Peak, and northwest of Arrow Peak, the nearest higher neighbor. Topographic relief is significant as the north aspect rises above Marion Lake in one mile, and the southeast aspect rises above South Fork Kings River in less than two miles.
History The first ascent of the summit was made July 22, 1902, by Joseph Nisbet LeConte and Curds Lindley via the east slope.Steve Roper, The Climber's Guide to the High Sierra, 1976, Sierra Club Books, , page 355. They climbed it in order to scout a possible route to the northern Palisades.NORTH PALISADE (14,242 ft.), snwburd.com The Northwest Ridge was first climbed August 11, 1945, by Art Reyman.Fred L. Jones, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954)
Marion Peak is named in association with Marion Lake below is northern slopes. Marion Lake was named by Joseph N. LeConte for his wife, Helen Marion Gompertz LeConte (1865–1924), who accompanied him on this 1902 pioneering trip up Cartridge Creek.Francis P. Farquhar, Place Names of the High Sierra (1926) This mountain's name has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Marion Peak 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 into tributaries of the Kings River.
See also
List of mountain peaks of California
References
External links Weather forecast: Marion Peak