Iron Mountain (Madera County, California)

Iron Mountain is an summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range in Madera County of northern California, United States. It is situated in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, on the boundary shared by Inyo National Forest with Sierra National Forest. It is set at the south end of the Ritter Range, approximately west of the community of Mammoth Lakes. Devils Postpile National Monument is 4.5 miles to the east and the Minarets are three miles to the north. Precipitation runoff from the west side of this mountain drains to North Fork San Joaquin River, and from the east slope to the Middle Fork San Joaquin. Topographic relief is significant as the east aspect rises over above Anona Lake in approximately one mile. There are climbing routes to the summit via the south slope and east face,Walter A. Starr and Louis A. Elliott, A Climber’s Guide to the High Sierra (1954) and inclusion on the Sierra Peaks Section peakbagging list generates climbing interest.

Etymology The mountain's name is attributable to iron ore found on the west shoulder of the peak.C. L. Severy (1946), Exploration of the Minarets Iron Deposit, Madera County, Calif, U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines, p. 4. The toponym was likely applied by the Wheeler Survey,Peter Browning, Place Names of the Sierra Nevada: From Abbot to Zumwalt, Wilderness Press, 1986, , page 107. and has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Climate According to the Köppen climate classification system, Iron Mountain 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 them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range.

Iron Mountain (Madera County, California)

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