Mount Johnson (California)

Mount Johnson is a mountain summit located on the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California, United States. It is situated on the boundary between Kings Canyon National Park and John Muir Wilderness, and along the county line between Fresno County and Inyo County.
It is also west of the community of Big Pine, southeast of Mount Gilbert, and west-northwest of Mount Goode. Mount Johnson ranks as the 187th-highest summit in California. Topographic relief is significant as the southwest aspect rises above LeConte Canyon in 1.5 mile, and the north aspect rises 3,100 feet above South Lake in 2.5 miles.

History

This mountain's name and location was proposed by the Sierra Club to honor Willard Drake Johnson, a geologist and topographer with the U. S. Geological Survey. The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1926 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. It is in the vicinity of other mountains named for distinguished members of the early U. S. Geological Survey, i.e. Mount Powell, [Mount Mount Gilbert (California)|Gilbert (California)|Mount Gilbert], Mount Thompson, and Mount Goode.
Sierra Club member Jack Sturgeon climbed the peak August 14, 1939, by way of the western arête, and reported that the peak had previously been climbed twice by Norman Clyde, who is credited with 130 first ascents, most of which were in the Sierra Nevada. Clyde made the first ascent of nearby Mt. Gilbert in 1928, possibly climbing Johnson around the same time.

Established climbing routes:

Mount Johnson 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. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains south into the Middle Fork Kings River, and north into Bishop Creek.