Mount Watkins (California)
Mount Watkins is an mountain summit in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mariposa County, California, United States.
Description
Mount Watkins is located in Yosemite National Park, north of Half Dome, and northwest of Clouds Rest. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into Tenaya Creek which is a tributary of the Merced River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Tenaya Canyon in less than. The mountain is composed of Half Dome Granodiorite which formed during the Cretaceous period. An ascent of the summit involves 7.4 miles of hiking with 750 feet of elevation gain, and the months of June through October offer the best conditions. The approach is via the Snow Creek Trail starting near Olmsted Point.History
The mountain is named after Carleton Watkins, an American photographer in the 1800s whose photographs of Yosemite significantly influenced the United States Congress' decision to preserve it as a National Park. His photograph of Mount Watkins reflected in Mirror Lake was especially popular, and likely led to his name being affixed to this mountain. This mountain's toponym was officially adopted on June 30, 1932, by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, although it was featured in publications as early as 1871. The Native American name for the mountain is "Waijau" which means Pine Mountain.Climbing
Along with El Capitan and Half Dome, Mount Watkins is one of the three main big walls in Yosemite for rock climbing.Rock climbing routes:South Face - - First ascent July 1964 - Warren Harding, Chuck Pratt, Yvon ChouinardTeabag Wisdom - class 5.11 - FA 2016 - Vitaliy Musiyenko, Chris KopplThe Twisted Road - class 5.12