Paiute Peak
Paiute Peak is a mountain summit on the boundary shared by Boulder County and Grand County, in Colorado, United States.
Description
Paiute Peak is set on the Continental Divide in the Front Range which is a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. The mountain is located west-northwest of Boulder in the Indian Peaks Wilderness, on land managed by Arapaho National Forest and Roosevelt National Forest. It is the sixth-highest summit in the wilderness and 14th-highest in Boulder County. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's east slope drains into tributaries of St. Vrain Creek, whereas the west slope drains to Monarch Lake via Cascade and Thunderbolt creeks, thence Lake Granby. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Blue Lake in 0.75 mile and above Pawnee Lake in one mile. An ascent of the peak involves hiking with of elevation gain. The mountain was named by Ellsworth Bethel and the toponym was officially adopted on October 7, 1914, by the United States Board on Geographic Names.
Climate
According to the Köppen climate classification system, the mountain is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers. Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.
Climbing
Established climbing routes on Paiute Peak: