Gannett Peak
Encyclopedia
Gannett Peak is the highest peak in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

 and straddles the boundary between Fremont and Sublette Counties along the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

.

Overview

Geographically, Gannett Peak is the apex of the entire Central Rockies; the largely continuous group of the chain occupying the states of Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

. Named in 1906 for American geographer Henry Gannett
Henry Gannett
Henry Gannett, M.E.; LL.D. was an American geographer who is described as the "Father of the Quadrangle" which is the basis for topographical maps in the United States.-Life:...

, the peak is also the highpoint of the Wind River Range
Wind River Range
The Wind River Range , is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW-SE for approximately 100 miles . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,804 feet , is the highest peak...

. The mountain slopes are located in both Bridger-Teton National Forest
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Bridger-Teton National Forest is located in western Wyoming, United States. The forest consists of , making it the second largest National Forest outside of Alaska. The forest stretches from Yellowstone National Park, along the eastern boundary of Grand Teton National Park and from there rides...

 and Shoshone National Forest
Shoshone National Forest
Shoshone National Forest is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly 2.5 million acres in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest was created by an act of Congress and signed into law by U.S....

. Gannett is the highest peak within what is better known as the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is one of the last remaining large, nearly intact ecosystems in the northern temperate zone of the Earth and is partly located in Yellowstone National Park. Conflict over management has been controversial, and the area is a flagship site among conservation groups...

. The 896 acres (3.63 km²) Gannett Glacier
Gannett Glacier
Gannett Glacier is the largest glacier in the Rocky Mountains within the United States. The glacier is located on the east and north slopes of Gannett Peak, the highest mountain in Wyoming on the east side of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range...

, which is likely the largest single glacier
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...

 in the American portion of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

, flows down from the northern slopes of the mountain. Minor Glacier
Minor Glacier
Minor Glacier is located in Bridger-Teton National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming on the west side of the Continental Divide in the northern Wind River Range. Minor Glacier is in the Bridger Wilderness and is part of the largest grouping of glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains. The...

 is situated in the western cirque of the peak while Dinwoody
Dinwoody Glacier
Dinwoody Glacier is located in Shoshone National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming on the east side of the Continental Divide in the Wind River Range. Completely within the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, Dinwoody Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in the American Rocky Mountains, and as of 1989 was...

 and Gooseneck Glacier
Gooseneck Glacier
Gooseneck Glacier is located in the Fitzpatrick Wilderness, Shoshone National Forest, in the U.S. state of Wyoming. The glacier is east of the Continental Divide in the northern Wind River Range and on the southeast flank of Gannett Peak, the tallest mountain in Wyoming. Gooseneck Glacier is part...

s can be found on the southeast side of the mountain.

Gannett Peak is commonly climbed on a four to six day round-trip. It is considered by mountaineers
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

to be the most difficult state high point except for Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

's Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley
Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska, United States is the highest mountain peak in North America and the United States, with a summit elevation of above sea level. It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve.- Geology and features :Mount McKinley is a granitic pluton...

 and possibly Montana's Granite Peak
Granite Peak (Montana)
Granite Peak, at an elevation of above sea level, is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the tenth highest state high point in the nation. It lies within the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, in Park County very near the borders of Stillwater County and Carbon County...

.

In October 2010, a private plane crash in the vicinity of the mountain triggered an extensive search-and-rescue operation. The plane was located in early November, with no survivors.

See also

  • 4000 meter peaks of North America
  • Central Rocky Mountains
  • List of U.S. states by elevation
  • Mountain peaks of North America
    Mountain peaks of North America
    This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of greater North America.This article defines greater North America as the portion of the continental landmass of the Americas extending northward from Panama plus the islands surrounding that landmass...

  • Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains
    Mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains
    This article comprises three sortable tables of major mountain peaks of the Rocky Mountains of North America.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface...

  • Mountain peaks of the United States
    Mountain peaks of the United States
    This article comprises three sortable tables of the major mountain peaks of the United States of America.Topographic elevation is the vertical distance above the reference geoid, a precise mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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