The
White Mountains of
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
are a triangular
fault blockFault-block landforms are formed when large areas of bedrock are widely broken up by faults creating large vertical displacements of continental crust....
mountain rangeA mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...
facing the Sierra Nevada across the upper
Owens ValleyOwens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in eastern California in the United States, to the east of the Sierra Nevada and west of the White Mountains and Inyo Mountains on the west edge of the Great Basin section...
. They extend for approximately 60 mi (96.6 km) as a greatly elevated plateau about 20 mi (32.2 km) wide on the south, narrowing to a point at the north, with elevations generally increasing south to north. The range's broad southern end is near the community of
Big PineBig Pine is a census-designated place in Inyo County, California, United States. Big Pine is located south-southeast of Bishop, at an elevation of 3990 feet . The population was 1,756 at the 2010 census, up from 1,350 at the 2000 census...
, where
Westgard PassWestgard Pass is a narrow gap between the White and Inyo mountain ranges in the Basin and Range Province of California. Westgard Pass lies entirely within the Inyo National Forest, in northern Inyo County, California....
and
Deep Springs ValleyDeep Springs Valley is a high desert valley in the Inyo-White Mountains of Inyo County, California. It is east of the Owens Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and south of Fish Lake Valley, Nevada, near the California-Nevada state border....
separate it from the
Inyo MountainsThe Inyo Mountains are a short mountain range east of the Sierra Nevada mountains in eastern California in the United States. The range separates the Owens Valley to the west with Saline Valley to the east, extending for approximately 70 mi SSE from the southern end of the White Mountains,...
. The narrow northern end is at Montgomery Pass, where
U.S. Route 6U.S. Route 6 , also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, a name that honors an American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system, running east-northeast from Bishop, California to Provincetown, Massachusetts. Until 1964, it continued south from Bishop to...
crosses. The
Fish Lake ValleyThe Fish Lake Valley is a 25 mi long endorheic valley in southwest Nevada that is one of the Central Nevada Desert Basins. The alluvial valley lies just northwest of Death Valley and borders the southeast, and central-northeast flank of the massif of the White Mountains of California...
lies east of the range; the southeast part of the mountains are separated from the
Silver Peak RangeThe Silver Peak Range is a mountain range in southwest Esmeralda County, Nevada.-Geography:The Range forms the east and southeast side of Fish Lake Valley. The towering White Mountains lie across the valley to the west and southwest. The Palmetto Mountains are to the south.Piper Peak, Red Mountain,...
by block faulting across the
Furnace Creek Fault ZoneThe Furnace Creek Fault Zone is a right lateral-moving fault which extends for some in eastern California. It runs from a connection with the Death Valley Fault Zone in the Amargosa Valley northward to a termination in the Fish Lake Valley. The northern segment of the FCFZ is also referred to...
, forming a feeder valley to Fish Lake Valley. The range lies within the eastern section of the
Inyo National ForestInyo National Forest is a federally administered forest in the United States. The forest covers parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. It contains two wilderness areas: the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness...
.
Ecology
Ecologically, the White Mountains are like the other ranges in the Basin and Range Province; they are dry, but the upper slopes from 9,200 to 11,500 feet (2,800 to 3,500 meters) hold open
subalpineThe subalpine zone is the biotic zone immediately below tree line around the world. Species that occur in this zone depend on the location of the zone on the Earth, for example, Snow Gum in Australia, or Subalpine Larch, Mountain Hemlock and Subalpine Fir in western North America.Trees in the...
forests of
Great Basin Bristlecone PinePinus longaeva, the Great Basin Bristlecone Pine, is a long-living species of tree found in the higher mountains of the southwest United States. The species is one of three closely related trees known as bristlecone pines and is sometimes known as the Intermountain or Western bristlecone pine...
on permeable
dolomiteDolomite is a carbonate mineral composed of calcium magnesium carbonate CaMg2. The term is also used to describe the sedimentary carbonate rock dolostone....
and certain
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
substrates and
Limber pineThe Limber Pine, Pinus flexilis, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Southwestern White Pine and Rocky Mountain White Pine...
on less permeable rocky substrates. Middle slopes from 6500 to 8200 feet (2,000 to 2,500 meters) have somewhat denser stands of Piñon pine and
Utah juniperJuniperus osteosperma is a shrub or small tree reaching 3-6 m tall. It is native to the southwestern United States, in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, western New Mexico, western Colorado, Wyoming, southern Montana, southern Idaho and eastern California...
. These upper and lower conifer zones are often separated by a zone of
Mountain-mahoganyCercocarpus, commonly known as mountain mahogany, is a small genus of five or six species of deciduous shrubs or small trees in the rose family , native to the western United States and northern Mexico, where they grow in chaparral and semi-desert habitats and climates, often at high altitudes...
brush. Various subspecies of
sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata)Artemisia tridentata is a shrub or small tree from the family Asteraceae. Some botanists treat it in the segregate genus Seriphidium, as S. tridentatum W. A. Weber, but this is not widely followed...
extend from surrounding valleys to the lower
alpine zoneAlpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
.
A
bristlecone pineThe bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees that are thought to reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years....
in the southern part of the range is the oldest known living tree in the world, about 4,700 years old, nicknamed
MethuselahMethuselah is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California. Its measured age of 4,842 years makes it the world's oldest known living non-clonal organism...
after the
biblical figureMethuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Extra-biblical tradition maintains that he died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 , at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood...
who is said to have lived 969 years. Pine nuts from Piñon pine stands were harvested as a winter staple food by
Paiute IndiansPaiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
whose descendants still live in adjacent valleys.
The White Mountains also have small remnant groves of
Lodgepole pineLodgepole Pine, Pinus contorta, also known as Shore Pine, is a common tree in western North America. Like all pines, it is evergreen.-Subspecies:...
,
Jeffrey pineThe Jeffrey Pine, Pinus jeffreyi, named in honor of its botanist documenter John Jeffrey, is a North American pine related to Ponderosa Pine.-Distribution and habitat:...
,
Ponderosa pinePinus ponderosa, commonly known as the Ponderosa Pine, Bull Pine, Blackjack Pine, or Western Yellow Pine, is a widespread and variable pine native to western North America. It was first described by David Douglas in 1826, from eastern Washington near present-day Spokane...
, Sierra juniper and Aspen including an unusual dwarf variety. These species are common in the nearby and wetter Sierra Nevada range west of the Owens Valley and must have been more widespread in the White Mountains until
HoloceneThe Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
droughts extirpated them in most of this drier range. A number of plant species are endemic to the White Mountains, including the White Mountains horkelia,
Horkelia hispidulaHorkelia hispidula is a species of flowering plant in the rose family known by the common name White Mountains horkelia. It is endemic to the White Mountains, a small mountain range that straddles the border between California and Nevada east of the Sierra Nevada. It is a resident of dry scrub and...
.
Fauna include two herds of
Bighorn SheepThe bighorn sheep is a species of sheep in North America named for its large horns. These horns can weigh up to , while the sheep themselves weigh up to . Recent genetic testing indicates that there are three distinct subspecies of Ovis canadensis, one of which is endangered: Ovis canadensis sierrae...
,
mule deerThe mule deer is a deer indigenous to western North America. The Mule Deer gets its name from its large mule-like ears. There are believed to be several subspecies, including the black-tailed deer...
, marmots and
feral horsesA Mustang is a free-roaming horse of the North American west that first descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but there is intense debate over terminology...
. Permanent streams have no native fish, but there are naturalized populations of trout including rare
Paiute cutthroat troutPaiute cutthroat trout is a subspecies of cutthroat trout native only to Silver King Creek, a headwater tributary of the Carson River in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, U.S.A. The Carson River lies within the Great Basin interior drainage system, within the historic range of Lahontan...
which is protected from angling. Birds include
Clark's NutcrackerClark's Nutcracker , sometimes referred to as Clark's Crow or Woodpecker Crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae. It is slightly smaller than its Eurasian relative the Spotted Nutcracker . It is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers...
and other
NutcrackerThe nutcrackers are a genus of two species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows. One, the Spotted Nutcracker , occurs in Europe and Asia, the other, Clark's Nutcracker , in western North America.The most important food resources for both these species are the...
CorvidaeCorvidae is a cosmopolitan family of oscine passerine birds that contains the crows, ravens, rooks, jackdaws, jays, magpies, treepies, choughs and nutcrackers. The common English names used are corvids or the crow family , and there are over 120 species...
which eat and cache pine nuts.
History
CattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
from ranches in surrounding valleys are still
grazedGrazing rights is a legal term referring to the right of a user to allow their livestock to feed in a given area.- United States :...
under permit as high as the
alpine zoneAlpine climate is the average weather for a region above the tree line. This climate is also referred to as mountain climate or highland climate....
. Historically
sheepSheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
were also grazed in large numbers, introducing diseases from which the native Bighorn Sheep populations are still slowly recovering. Before European colonization of surrounding valleys in the mid 19th century,
PaiutePaiute refers to three closely related groups of Native Americans — the Northern Paiute of California, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon; the Owens Valley Paiute of California and Nevada; and the Southern Paiute of Arizona, southeastern California and Nevada, and Utah.-Origin of name:The origin of...
Indians occupied summer hunting camps up to about 13,100 feet (4,000 meters), leaving ruins of archeological interest.
Geography
The highest point in the range is White Mountain Peak, which at 14252 ft (4,344 m) is the third-highest summit in California. This peak is actually an extinct volcano rising about 1600 ft (487.7 m) above the plateau surface. The summit is composed of Mesozoic metavolcanic rock - lava lifted and melted by rising granite. The volcano itself is long since gone.
The White Mountains are the highest range completely inside the
Great BasinThe Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
, although the adjacent Sierra Nevada Range along the basin's western edge has two higher summits.
The entire range is within the
Inyo National ForestInyo National Forest is a federally administered forest in the United States. The forest covers parts of the eastern Sierra Nevada of California, and the White Mountains of California and Nevada. It contains two wilderness areas: the John Muir Wilderness and the Ansel Adams Wilderness...
.
Hiking
A
four-wheel driveFour-wheel drive, 4WD, or 4×4 is a four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive torque from the engine simultaneously...
road reaches the summit from the south to service the summit laboratory of the White Mountain Research Station. The road is normally gated seven miles from the summit at an elevation of 11680 ft (3,560.1 m), making this California's easiest 14000 ft (4,267.2 m) summit. North of White Mountain Peak, two sharp
arêteAreté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....
s alternate along the crest with broad "whalebacks" and high plateaus with about six more summits over 13000 ft (3,962.4 m). The crest crosses the California-Nevada state line just south of a final high summit
Boundary PeakBoundary Peak is the highest summit in U. S. state of Nevada and is located in Esmeralda County. It is the northernmost peak over 13,000 feet in the White Mountains. At the peak is within the state of Nevada, although it is only about half a mile from the California border...
13147 ft (4,007.2 m), Nevada's high point. Boundary Peak is the "prow" of the triangular fault block. It has views directly down into valleys to the west, north and east that are hidden by the increasing width of the high plateau to the south. North of Boundary Peak the range rapidly loses altitude and ends at Montgomery Pass.
The west face of the White Mountains rises steeply out of Owens Valley. Climbing to any summit from this direction is a
scrambleScrambling is a method of ascending rocky faces and ridges. It is an ambiguous term that lies somewhere between hillwalking and rock climbing. It is often distinguished from hillwalking by defining a scramble as a route where hands must be used in the ascent...
with about 8000 ft (2,438.4 m) elevation gain. Eastern slopes are somewhat gentler and have numerous
cirqueCirque may refer to:* Cirque, a geological formation* Makhtesh, an erosional landform found in the Negev desert of Israel and Sinai of Egypt*Cirque , an album by Biosphere* Cirque Corporation, a company that makes touchpads...
s left by
PleistoceneThe Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
glaciers and even a few snowfields persisting through most summers. Most of these cirques are entered or approached by jeep roads and offer scenic yet non-technical routes to the crest.
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