Kearsarge Peak

Kearsarge Peak is a 12,620-foot Sierra Nevada summit in eastern California, rising sharply above Onion Valley and west of Independence with an especially steep east face. Its name came from the Kearsarge Mine on its slope, which was named for the USS Kearsarge, itself named after Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire; that naming also spread to nearby pass, lakes, and pinnacles. The first recorded ascent was made in 1925 by Norman Clyde, a celebrated Sierra climber and then principal of Independence High School. Pacific storms shape the peak’s alpine climate, and its runoff flows through local creeks into Owens Valley.

California · United States