Junction Peak

Junction Peak
"Junction Peak" by Ansel Adams, circa 1930s.
Highest point
Elevation	13,894 ft (4,235 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence	765 ft (233 m)[1]
Parent peak	Mount Stanford[2]
Listing	SPS Mountaineers peak[3] Western States Climbers Star peak[4]
Coordinates	36°41′24″N 118°21′56″W / 36.689935°N 118.3656507°W / 36.689935; -118.3656507[5]
Geography
Junction Peak Show map of California Junction Peak Show map of the United States
Location	Kings Canyon National Park Sequoia National Park John Muir Wilderness  Inyo / Tulare counties California, U.S.
Parent range	Sierra Nevada
Topo map	USGS Mount Williamson[5]
Climbing
First ascent	August 8, 1899 by Edwin Bingham Copeland and E. N. Henderson[6]
Easiest route	South Face, South Ridge or West Ridge (all class 3 scrambles)[6]

Junction Peak is a thirteener in the Sierra Nevada. Joseph Nisbet LeConte chose this name in 1896, noting that it marks the point where the Sierra Crest crosses the water divide of the Kern and Kings rivers.^[7] Today it also is the boundary between Inyo and Tulare counties, and of Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park and the John Muir Wilderness.^[1]

Botanist Edwin Bingham Copeland and partner E. N. Henderson were the first climbers known to reach Junction Peak's summit, on August 8, 1899. They pioneered the class 3 South Ridge route, following the exposed ridge from Diamond Mesa to the top of Junction. Over the course of nearly a century, several more class 3 and 4 routes were established. The first winter climb was made by the West Ridge, culminating on March 21, 1973. The first technical climb recorded on Junction was the grade III 5.7 North Buttress route.^[6]

• Thirteener