Mount Farquhar

Mount Farquhar, or Mount Francis Farquhar, is a peak in Kings Canyon National Park. It is named in for Francis P. Farquhar, a conservationist who played a key role in creating the park.[2]

For the mountain in Minnesota, see Farquhar Peak.
Mount Farquhar
Mount Farquhar's Northeast Face, showing its old namesake notch, from Kearsarge Pass, May 2009.
Highest point
Elevation12,890 ft (3,929 m) NGVD 29[1]
Prominence652 ft (199 m)[1]
Parent peakNorth Guard[1]
Coordinates36°43′43″N 118°29′56″W[2]
Geography
Mount Farquhar is located in California
Mount Farquhar
Mount Farquhar
LocationTulare County, California, U.S.
Parent rangeGreat Western Divide, Sierra Nevada
Topo mapUSGS Mount Brewer
Climbing
First ascentJuly 17, 1932 by Norman Clyde and party[3]
Easiest routeSouth Ridge or Northwest Ridge (both class 3 scrambles)[3]

Geography

Mount Farquhar is, in the southern portion of Kings Canyon National Park, on the Great Western Divide north of North Guard and Mount Brewer. Its west facing slopes feed Sphinx Creek, while its east facing slopes feed Cross Creek and North Guard Creek. All of these drain through Bubbs Creek to the South Fork of the Kings River.

History

This summit was informally known as Notch Peak, after the prominent notch in its profile when seen from the east,[3] until 1989. That year, the United States Geological Survey's Board on Geographic Names recognized a new name of the peak to commemorate Francis Farquhar, who had died fifteen years earlier. Farquhar, a local mountaineer, had worked as an author and a director of the Sierra Club to protect the Kings Canyon region of the Sierra Nevada.

West aspect of Mount Farquhar seen from Sphinx Lake

Climbing

The first ascent was made on July 17, 1932, by the South Ridge route. A large first ascent party was composed of Dorothy Baird, D.R. Brothers, Alice Carter, Norman Clyde, Glen Dawson, William Dulley, Patricia Goodhue, Katherine Lindforth, Julie Mortimer, Arthur Neld, Lincoln O'Brien, Thomas Rawles, John Schager and Alfred Weiler. They scrambled cross country to the Sphinx Lakes, climbed to the col south of the peak, and ascended by way of the south ridge.[3]

Other established routes on Mount Farquhar include the Northwest Ridge, the Blank Stair Route (grade IV, class 5.10+), and the Northeast Face (grade IV, class 5.8) put up in September 1971 by Jeanne Neal and Galen Rowell.[3]

References
  1. "Farquhar, Mount". ListsOfJohn.com. Retrieved 2001-05-31.
  2. "Mount Farquhar". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2009-09-06.
  3. Secor, R.J. (2009). The High Sierra Peaks, Passes, and Trails (3rd ed.). Seattle: The Mountaineers. p. 136–137. ISBN 978-0898869712.
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