Mount Moresby

Mount Moresby is the highest mountain (albeit somewhat low, at 3,819 ft [1,164 m]) of the Queen Charlotte Mountains, located 26 km (16 mi) south of Daajing Giids (formerly Queen Charlotte)[3] on Moresby Island in British Columbia, Canada.[1]

Not to be confused with Port Moresby.
Mount Moresby
Highest point
Elevation1,164 m (3,819 ft)[1]
Prominence1,164 m (3,819 ft)[1]
Listing
Coordinates53°01′09″N 132°05′08″W[2]
Geography
LocationMoresby Island, British Columbia, Canada
DistrictQueen Charlotte Land District
Parent rangeQueen Charlotte Mountains
Topo mapNTS 103F1 Skidegate Channel[2]

The mountain is located around 53 degrees N on Haida Gwaii (formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands).[1]

Geography

Mount Moresby is located on Moresby Island,[1] which is the more southern of the two main islands of Haida Gwaii.[4]

Nature

Mount Moresby has a wide range of climate sub-types and environments. The flatland around the mountain is at the seaside and have abundant birdlife (they are within a key migratory route). The lower slopes boast wind-sculpted cedar, pine and western hemlock forests, grading to sub-alpine moorland with stunted mountain hemlocks (and a subpolar mediterranean climate) on the higher slopes near the summit.[5]

The mountain and the sounds around it are home to abundant wildlife, such as black bears, whales, orcas, sea lions, and hundreds of thousands of seabirds.[5] There are also invasive Sitka black-tailed deer,[6] porpoises, dolphins, and tidal-zone animals in the area.

Haida Gwaii has four subpopulations of an endangered plant: Oxystegus recurvifolius, endemic to remote islands in the North Pacific. This plant only thrives in extreme oceanic, mediterranean, and maritime subpolar climates with ultra-high precipitation levels.[6]

Mount Moresby through some plant growths.

Climate

Mount Moresby has a borderline Cfc (subpolar oceanic) and Cfb (mid-latitude variant) climate. The average high in August is 62 F (17 C), and the average low in February and March is 34 F (1 C), showing extreme ocean moderation. Snow is somewhat common in the winter months (November to March), at 25 days per year on average, but usually doesn't fall in the warm season (May to September). The snowiest month of the year is January, averaging a week of measurable snow (>0.01 in).[7]

The winter-summer temperature swings of Mount Moresby are extremely oceanic compared to other places at similar latitudes (Goose Bay, Canada; Khabarovsk, Russia), as well as areas slightly farther south (Qiqihar, China; Augusta, Maine), even accounting for the somewhat high elevation.[7]

Climate data for Mount Moresby, Haida Gwaii, BC, Canada
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high (F, C) 52 (11) 51 (11) 57 (14) 62 (18) 67 (20) 75 (24) 77 (25) 75 (24) 72 (22) 64 (18) 58 (14) 52 (11) 77 (25)
Average high F, C) 41 (5) 42 (6) 43 (6) 47 (8) 52 (11) 56 (13) 60 (16) 62 (17) 58 (14) 51 (11) 45 (7) 42 (6) 50 (10)
Average low (F, C) 35 (2) 34 (1) 34 (1) 38 (3) 42 (6) 47 (8) 51 (11) 53 (12) 49 (9) 44 (7) 37 (3) 35 (2) 42 (6)
Record low (F, C) 4 (-16) 16 (-9) 16 (-9) 26 (-3) 31 (-1) 38 (3) 43 (6) 44 (7) 39 (4) 30 (-1) 18 (-8) 12 (-11) 4 (-16)
Average rainfall (in) 9.15 6.06 6.59 5.31 3.42 3.19 2.93 3.78 5.91 10.13 9.8 9.89 76.16
Average snowy days 7 4 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 5 25

Source: [7] (MSN)

Natives

There are indigenous Canadians (the Haida people) on Moresby Island. A village, called Daajing Giids, of 950 people exists near Mount Moresby.[3][8] The Haidas live in and around the Mount Moresby area in longhice.[8] In the colonial period, European whites did not take the Haidas' land, but they did steal their objects and reduce their numbers drastically (form 20-30,000 to 600 by 1899 due to disease), so as to weaken the Haidas' cultural traditions by the same order of magnitude as what happened to their numbers. However, they are now experiencing a vibrant cultural renaissance.[8]

Haida Gwaii was one of the first areas in what is now Canada to be settled after the last glacial maximum due to its relatively low elevations and its oceanic location, so as for it to be settled by Native Americans as early as 13,000 BCE, while the mainland was ice-covered until a little before 8,000 BCE.[9] As a result, the Haida are one of the oldest tracable civilizations.[8]

Climbing

March is the most suitable month to climb Mount Moresby.[10] There is a trail called Mount Moresby Trail that leads up to the summit.[11]

See also

References
  1. "Mount Moresby". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  2. "Mount Moresby". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
  3. Ministry of Municipal Affairs (July 13, 2022). "Ancestral Haida name restored to Haida Gwaii village". BC Gov News. Government of British Columbia. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  4. "Moresby Island".
  5. "Moresby Island wildlife location in Canada, North America | Wildlife Worldwide". www.wildlifeworldwide.com. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  6. Canada, Environment and Climate Change (2020-01-20). "Drooping-leaved Beard-moss (Oxystegus recurvifolius): COSEWIC assessment and status report 2019". www.canada.ca. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  7. "MSN". www.msn.com. Retrieved 2023-10-24.
  8. Haiken, Melanie (2020-02-06). "Visiting Haida Gwaii, Canada's most mysterious islands". CNN. Retrieved 2023-10-27.
  9. "7 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Haida Gwaii". outershores.ca. 2019-01-22. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
  10. "Mount Moresby".
  11. PeakVisor. "Mount Moresby". PeakVisor. Retrieved 2023-10-25.


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