Mount Stratus

Mount Stratus
Mount Stratus
	Northeast aspect of Mount Stratus at upper left; (Mount Nimbus to the right)
Highest point
Elevation	12,534 ft (3,820 m)
Prominence	139 ft (42 m)
Parent peak	Mount Nimbus (12,721 ft)
Isolation	0.44 mi (0.71 km)
Coordinates	40°23′25″N 105°54′13″W / 40.3902062°N 105.9035290°W
Naming
Etymology	Stratus cloud
Geography
	Mount Stratus Location in Colorado Mount Stratus Mount Stratus (the United States)
Country	United States
State	Colorado
County	Grand County
Protected area	Rocky Mountain National Park; Never Summer Wilderness
Parent range	Rocky Mountains; Never Summer Mountains
Topo map	USGS Mount Richthofen
Geology
Rock type(s)	Biotite Gneiss and Schist
Climbing
Easiest route	class 2 West slope or North ridge

Mount Stratus is a 12,534-foot-elevation (3,820-meter) mountain summit in Grand County, Colorado, United States.

Description

Mount Stratus is the ninth-highest peak of the Never Summer Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains.^[6] The mountain is situated on the western boundary of Rocky Mountain National Park and is visible from Trail Ridge Road within the park. The west side of the peak is in the Never Summer Wilderness which is managed by Arapaho National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain's slopes drains into tributaries of the Colorado River except for a portion which is diverted by the Grand Ditch. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,600 feet (1,100 meters) above the Kawuneeche Valley in 2.5 miles (4.0 km) and 1,700 feet (520 meters) above Baker Gulch in three-quarters of a mile. An ascent of the peak involves hiking 12.8 miles (20.6 km) round-trip with 3,555 feet (1,084 m) of elevation gain.^[7]

Etymology

The mountain's toponym has been officially adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names.^[2]^[8] In 1914, James Grafton Rogers named Mount Cirrus, Mount Nimbus, and Mount Cumulus for different types of common clouds, but he did not name Mt. Stratus, it was added later.^[9]

Climate

According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Stratus is located in an alpine subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and cool to warm summers.^[10] Due to its altitude, it receives precipitation all year, as snow in winter, and as thunderstorms in summer, with a dry period in late spring.

Gallery

Green Knoll (left), Mount Stratus (center), Mount Nimbus (right).
Green Knoll (left), Mount Stratus (center), Mount Nimbus (right)
Baker Mountain (left), Mount Stratus (center), Green Knoll (right)
Mt. Stratus (left), Mt. Nimbus, and Mt. Cumulus (right)
Never Summer Mountains viewed from Trail Ridge Road. Left to rightːMt. Stratus, Mt. Nimbus, Mt. Cumulus (centered), Howard Mountain, Mt. Cirrus

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Stratus, Mount - 12,534' CO". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Mount Stratus". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
^ "Mount Stratus, Colorado". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
^ Geologic map of the Mount Richthofen quadrangle and the western part of the Fall River Pass quadrangle, Grand and Jackson Counties, Colorado, J.M. O'Neill, U.S. Geological Survey, 1981.
^ Lisa Foster (2005), Rocky Mountain National Park: The Complete Hiking Guide, Westcliffe Publishers, ISBN 9781565795501, p. 343.
^ "Mount Stratus, Peakvisor.com". Retrieved May 8, 2023.
^ Alan Apt, Kay Turnbaugh (2015), Afoot and Afield: Denver, Boulder, Fort Collins, and Rocky Mountain National Park, Wilderness Press, ISBN 9780899977553, p. 230.
^ Decisions of the United States Geographic Board No. 27, (June 30, 1932), US Government Printing Office, p. 6.
^ James Dziezynski (2012), Best Summit Hikes in Colorado, AdventureKEEN, ISBN 9780899977126, p. 82.
^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN 1027-5606.