Mount Gray (Vermilion Range)

Mount Gray is a 2,886-metre (9,469-foot) mountain summit located on the western border of Kootenay National Park in the Vermilion Range, which is a sub-range of the Canadian Rockies in British Columbia, Canada. Its nearest higher peak is Tumbling Peak, 3.1 km (1.9 mi) to the southeast.[1] The mountain is part of what is known as the Rockwall which is an escarpment of the Vermilion Range. The Rockwall Trail is a scenic 55 kilometre (34 mile) traverse of alpine passes, subalpine meadows, hanging glaciers, and limestone cliffs, in some places in excess of 900 m (2,953 ft) above the trail.[4]

Mount Gray
Mount Gray seen from Rockwall Pass
Highest point
Elevation2,886 m (9,469 ft) [1]
Prominence136 m (446 ft) [1]
Parent peakTumbling Peak (3145  m)[1]
ListingMountains of British Columbia
Coordinates51°07′46″N 116°15′47″W [2]
Geography
Mount Gray
Location of Mount Gray in British Columbia
Mount Gray
Mount Gray (Canada)
LocationKootenay National Park
British Columbia, Canada
Parent rangeVermilion Range
Canadian Rockies
Topo mapNTS 82N01
Geology
Age of rockCambrian[3]
Type of rockOttertail Limestone[3]

Geology

Mount Gray is composed of Ottertail limestone, a sedimentary rock laid down during the Cambrian period and pushed east and over the top of younger rock during the Laramide orogeny.[5]

History

"Mount Cambria" or "Cambria Peak" were names originally proposed in 1918 for the mountain by Charles Doolittle Walcott because it was formed entirely of Cambrian rocks.[6] However, the mountain's name was officially adopted in 1924 by the Geographical Names Board of Canada to honor William J. Gray, a University of British Columbia student and founding member of the British Columbia Mountaineering Club who drowned in the Kootenay River on July 10, 1917, along with Charles Wales Drysdale when their raft capsized and both were swept away while working on a geologic field survey.[2] [7][6] Mount Drysdale and Mount Gray form the buttresses on opposite sides of Wolverine Pass.

Climate
Mount Gray seen from Tumbling Creek Trail

Based on the Köppen climate classification, Mount Gray is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold, snowy winters, and mild summers.[8] Temperatures can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains east into tributaries of the Vermilion River, or west into tributaries of the Beaverfoot River.

References
  1. "Mount Gray". Bivouac.com. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  2. "Mount Gray". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2019-03-16.
  3. Baird, David M. (1964). Kootenay National Park: Wild mountains and great valleys (PDF) (Report). Geological Survey of Canada. Miscellaneous Report 9. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  4. "Backpacking - Kootenay National Park". pc.gc.ca. Parks Canada. 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  5. Gadd, Ben (2008). Geology of the Rocky Mountains and Columbias.
  6. "Mount Gray". BC Geographical Names. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  7. "Mount Gray". PeakFinder.com. Retrieved 2020-01-06.
  8. Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11: 1633–1644. ISSN 1027-5606.
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