Buck Mountain, Wyoming

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Buck Mountain
Buck Mountain from the east, from the Teton Point Turnout.

Buck Mountain from the east, from the Teton Point Turnout.

height 3639  m
location Teton County , Wyoming , USA
Mountains Southern Teton Range , Rocky Mountains
Notch height 396 m
Coordinates 43 ° 41 '22 "  N , 110 ° 49' 8"  W Coordinates: 43 ° 41 '22 "  N , 110 ° 49' 8"  W.
Buck Mountain (Wyoming) (Wyoming)
Buck Mountain, Wyoming
First ascent August 21, 1898 by Thomas M. Bannon and George A. Buck
Normal way East flank ( Class 3 in the Yosemite Decimal System )
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The Buck Mountain ( 3639  m ) is a mountain in the Teton Range in the Rocky Mountains . It is the highest mountain in the Teton Range south of Garnett Canyon and can be easily seen from almost all vantage points in the Jackson Hole Valley . It is located in Teton County in the state of Wyoming and the peak is located within the Grand Teton National Park .

Location and surroundings

Buck Mountain is located in the main ridge of the Teton Range about six kilometers south of Grand Teton ( 4199  m ), the main summit of this mountain range. South of Buck Mountain is Death Canyon , a deeply carved, glacial valley that extends west from Phelps Lake , a lake about three miles southeast of the mountain. Buck Mountain is flanked by Static Peak ( 3445  m ) and Albright Peak ( 3216  m ) in the south and by Peak 10696 ( 3260  m ) in the east, which gives the mountain a massive appearance when viewed from Jackson Hole. About one kilometer southeast of the mountain, at an altitude of 3,143  m, is nestled between Buck Mountain, Static Peak Peak 10696, the Timberline Lake , a small lake that usually does not completely thaw, even in summer.

The summit sends ridges to the west, southeast, and east. In the west ridge, in addition to the West Summit near the main summit, the West Peak (about 3536  m ), separated by a clearer notch, rises up . The southeast ridge connects Buck Mountain with Static Peak. The east ridge runs above the steep north face. This is divided by further couloirs and ridges.

The border of Grand Teton National Park runs through the west side of the mountain, to the east of which is the Jedediah Smith Wilderness , which is part of the Caribou-Targhee National Forest .

  • On the east ridge of Buck Mountain, with Peak 10696 in the background

  • Timberline Lake from the northeast in August 2017

  • Buck Mountain from the southeast, Static Peak to the left, Peak 10696 to the right

  • View from the summit over Jackson Hole

geology

Like the other high peaks of the Teton Range further north up to the Cascade Canyon , Buck Mountain is made up of a complex, fine-grained, bright granodiorite and coarse-grained pegmatite , which are mainly composed of biotite and muscovite . The mountain gave its name to the Buck Mountain Fault , a postponement on the west side of the high peaks of the Teton Range, where Precambrian gneiss and intrusive rocks in the east are pushed over younger, Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in the west. This fault begins near Mount Moran and extends all the way to Buck Mountain, where it bends east and runs through the south face of the mountain. It is a zone of variable deformation that includes areas of extreme brecciation characterized by orange to yellow coloring. Immediately west of Buck Mountain, within this fault zone, there is a single, contiguous breccia zone that is 30 to 90 meters wide.

Alpinism

Eastern flank from the beginning of the east ridge

The main summit was climbed for the first time on August 21, 1898 by topographer Thomas M. Bannon and his assistant George A. Buck, ten days after William O. Owen and his group achieved the first secure ascent of Grand Teton . On the summit of Buck Mountain, Bannon and Buck erected a stone man , which was to serve as a triangulation point and was called "Buck Station", named after Bannon's assistant. Bannon and Buck climbed Buck Mountain through the east flank, today's normal route .

A significant first ascent of a new route on Buck Mountain in 1940 was the ascent of the north face through the West Couloir . Paul Petzoldt and Elizabeth Cowles Partridge managed to climb the right of the two distinctive, steep couloirs on the north face. The difficulty of this route is given as 5.7 in the Yosemite Decimal System . In the period after the Second World War , the number of climbers in the Teton Range increased significantly and other new routes were opened up, including in particular the first ascent of the north-northwest ridge in July 1954 by Richard Emerson and Donald Decker. Further routes through the north face were also first climbed in the 1990s.

The usual starting point for the North Malweg is the Death Canyon Trailhead , the starting point of the hiking trail through Death Canyon . This hiking trail is used until shortly before the third wooden bridge, a few meters before this bridge a clear path branches off to the right. This path leads through the forest, over a meadow and after crossing two small streams into the valley of the Steward Draw . First of all, the path continues in the valley slopes on the left. At a large boulder, at the point where the path directly reaches the bank of the stream for the first time, you cross it. The path continues on the right side of the stream, climbing the northeast slope of the stream. Finally, flatter again, you reach a basin below the steep face southeast of Timberline Lake. Here the path initially leads north through steep block terrain, later you cross west as soon as the steepness of the terrain allows it and thus reaches the east side of Timberline Lake.

The steep section of the eastern flank of Buck Mountain is bypassed on the right-hand side on a clear path through a channel north of Timberline Lake. After about 50 meters above the lake, well before reaching the east ridge, you turn west and traverse through the east flank of the mountain. The summit is reached via blocks, steep rubble and snow fields, which make it necessary to bring crampons and ice ax with you, especially in early summer. It takes 6 to 7 hours from the starting point to the summit.

Other east-facing routes are also possible from Timberline Lake, in particular the route over the very exposed east ridge, which is significantly more difficult than the route through the east flank, especially if you don't go to the east flank in the upper part.

In spring, the route through the eastern flank is also a popular ski tour. The first ski run from Buck Mountain was made in May 1961 by Barry Corbet with two guests.

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Panorama from the summit from west to north

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i Leigh N. Ortenburger, Reynold G. Jackson: A Climber's Guide to the Teton Range. Third Edition, The Mountaineers Books, Seattle 1996, ISBN 0-89886-480-1 , pp. 102-112.
  2. ↑ a b c d Buck Mountain at summitpost.org. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  3. ↑ Parameter error IDmust be a number
  4. ↑ Buck Mountain at listsofjohn.com. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  5. ↑ a b National Geographic Maps (1993). Trails Illustrated. Grand Teton (202) [map], Revised 2008, 1: 31.680. ISBN 1-56695-437-1 .
  6. ↑ Timberline Lake ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved September 17, 2017.
  7. ^ John C. Reed (Jr.): Precambrian rocks. In: Geological Survey Professional Paper 516-E. A Geophysical Study in Grand Teton National Park and Vicinity, Teton County, Wyoming. USGS, 1968 ( online ).
  8. ^ Daniel Joseph Smith: Structural geology and history of the Buck Mountain fault and adjacent intra-range faults, Teton Range, Wyoming. Montana State University, Bozeman 1991 ( online ).
  9. ^ Reynold G. Jackson: Park of the Matterhorns. In: A Place Called Jackson Hole. A Historic Resource Study of Grand Teton National Park. Grand Teton Natural History Association, Moose 1999.
  10. ^ Buck Mountain, WY at skiingmag.com. Retrieved September 20, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Buck Mountain  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files