Wasatch Range

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The Wasatch Range is a mountain range that stretches about 160 miles from the Utah- Idaho border, south through central Utah in the western United States. It is generally considered the western edge of the greater Rocky Mountains, and the eastern edge of the Great Basin region.<ref name="Hiking">Hiking the Wasatch, John Veranth, 1988, Salt Lake City.</ref> The northern extension of the Wasatch Range, the Bear River Mountains, extends just into Idaho, constituting all of the Wasatch Range in that state.

Opinions vary on the origin of the name Wasatch. In Southern Paiutes: Legends, Lore, Language and Lineage, author LaVan Martineau recounts the origins of Wasatch told to him by Utes he interviewed:

"The Utes told me what the word 'Wasatch' means. They said that one time many Indians lived there between Heber and Provo. One day the men were out hunting when a big blizzard came up and they lost one of the hunters. When they found him he was dead and his penis was frozen stiff. They therefore called the place Wuhu' Seai Frozen Penis. Francis McKinley, a Ute Indian Chief, tells the same story." <ref>Martineau, Lavan (June 1992). Southern Paiutes: Legends, Lore, Language and Lineage. Kc Publishing, p.186. ISBN 088714070X.</ref>

Since the earliest days of settlement, the majority of Utah's population has chosen to settle along the range's western front, where numerous river drainages exit the mountains. The mountains were a vital source of water, timber, and granite for early settlers. Today, eighty-five percent of Utah's population lives within 15 miles of the Wasatch range. This concentration is commonly known as the Wasatch Front urban area and has a population of just over 2,000,000 residents. Salt Lake City lies between the Wasatch Range and the Great Salt Lake.

At 11,928 ft (3,636 m), Mount Nebo, a triple peak rising above Nephi, Utah, at the southern end of the range, where it forms the south end of the Rockies in Utah, is the highest peak of the Wasatch. In many places the mountains rise immediately from the valley's base elevation of 4,330 feet (1,320 m) to well over 11,752 feet (3,582 m), producing steep inclines. This sharp "local relief" has reminded some mountain-lovers of the similar quick rise upward of the Tetons, 250 miles north of the Wasatch in Wyoming. Other notable peaks include Mount Timpanogos, a massive peak which looms over Provo, Utah; Lone Peak, Mount Olympus, the Twin Peaks, which overlook Salt Lake City; and Ben Lomond just north of Ogden, Utah.

Since they top out just below 12,000 feet, Wasatch peaks are not especially high compared to the Colorado Rockies, and even the Uinta Mountains, the other main portion of the Rocky Mountains in Utah. Yet they are sculpted by glaciers, yielding notably rugged, sweeping upland scenery comparing well with other prominent ranges of western North America. They also receive heavy falls of snow, in many places over 500 inches a year. This great snowfall, with its runoff, made possible the Mormon success story here, leading to a prosperous urban strip of some 25 cities along nearly 100 miles of mountain frontage. Many ski areas in the Wasatch take advantage of the snowfall, including Alta, Snowbird, Brighton, Solitude, and Sundance. Due to low relative humidity in wintertime, along with the added lake effect from the Great Salt Lake, the snow has a dry, powdery texture which most of the local ski resorts market as "the greatest snow on earth!", perhaps only a mild overstatement. The 2002 Winter Olympic Games made especially good use of this high quality snow.

Several of the Wasatch canyons in the Lone Peak area, most notably Little Cottonwood Canyon, have a number of high-quality granite outcroppings, and make up a popular climbing area. Further north, Big Cottonwood Canyon features tricky climbing on quartzite.

The densely-vegetated narrow canyons of the Wasatch Range such as Big Cottonwood Canyon and Little Cottonwood Canyon are heavily visited; on September 25, 2005, 1,200 automobiles entered Little Cottonwood within one hour<ref>[Fall a perfect time to explore Utah's canyons Tiffany Sadler. The Salt Lake Tribune. Salt Lake City, Utah: Oct 5, 2006.]</ref>. The canyons are located within 24 miles from downtown Salt Lake City and the year-round paved roadways can reach 5,000 ft. higher in elevation above the city's 4,000 ft, within that same short distance. Dirt roads readily drivable in passenger cars with moderate clearance stretch up from Park City, Heber, and Big Cottonwood Canyon. These reach about 10,000 feet above sea level and provide impressive long-range high country views.

[edit] Geology & Natural History

Mount Nebo, highest peak of the Wasatch, forms the range's southern end (terminus). Here the Rocky Mountain topographic or geological province ends, met by two other huge topographic provinces which cover the rest of the state of Utah and extend into adjoining states. The Colorado Plateau comes to its northwest corner here as it meets the southern end of the Utah Rockies. Immediately west of these two, the Basin and Range province begins,<ref name="Hiking"/>. and stretches westward across Utah and Nevada until it reaches the Reno-Lake Tahoe region, where the Great Basin ends and the Sierra Nevada Mountains begin.

[edit] References

<references />

• Geology of Utah, William Lee Stokes, Utah Museum of Natural History, Salt Lake City, 1986.

• Wasatch Quartzite, John Gottman, Salt Lake City, 1979.

• Wasatch Tours, Alexis Kelner & Dave Hanscom, Wasatch Publishers, Salt Lake City, 1976.

• Flora of the Central Wasatch Front, Utah. L. Arnow, B. Albee, & A Wycoff, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, 1980.

[edit] External links

• Directions on Hiking many Wasatch front peaks
• Aerial view of Wasatch Mountain Range

[edit] Images

Wasatch Mountains from space in the fall. Draper is along the west and Lone Peak casts its shadow in the upper right.

View of the Wasatch Range from the Jordan Campus of Salt Lake Community College.

A view of the Wasatch Mountains from a Sandy, Utah neighborhood.

An area in the Wasatch Mountains on the Bountiful-Farmington Loop Road Scenic Backway.

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