Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Mt. Morgenson - September 27, 2006

We are treating this topic like the weather -- all talking about it but not doing anything. As with most any project, we need someone to take ownership of it and "git 'r done."

Having thus spoken, I must say that I am not a candidate. I am too far removed from the area, its people, and the activity, and not familiar with the naming process. Who is Judith Wood of Visalia, the original proponent to the Board on Geographic Names? What about someone from the Park Service?

It seems we all agree on one thing: The peak should be named Mount Morgenson. Whether the dedication or plaque recognises Randy, he and Dana, all the backcountry rangers (my preference), or whatever can be decided after the name is established.

Any volunteers for the point person on this? Can we railroad someone?

Steve L

Steve, we do NOT all agree that the mountain should be so named.

I was on the verge of writing to the BGN yesterday to PROTEST the naming of the peak, but stopped, as I really am not sure what I feel about this. At least for me, I'm discussing this to take a look at this from others' perspectives, and to test the various points about it. I'm certainly not decided.

Interesting idea! (By the way NICE pictures -- cool to see that country in the winter!) My in-laws took some beautiful pictures of Yosemite years ago on a Dana Morgensen-led trip (don't think I ever managed to go on one).

Ken, your point is well taken. I believe your objection concerns whether RM would have wanted it. I certainly don't know the man well enough to say. In fact, I don't know him at all. Most people of a selfless bent would blanch at the thought of having something named after him/her. Would John Muir approve of the trail name or Ansel Adams the wilderness?

However, the pot has been stirred; the peak, now discovered, will probably be named. I would prefer it to honor RM and all backcountry rangers than the third cousin (once removed) of the President whose only contribution might have been a beer can tossed in the Whitney Portal parking lot.

Perhaps there is a way of getting more input, pro or con, on the issue.

Heck, maybe just call a peak whatever you feel like calling it and things may just naturally work out. For example, there wasn't any government agency involved in naming the Ebersbacher Ledges and that name stuck pretty well.

The government doesn't seem to be in any rush to name any of those peaks. When was the last peak in the Sierra named? Was it when Day Needle was renamed Crooks Peak in 1991? Or maybe something more recent? Anyone? And how often have they been named in the last 50 years or so? Anyone? I don't know. Just asking.

Maybe we'll see some trip reports referring to Mt. Morgenson and Mt. Heller.

Randy Morgenson:

I looked into BGN's database for California peaks above 10,000'. Here are the ones that were officially named since 1975.

2002 - Mt. Marsh (13510') - Mt. Whitney region - "Named for Gustave F Marsh (1869-1946), under whose leadership the projects to build a trail to the top of Mount Whitney and to construct a shelter on its summit were completed in 1904 and 1909, respectively."

1991 - Hawksbeak Peak (11106') - In Yosemite National Park

1990 - White Wing Mountain (10006') - Near June Mountain

1990 - Centennial Peak (13209') - On the Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park boundary - "Named to commemorate the one-hundreth anniversary of Sequoia National Park."

1990 - Crooks Peak (14199') (formerly called Day Needle) - Near Mt. Whitney - "Named by an Act of Congress in 1990 in honor of Hulda Crooks (1896-1997), who climbed the summit at the age of 91."

1989 - Mount Farquhar (12697') - In King's Canyon National Park - "Named for Francis P Farquhar (1887-1974), conservationist, writer, and former Sierra Club director and was instrumental in the creation of Kings Canyon National Park."

1989 - Newton Drury Peak (10177') - In San Jacinto Mountains - "Named for Newton B Drury (1889-1978), former member of the California Department. of Parks & Recreation, who was instrumental in the establishment of Mount San Jacinto State Park."

1987 - Mono Jim Peak (10669') - In Sierra Nevada near Convict Lake - "Named for Mono Jim, a Paiute guide, who along with Robert Morrison, was killed near Convict Lake in 1871 during a gun fight with escaped convicts from Nevada State Penitentiary."

1985 - Mount Anna Mills (12054') - In Sequoia National Park - "Named for Anna Mills Johnston (?-1921), teacher, who in 1878 was one of the first women to climb Mount Whitney."

1985 - Polemonium Peak (13957') - In King's Canyon National Park - "Named for the Polemonium eximium skypilot (plant) found in the area."

1984 - Mount Ansel Adams (11709') - In Yosemite National Park - "Named for Ansel Easton Adams (1902-1984), preeminent landscape photographer, conservationist, teacher, and Diretor of the Sierra Club for 37 years."

1982 - Mount Ian Campbell (10623') - Between Kings Canyon National Park and Yosemite National Park - "Named for Dr. Ian Campbell (1899-1978), Chief of the California Division of Mines and Geology, State Geologist, and the first Chairman of the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names. Dr. Campbell preformed geologic investigations on the peak and the surrounding area. "

1980 - Hengst Peak (11128) - In Sequoia National Park - "Named for Albert Alfred Hengst (1868-1944), Three Rivers business and civic leader, conservationist, and pioneer trail builder, who in 1905 began transplanting golden trout from the east slope streams of the Sierra Nevaada to the barren west slope streams and lakes."

1978 - Mount Julius Caesar (13195') - Just north of Kings Canyon National Park

1978 - Munger Peak (11968) - In Kings Canyon National Park - "Named for Maynard Munger (1902-1972), local civic, and business leader, who was instrumental in protecting and preserving Kings Canyon, Sequoia, and Yosemite National Parks."

1976 - Red Top Mountain (10522') - Near Mammoth Mountain

1976 - Lawson Peak (13120') - In Sequoia National Park - "Proposed in 1976 to commemorate Andrew C Lawson (1861-1952), Professor of Geology at the University of California at Berkeley. "

1975 - Night Cap Peak (10528') - Just north of Yosemite National Park

1975 - Molo Mountain (10833') - Just North of Yosemite National Park - "Name is reported to be an Indian term meaning 'high place' or 'very high place'."

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BTW, Mt. Whitney's date of naming by the BGN is 1891 and is the first named California summit in their records, possibly the first overall but I'm not sure. (The BGN was created in 1890.)

In 1965, the year that Winston Churchill died, a request was made to change the name of Mt. Whitney to Mt. Churchill and the request was denied by the BGN. (Churchill Portal Store!?) However, the two peaks on top of Mt. McKinley, called North Peak and South Peak, were collectively named the Churchill Peaks in 1965 by the BGN.
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Mt. Whitney was first climbed in 1873 by three fishermen from Lone Pine: Charles Begole, A. H. Johnson, and John Lucas. It was named Fishermen's Peak for awhile. Charles Begole is buried in the Pioneer Cemetery in Lone Pine.

If they named a 13,000 foot mountain after Julius Ceasar, what exactly is the problem with Mt. Morgenson and Mt. Carl Heller?

Just to help make Heller a little more real to you, last year he was designated a Distinguished Alumnus at his high school in New Rochelle, NY. He joins a short list of such luminaries as Elia Kazan, Henry Heimlich, Jerome Kohlberg, Louis Rukeyser, and Kenneth Blanchard, to name a few. See more at http://www.answers.com/topic/new-rochelle-high-school.

The plaque is kind of hard to read; the lines are DISTINGUISHED ALUMNUS AWARD / DR. CARL A. HELLER / CLASS OF 1940 / CHEMIST / HUMANITARIAN / MOUNTAINEER / MOUNT CARL HELLER.

I was lucky to be in a position to memorialize him at CLMRG's 40th anniversary celebration. You can read about it in our newsletter of the day: http://www.clmrg.org/taluspile/TPNov98.html

The picture of him on the right is from our climb of Mt. Waddington in 1975. He died of cancer on 3 January 1984, at the age of 61.

http://tinyurl.com/3wo32h

Scroll down the page a ways for diappointing news if you're a supporter of this.

See page 7 of this: http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/minutes/DNCApr08Minutes.pdf

Posting the text here:

From Minutes, U.S. Board on Geographic Names, Domestic Names Committee, April 10, 2008

Mount Morgenson, California
(Sequoia National Park/ Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness)

topozone link

This proposal is to make official the name Mount Morgenson for a 4,245 m (13,927 ft) summit located in Sequoia National Park/Sequoia-Kings Canyon Wilderness, 1.6 km (1 mi) northwest of Mount Whitney. It is intended to honor Randy Morgenson (1942-1996), who according to an online biography, “was raised in Yosemite Valley where his father worked for the Curry Company. As a boy during the 1950’s, Randy played in the meadows of Yosemite Valley much the same way city kids played in urban parks. Weekends were spent exploring the high country with his brother and father, learning the natural history of the Sierra. Growing up, Morgenson knew Wallace Stegner, Ansel Adams and other Yosemite notables. Stegner coached the young writer on how to prepare his work for publication. Adams gave Randy one of his first cameras. His love of the high mountains secure, Morgenson joined the Peace Corps, wanting to climb in the Himalaya Mountains. After three years away he returned to California, realizing the Sierra Nevada offered everything he would ever need.”

Morgenson became a seasonal employee of the National Park Service, where he worked as a backcountry ranger. In July 1996, he disappeared while on a solo expedition into the backcountry, and despite an extensive search effort, he could not be located. His remains and some personal effects were not discovered until five years later. The proponent reports that some rangers and visitors to Mount Whitney have begun to refer to the unnamed summit as Mount Morgensen, and a summit register now reads, “Randy Morgenson, as a Wilderness Ranger in this park, spent more time in the Sierras than John Muir himself, and has touched countless lives.” A book detailing Morgenson’s life, his final days, and the subsequent search effort, was published in 2005.

The National Park Service does not support the proposal, stating “[We are] unable to support the proposal to name a feature within Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks wilderness “Mount Morgenson.” Ranger Morgenson was highly regarded and served the public admirably, and has previously been recognized and honored in several other ways. However, we cannot offer a compelling reason for the Board to waive its policy against naming features in wilderness.” The Tulare County Board of Supervisors and the California Advisory Committee on Geographic Names also do not endorse the proposal, both citing the wilderness policy and the objections of the National Park Service. A copy of the proposal was sent to the following Federallyrecognized Tribes, but no response was received, which is presumed to indicate a lack of an opinion on the issue: the Big Sandy Rancheria; the Bishop Paiute Tribe of Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community of the Bishop Colony; the Fort Independence Indian Community of Paiute Indians of the Fort Independence Reservation; the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Lone Pine Reservation; the North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians; the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians; and the Tule River Indian Tribe of the Tule River Reservation.

Interesting reading - just picked up a copy of "The Last Season".

Love the winter photos versus the recent Sept photos. I would really like to do some CC skiing there.

with no sidetrip to Carillon or Russell - our trio has just crested the Russell-Carillon ridge and are decending to Tule-Inyo Lake - looks like a good weekend for some named unnamed peaks.

Who is he hiking with?

Just for reference, Richard's SPOT tracking page is here.

It is great fun watching their progress. If anyone is interested, when you click on the page, you should click and drag the map so you can see the Whitney area. Then zoom in -- use the scale on the upper left, or even better: double-click near the latest tracking location. Double-click repeatedly until the latest tracking locations begin to move apart.

And finally, click on the terrain (upper right corner) to convert to a shaded relief map.

Cool. Glad they're getting good weather.
I feel like a voyeur. sort of.

I learned from Claude Fiddler via a friend that "Constitution Peak" was the name Norman Clyde gave to Peak 13,920+ on the occasion of his first ascent of it in 1927. He wrote this in the summit register he left there.

As a further side note, BGN basically turned down naming a peak (on the Inyo, but just outside Yosemite) after Dr. Carl Sharsmith -- a long time ranger-naturalist in Yosemite (ca. 1935 to 1995) as well as a distinguished alpine botanist. That had a pretty well organized effort behind it but was unable to convince BGN to change their newer policy on named peaks in wilderness areas. (I didn't realize there was a Mt. Marsh as late as 2002...).

Incidentally, I was with Sharsmith once and he pointed to the big peak just east of Tuolumne Meadows (Mammoth Peak) and said he and Ansel Adams joked about it being renamed after the first one who died. Adams went first and got a peak south of Forester in Yosemite. It appears Carl lived a little too long.

Although I'd like to see "Mt. Morgenson" come into local use just to give some level of deserved recognition to a fellow low-level grunt, none of us backcountry types are especially pushing it. I do appreciate it maintaining some local life & recognition here. So thanks!

George

I appreciate your logical and informed approach to this issue, George.

It's the Grand Finale for the Sierra Challenge...

http://www.snwburd.com/bob/challenge/2010/peaks/morgensen

Hey Richard:

Who knew? That's very cool! Randy might even have appreciated it, moody curmudgeon that he sometimes was (but certainly with a sense of humor to find the whole thing a little surreal).

Thanks for posting that. I'll pass it on to the gang.

g.

It would be nice to have Rob join us on the summit.

The way that the registers have been disappearing off of the mountain, I'm curious to see whether the new ammo can I put up there a couple of years ago is still there.