CHAPTER XIV 

 THE SIERRA NEVADA RANGE 



One of the outstanding mountain ranges of the United 

 States, and indeed of the world, is the Sierra Nevada Range. 

 It embraces the entire eastern portion of the State of Califor- 

 nia. It dominates the State of California, and indeed the 

 western United States. It is a single unbroken mountain 

 range, comparable in size to a mountain system. It is nearly 

 as extensive as the French, Swiss, and Italian Alps combined. 

 It extends from the Tehachapi Pass on the south to the vicinity 

 of Lassen Peak on the north, a distance of 430 miles, and varies 

 in width from 40 to 80 miles. 



Highest Mountain Range in United States 



In height the Sierra Nevada outranks all other mountain 

 ranges in the United States outside of Alaska. Mount Whit- 

 ney, in the southern portion of the range, is the highest point 

 in the United States. Many summits of the Rocky Mountains 

 stand at heights of 14,000 feet or more, nearly as high as Mount 

 Whitney, but the Great Plains stand at an altitude of about 

 5,000 feet at the foothills, and the high peaks of the Rockies 

 are thus about 9,000 feet above their bases. The Sierra 

 Nevada stands 11,000 feet above Owens Valley on the east, and 

 14,000 feet above the Great Valley of California on the west. 



The peaks of the northern part of the Sierra Range reach 

 altitudes of above 7,000 feet, but increase in height toward the 

 south. Lassen Peak reaches an altitude of 10,453 feet; Crater 

 Peak, a few miles to the north of Lassen Peak, 8,724 feet; Butte 

 Mountain to the south, 7,831 feet. In the vicinity of Lake 

 Tahoe, northeast of Sacramento, the peaks of the main crest of 

 the range reach heights of 9, 000 to 10,000 feet; in the Yosemite 

 National Park, 12, 000 to 13, 000 feet; and Mount Whitney, the 



