Mount Hood (California)

Coordinates: 38°27′36″N 122°33′12″W / 38.4599°N 122.55343°W / 38.4599; -122.55343
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about a mountain in California. For the Oregon mountain, see Mount Hood.

Mount Hood
Mount Hood viewed from Sonoma Valley
Highest point
Elevation2,733 ft (833 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence1,970 ft (600 m)[2]
Coordinates38°27′36″N 122°33′12″W / 38.4599°N 122.55343°W / 38.4599; -122.55343[1]
Geography
LocationSonoma County, California, U.S.
Parent rangeMayacamas Mountains
Topo mapUSGS Kenwood
Climbing
Easiest routeTrail

Mount Hood, also known as Hood Mountain is a mountain near the southeastern edge of

Sierra Nevada Range."[4]

Area setting

View from Mount Hood looking west with chaparral in foreground.

Mount Hood is most easily accessed via State Route 12, which runs along the

bottomland of the Sonoma Valley and connects the town of Sonoma to the city of Santa Rosa. Closest viewing areas of Mount Hood from the valley floor are from the village of Kenwood, from the intersection of State Route 12 with Pythian Road, and from the community of Oakmont, the easternmost neighborhood of Santa Rosa. From these viewing locations a volcanic rocky outcrop near the peak of Mount Hood, also known as Gunsight Point, is prominent on the Mayacmas ridgeline, along with Bald Mountain, within Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
, itself located approximately three miles east.

Mount Hood is also visible from the floor of the

Sierra Nevada Mountains
.

Geology and hydrology

Hood Creek with flowing water late in the dry season.

The base of Mount Hood consists of soils of the Goulding-Toomes-Guenoc association, which are well-drained gently to very steep loams and clay-loams situated upon upland formations. The upper reaches consist of the Kidd-Forward-Cohasset association, which group ranges from well-drained to excessively drained moderate to very steep gravelly and stony loams.[5] Specific soil map patches on the upper slopes include Boomer loam on some 15 to 30 percent slopes; Goulding cobbly clay loam on 15 to 30 percent slopes; Henneke gravelly loam on some 5 to 30 percent slopes; Henneke gravelly loam on 30 to 75 percent slopes; and rock land on 15 to 75 percent slopes.

Considering the steepness of much of the terrain there is a remarkable lack of erosion, primarily because human access has been historically low, and vegetative cover has been kept intact. The headwaters of Santa Rosa Creek rise on the northern slopes of Mount Hood, whereas the central and eastern portions of the mountain contribute to the watershed of Sonoma Creek which rises in the Sugarloaf area. Hood Creek and Graywood Creek, draining portions of Mount Hood, are smaller tributaries that feed Sonoma Creek.[6] Precipitation amounts to approximately 30 inches (76.2 cm) per annum on Mount Hood.

Ecology

There are several distinct habitats[7] in the Mount Hood area including:

In addition there is a specialized habitat on the upper western face consisting of extensive rock outcrops, which can be considered a variant of the chaparral habitat with small forest pockets.

Pygmy forest on northwest slope of Mount Hood. Note darker vegetation in upper right is a mixed oak woodland
, of canopy height about 120 feet (37 m).

The mixed oak woodland habitat dominates the lower elevations with

Pacific madrone
contributing to the canopy.

Chaparral areas are dominated by several varieties of

coyote brush
present in these exposed rocky thin soil habitats. Fire risk is naturally greatest in this ecosystem, and some evidence of fires are seen at an estimated age of twenty years past.

There are sizable pygmy forest areas on the west facing slopes and more level inner plateaus of Mount Hood. Here the predominant species are

Mendocino cypress
(Cupressus pygmaea), which would be far out of their native range here. The height of the pygmy forest is ten to fifteen feet (3 – 5 m) and these patches of relatively dense thickets extend for about a half to one and a half miles (one to two kilometers) in patch size.

The riparian zones tend to occur in deep heavily forested

scrub jay, woodpeckers and juncos
are apparent.

Mountain lions, bobcats and rattlesnakes
may be found throughout the area, with the snakes preferring west facing sun-exposed rocky slopes.

Hiking

Trails leading to the summit of Mount Hood begin at three locations:

Trails leading from the first two trailheads involve relatively direct climbs of about 2,000 vertical feet (610 m) to the

summit
, whereas trails from the Los Alamos Road trailhead take a longer route to the summit but involve about the same vertical rise.

The Goodspeed/Nattkemper Trail, which climbs to the summit from the Adobe Canyon Road trailhead, offers the most direct access to the summit and to Gunsight Rock, from which distant views to the south and west are available. From the Los Alamos Road trailhead, the Hood Mountain Trail descends to and crosses

pygmy forest
via the Panorama Ranch Trail.

There is no

potable water supplied within the Mount Hood area except at the parking lot at the Pythian Road trailhead. Limited overnight camping is available at two on-trail locations within the regional park. Dogs on leashes
are allowed within the park.

Name

The mountain is named after William Hood, a settler from Scotland who climbed the peak in 1846.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Hood Rm". NGS Data Sheet. National Geodetic Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, United States Department of Commerce. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  2. ^ "Mount Hood, California". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  3. ^ "Mount Hood". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved August 3, 2009.
  4. ^ Hiking for Bay Views: San Francisco Bay Area
  5. Soil Conservation Service
    , Government Printing Office, Washington DC, May 1972
  6. ^ Environmental Impact Report Sonoma Country Inn, County of Sonoma Permit and Resource Management Agency, November, 2004
  7. ^ Ecology of the southern Mayacmas Range, Lumina Technologies, Santa Rosa, Ca., May 11, 2005
  8. ^ Dawson, Arthur (December 29, 2014). "How Hood Mountain got its name". Press-Democrat. Santa Rosa, California. Retrieved January 2, 2015.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mount Hood (California).
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