Mount Blackburn

Mount Blackburn is a very tall mountain. It sits in Alaska. It is part of the Wrangell Mountains. This mountain is an old volcano.

A lot of ice covers the peak. This ice flows down to make big glaciers. These glaciers move over the land.

A woman named Dora Keen climbed it once. She was the first woman to climb an Alaskan peak.

The mountain has two high points. One side is the highest. For a long time, people thought the other side was higher.

It is a big and grand place to see.

Mount Blackburn is a very tall mountain in Alaska. It sits in the Wrangell Mountains. It is part of a huge area called Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. This is the largest national park in the United States.

This mountain is an old volcano. It is a shield volcano, which is a type of volcano. Most of the mountain is covered by ice. This ice feeds many big glaciers. One is the Kennicott Glacier. It flows southeast toward the town of McCarthy.

The mountain has two high points. The west peak is the highest point. For a long time, people thought the east peak was higher. A woman named Dora Keen climbed the east peak in 1912. She was the first woman to climb a peak in Alaska.

A group of climbers reached the true highest point in 1958. They climbed the North Ridge. They did not know they found the highest spot at first. They thought they were on the second highest point. Today, many people still use that same route to climb the mountain.

Mount Blackburn is a very grand mountain in Alaska. It sits inside the Wrangell Mountains. This peak is part of the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. That park is the largest one in the United States. The mountain is the highest peak in its mountain range. It is also the fifth-highest peak in the whole country. In North America, it ranks as the twelfth-highest peak. It is a very important part of the Alaskan landscape.

This mountain is actually an old shield volcano. A shield volcano is a type of volcano with a wide shape. Much of the mountain is covered by icefields and glaciers. These glaciers act like huge rivers of ice. The Kennicott Glacier gets much of its ice from this mountain. That glacier flows southeast toward the town of McCarthy. The mountain also feeds the Nabesna Glacier and the Kuskulana Glacier system. These ice flows help shape the land around the mountain.

People have been exploring this mountain for a long time. In 1885, a man named Henry T. Allen named the peak. He was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He named it after Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn, a senator from Kentucky. In 1912, a woman named Dora Keen climbed the east peak. She climbed with George Handy using the Kennicott Glacier. Her climb was a very big deal for that time. She was the first woman to summit a peak in Alaska.

There are two main summits on Mount Blackburn. For a long time, people thought the east peak was the highest. They did not realize the west peak was actually taller. This fact only became clear in the 1960s with new maps. A team reached the true west peak in 1958. The team included Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, and Leon Blumer. They climbed the North Ridge to get there. They did not even know they found the highest point at first!

Geologists study the rocks to learn about the mountain's past. The oldest rocks are granites that are 4.2 million years old. Most of the mountain is made of 3.4 million year old granite. This granite sits between layers of called andesite. Scientists think the mountain had a caldera long ago. A caldera is a large pit formed when a volcano collapses. Today, climbers often use the same North Ridge route from 1958. They start from an airstrip on the Nabesna Glacier.

Mount Blackburn is a massive geological feature located in Alaska, United States. It serves as the highest peak within the Wrangell Mountains. This mountain is also a significant part of the Wrangell–St. Elias National Park. This park holds the title of the largest national park in the country. In terms of national height, it is the fifth-highest peak in the United States. On a continental scale, it ranks as the twelfth-highest peak in North America. It is a large and dramatic massif that stands with great local relief. This means it rises steeply and independently from the surrounding terrain.

Geologically, Mount Blackburn is an old, eroded shield volcano. A shield volcano is a broad volcano with gentle slopes. It is the second-highest volcano in the U.S., following Mount Bona. It is also the fifth-highest volcano in North America. The mountain is largely covered by icefields and massive glaciers. These glaciers act as the primary source of ice for several nearby systems. The Kennicott Glacier flows southeast from the mountain toward the town of McCarthy. Additionally, the mountain provides large volumes of ice to the Nabesna Glacier. It also contributes to the Kuskulana Glacier system.

The internal structure of the volcano remains a mystery to scientists. Because the mountain is shrouded in permanent ice, researchers cannot see the core. However, geologists use rock ages to understand its history. The oldest rocks in the area are granites that are 4.2 million years old. These represent an intrusive mass, which means magma cooled underground. Most of the mountain consists of 3.4 million-year-old granite. This granite is located between layers of andesite flows. Andesite is a specific type of volcanic rock. Scientists believe a caldera collapse occurred between 4.2 and 3.4 million years ago. A caldera is a large depression formed when a volcano's summit collapses.

Mount Blackburn features two distinct summits. The eastern summit is known as Kennedy Peak, or East Blackburn. It sits at an elevation of 15,700 feet. For many years, explorers believed this was the highest point. However, the western summit is actually the true highest point. This fact was not officially understood until the 1960s. This discovery happened when new maps were published by the USGS. The USGS is the United States Geological Survey. The mountain is also notable for its topographic prominence. It is ranked as the 50th-most prominent peak in the entire world.

Human history on the mountain began with significant climbs. In 1912, Dora Keen and George Handy reached the eastern summit. They climbed via the East Face and the Kennicott Glacier. This was a very bold feat for that time. Keen was a pioneer, as she was the first woman to summit an Alaskan peak. She even wrote about her journey in the Saturday Evening Post. Later, on May 30, 1958, a team reached the true west peak. This team included Bruce Gilbert, Dick Wahlstrom, Hans Gmoser, Adolf Bitterlich, and Leon Blumer. They climbed the North Ridge to reach the top. Interestingly, they did not realize they had climbed the highest point. Blumer even published an article calling it the "Second Ascent."

Mount Blackburn was named in 1885 by Lieutenant Henry T. Allen. He was an officer in the U.S. Army. Allen named the peak after Joseph Clay Stiles Blackburn. Blackburn was a U.S. senator from the state of Kentucky. The mountain's physical scale is immense. The west face drops toward the Kuskulana Glacier in a very short distance. Other faces of the mountain drop steeply as well. The toe of the Kuskulana Glacier sits at 10,000 feet. This is less than 6,000 feet from the summit. This creates a massive vertical rise for the peak.

Today, the mountain remains a destination for experienced climbers. The standard route is the same one used in 1958. This is the North Ridge, also called the Northwest Ridge. Climbers approach this route from the Nabesna Glacier on the north side. The climb begins at an airstrip on the glacier. This airstrip is located at an altitude of 6,000 feet. By Alaskan standards, this is considered a moderate climb. It is classified as an Alaska Grade 2 ascent. The mountain continues to be a vital part of the Alaskan wilderness and its glacial systems.