Notch Peak is a distinctive summit located on Sawtooth Mountain in the House Range, west of Delta, Utah, United States. The peak and the surrounding area are part of the Notch Peak Wilderness Study Area (WSA). , estimated to be 3,000 to 4,000 years old, are located on the ridges surrounding Notch Peak.
The Cliff
Notch Peak is one of the highest peaks in the House Range, reaching . The northwest face of the mountain is a massive
carbonate rock (
limestone and dolomite)
cliff with of vertical rise, making it among the highest cliff faces in
North America. Overall, the summit rises about above
Tule Valley.
It is the second-highest pure vertical drop in the United States after El Capitan.[Millard County Tourism brochure, "Notch Peak Scenic Drive"] as well as the highest carbonate rock cliff in North America.[Utah Geological Survey 2009 Calendar, July caption]
Recreation
One of the more popular uses of the area is the hike to Notch Peak so you can look down the notch in person. The summit can be reached by following a trail from the east side of the mountain in
Sawtooth Canyon. The hike is about 7.5 miles round trip (12 km), with elevation gain.
Climbing
The north face of Notch Peak is divided by a large shelf into an upper and lower wall. There are several big wall climbing routes on the limestone cliffs.
The Swiss Route (never repeated),
Direct North West Ridge (or
Pillars of Faith), and
Book of Saturdays ascend the upper wall. On the lower wall
Appetite for Destruction and
Western Hardman at over of vertical height. Climbing on all of these routes is adventurous with rockfall hazards and loose flakes of widely varying sizes.
Geology
This part of the House Range is chiefly made up of a passive margin sequence of
Cambrian to
Ordovician . The top of the range is the type section for the aptly named Notch Peak Dolomite. At the base of the range is the pink/orange Notch Peak
granite and
monzonite,
which is
Jurassic in age (143 to 169 million years old).
[Lee et al., 1986, U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1622, p. 31-40.][Stokes, 1986, Geology of Utah, ] Around Notch Peak, especially from the west side (Tule Valley side), white
Lake Bonneville fossiliferous
occur.
[Hintze and Davis, 2002, Geologic Map of the Tule Valley 30' x 60' Quadrangle]
Because of the intrusion, a hike up the canyon below the notch can clearly show a well-developed metamorphic (contact) aureole and even inter-fingering textures between the intrusion and the bedrock. Also, small quantities of tungsten and placer gold have been found around the Notch Peak area.
Gallery
Image:NotchPeakUtahByPhilKonstantin.jpg|Notch Peak as seen from the southwest on the Tule Valley floor.
Image:NotchPeakSunset.JPG|Notch Peak sunset.
Image:NotchPeak.jpg|Grey carbonate rocks, pink monzonite, white marl
Image:NotchPeak2004.jpg|Notch Peak in 2004.
External links
