Sphinx Mountain (Madison County, Montana) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sphinx Mountain |
|
|---|---|
Sphinx Mountain
|
|
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 10,840 feet (3,300 m) |
| Prominence | 2,076 feet (633 m) |
| Isolation | 8.21 miles (13.21 km) |
| Geography | |
 Sphinx Mountain
Location in Montana
|
|
| Parent range | Madison Range |
Sphinx Mountain is a very tall mountain peak in Madison County, Montana. It stands at 10,840 feet (3,300 m) high. This mountain is easy to spot from the town of Ennis because it rises so much higher than the land around it.
Sphinx Mountain is part of the Madison Range and is located inside the Beaverhead National Forest. It is also within a special protected area called the Lee Metcalf Wilderness. Two creeks, Bear Creek and Indian Creek, start on the sides of Sphinx Mountain and flow into the Madison River.
Who Climbed Sphinx Mountain First?
The first time someone officially recorded climbing Sphinx Mountain was on July 30, 1913. Four students from Harvard University's Summer School of Geology made this climb. Their names were Anton W. Asmuth, George Belchic, Stanley H. Wardwell, and someone named Kimball.
Another group of Harvard students climbed the mountain on August 1, 1919. These climbers were R. B. Hevy, John H. Hall Jr., Robert E. Crosby, and Henry J. Hall Jr. It's possible that other geologists, like Frank Tweedy, Edward Douglas, or Albert C. Peale, climbed it even earlier in the 1880s or 1890s while they were mapping the area.
Winter Climbs on Sphinx Mountain
The first time anyone climbed Sphinx Mountain in the winter was in December 1964. Kit Jones and James W. Clark were the first to do this. Since then, climbing Sphinx Mountain in the winter has become a popular activity for experienced climbers.
What Makes Sphinx Mountain Special? (Geology)
Sphinx Mountain is very interesting to geologists, who are scientists who study rocks and the Earth. This is because it has a special type of rock formation called the Sphinx Conglomerate. This rock layer was formed during the Eocene epoch, which was about 56 to 34 million years ago.
The Sphinx Conglomerate sits on top of another rock layer called the Livingston Formation, which is even older. What makes the Sphinx Conglomerate unique is that it's only found on Sphinx Mountain and a nearby peak called The Helmet. Geologist A. C. Peale first discovered this special rock formation in the 1880s while he was studying the area.
