Arches N.P. Towers

[Brian Crim]

I wondered why Sheep Rock and the Three Gossips are not on LoJ (map). Sure enough they're tall enough to be ranked?

Haven't done them but was checking out Arches on LoJ and saw them both labeled on the map but no markers. Just curious.

Brian

[Brian Kalet]

They are listed.
Select 0' of minimum prominence since they aren't ranked:

http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/QMap.p ... 16&t=u&P=0

[Brian Crim]

Thanks Brian!

[Brian Crim]

So I've thought about this more. How does Sheep Rock only have 200' of prominence? I thought it was closer to 400' at it's lowest to the desert floor. I know this is a totally new-to-the-biz question that I'm sure is answered just by looking at the maps but from walking around that tower it seems shocking that it's not taller.

[John Kirk]

So I've thought about this more. How does Sheep Rock only have 200' of prominence? I thought it was closer to 400' at it's lowest to the desert floor. I know this is a totally new-to-the-biz question that I'm sure is answered just by looking at the maps but from walking around that tower it seems shocking that it's not taller.

This photo in particular shows the height of Sheep Rock to be about 100-140' lower than the top of the mesa to its left, where the mesa to the left is flat and is a 4640'+40' contour:


The lowpoint in between is 4280'+40'. Also note that the lowpoint of the connecting ridge is quite a bit above the desert floor.

[Brian Crim]

I forgot about the fin that connects to the upper ridge! Interesting stuff. Thanks for walking me through how you figure these out. How do you do it on ones that are not close enough to something else to compare the heights yet are not marked on the map? One more question. One the smaller towers how do you draw the line on which ones to include and which ones to leave out? For example, Queen Nefertiti Rock is on there without a closed-contour, only 20' of rise and having never been climbed while Argon Tower is much taller and has several closed contours? Thanks again for explaining this to me.

[John Kirk]

I forgot about the fin that connects to the upper ridge! Interesting stuff. Thanks for walking me through how you figure these out. How do you do it on ones that are not close enough to something else to compare the heights yet are not marked on the map? One more question. One the smaller towers how do you draw the line on which ones to include and which ones to leave out? For example, Queen Nefertiti Rock is on there without a closed-contour, only 20' of rise and having never been climbed while Argon Tower is much taller and has several closed contours? Thanks again for explaining this to me.

Admittedly, at times a lot of this is guesswork/estimation. Bears Tooth in MT is a good example, where there are no closed contours on the map (see this satellite image of the shadow). Fisher Towers are another problematic area. While there is no closed contour, Queen Nefertiti Rock has visible prominence from field observation, so we can interpolate within the contour.

Argon Tower is not an official name (not in board of geographic names database), whereas Queen Nefertiti Rock is. I can certainly add things in quotes not included in the GNIS database when then name appears in a published book or map. I don't own every possible book, so when you find unincluded towers/peaks/etc. in books, let me know. Here's the new entry for "Argon Tower": http://listsofjohn.com/PeakStats/Climbers.php?Id=140772

[Brian Crim]

Thanks again for the explanation John.

- Brian