Elaine Castle is a 7,431-foot-elevation (2,265 meter) summit located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of northern Arizona, US.[2] It is situated three miles north-northwest of King Arthur Castle near the head of Shinumo Creek, and immediately southwest of Lancelot Point. Topographic relief is significant as it rises 2,800 feet (850 meters) above Merlin Abyss in one mile. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Elaine Castle is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.[7]
| Elaine Castle | |
|---|---|
  Elaine Castle Location in Arizona  Elaine Castle Elaine Castle (the United States) | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 7,431 ft (2,265 m)[1][2] |
| Prominence | 691 ft (211 m)[1] |
| Parent peak | Kaibab Plateau (9,220 ft)[1] |
| Isolation | 5.38 mi (8.66 km)[1] |
| Coordinates | 36°18′17″N 112°17′05″W / 36.3046447°N 112.2847365°W[2] |
| Geography | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arizona |
| County | Coconino |
| Protected area | Grand Canyon National Park |
| Parent range | Colorado Plateau |
| Topo map | USGS King Arthur Castle |
| Geology | |
| Rock age | Permian |
| Rock type | sandstone |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | Puebloans[3][4] |
| Easiest route | South side[5] class 3 scrambling[6] |
History
editClarence Dutton started the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities and heroic figures.[8] Elaine Castle was named by cartographer Richard Tranter Evans (1881–1966), after Elaine of Astolat, from the Legend of King Arthur, in keeping with an Arthurian naming theme for other geographical features in the vicinity, e.g. King Arthur Castle, Guinevere Castle, Excalibur, Gawain Abyss, Holy Grail Temple, Bedivere Point, Lancelot Point, and Galahad Point.[9] This feature's name was officially adopted in 1908 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[2] Donald Davis climbed Elaine Castle on June 27, 1969, placing the first cairn on Elaine, but was not the first person there as he found evidence that Native Americans had been there.[6][10] Harvey Butchart climbed it on August 9, 1969, finding the cairn that Davis had built.[11]
Geology
editThis butte is composed of a Permian Toroweap Formation caprock on cream-colored Permian Coconino Sandstone. This sandstone, which is the third-youngest stratum in the Grand Canyon, was deposited 265 million years ago as sand dunes. Below the Coconino Sandstone is reddish slope-forming, Permian Hermit Formation, which in turn overlays the Pennsylvanian-Permian Supai Group. Further down are strata of the cliff-forming Mississippian Redwall Limestone, and slope-forming Cambrian Tonto Group.[12] Elaine Castle owes its isolation to lines of fracture.[13] Precipitation runoff from Elaine Castle drains south to the Colorado River via Shinumo Creek.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d "Elaine Castle – 7,431' AZ". Lists of John. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ a b c d "Elaine Castle". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
- ^ John Annerino, Hiking the Grand Canyon, 1993, Sierra Club Books, ISBN 9780871565891, page 73.
- ^ The Journal of Arizona History, 1976, Publisher: Arizona Pioneers' Historical Society, page 24.
- ^ Harvey Butchart, Grand Canyon Treks: A Guide to the Inner Canyon Routes, 1970, La Siesta Press, ISBN 9780910856386, page 62.
- ^ a b Aaron Tomasi, Pernell Tomasi, Grand Canyon Summits Select An Obscure Compilation of Sixty-nine Remote Ascent Routes in the Grand Canyon National Park Backcountry, 2001, ISBN 9780971088009, page 30.
- ^ Peel, M. C.; Finlayson, B. L.; McMahon, T. A. (2007). "Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification". Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. 11. ISSN 1027-5606.
- ^ Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, page 151.
- ^ Gregory McNamee, Grand Canyon Place Names, 1997, Mountaineers Publisher, ISBN 9780898865332, page 50.
- ^ John Annerino, Hiking the Grand Canyon, 1993, Sierra Club Books, page 73.
- ^ Harvey Butchart’s Hiking Log – Detailed Hiking Log (April 3, 1969 – September 3, 1969)
- ^ N.H. Darton, Story of the Grand Canyon of Arizona, 1917.
- ^ Noble, L. F., The Shinumo Quadrangle, Grand Canyon District, Arizona, Bulletin 549, United States Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1914), page 79.
External links
edit- Elaine Castle photo Kaibab.org
- Elaine Castle with Holy Grail Temple photo at Kaibab.org
- Photo of Elaine Castle from Lancelot Point by Harvey Butchart
- Elaine Castle photo by Harvey Butchart
- Weather forecast: National Weather Service
