Mount Saint Helena

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For the volcano in Washington state, USA see "Mount St. Helens".
Mount Saint Helena

Elevation 4,344 feet (1,323 meters)
Location Calistoga, California, USA
Range Mayacmas Mountains
Prominence 1840 ft (560 m)
Coordinates 38°40′9.6″N 122°38′0.78″W / 38.669333, -122.63355Coordinates: 38°40′9.6″N 122°38′0.78″W / 38.669333, -122.63355 [1]
Topo map Mount Saint Helena 38122-F6 1:24,000

Mount Saint Helena is a peak in the Mayacmas Mountains with flanks in Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties in California, United States. Composed of uplifted 2.4-million-year-old volcanic rocks from the Clear Lake volcanic field, it is one of the few mountains in the San Francisco Bay Area to receive any snowfall during the winter.

The mountain has five peaks, arranged in a rough "M" shape. The second-tallest, immediately east of the main summit, is the highest point in Napa County.

Plaque left by Russians on Mount Saint Helena
Plaque left by Russians on Mount Saint Helena

Mount Saint Helena was originally named Mount Mayacamas, but the name was changed after a Russian survey party ascended the peak in 1841 and left a copper plate on the summit inscribed with the date of their visit. The plate also bore the name of Princess Helena de Gagarin, wife of Count Alexander G. Rotchev, the commanding officer of Fort Ross.

Robert Louis Stevenson and Fanny Vandegrift Osbourne spent the summer of 1880 honeymooning in an abandoned mining camp on Mount Saint Helena. Stevenson's book The Silverado Squatters includes his experiences while living there.

The peak is reachable by hiking trails leading from Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.

Robert Louis Stevenson monument in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park
Robert Louis Stevenson monument in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park

The headwaters of the Napa River are on the southeast slope of Mount Saint Helena.

[edit] References

  1. ^ ECC1938 US Coast & Geodetic Survey Marker at Peak of Mount Saint Helena

[edit] See also