Thousand Island Lake
Banner Peak above the lake
Location of Thousand Island Lake in California, USA.
Location of Thousand Island Lake in California, USA.
Thousand Island Lake
Location of Thousand Island Lake in California, USA.
Location of Thousand Island Lake in California, USA.
Thousand Island Lake
LocationSierra Nevada, Ansel Adams Wilderness, Madera County, California, United States
Coordinates37°43′15″N 119°10′56″W / 37.72083°N 119.18222°W / 37.72083; -119.18222
Primary outflowsMiddle Fork San Joaquin River
Basin countriesUnited States
Max. length2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Max. width0.7 mi (1.1 km)
Surface elevation2,997 metres (9,833 ft) [1]
Islandsmany
References[1]

Thousand Island Lake is a large alpine lake in the Sierra Nevada, within the Ansel Adams Wilderness in eastern Madera County, California.

The lake is named for the many small rocky islands that dot its surface. Theodore Solomons probably established the 'Thousand Island' name, as this appears on his 1896 map. John Muir called it by "Islet Lake."[2]

Geography

The lake is within the boundaries of the Ansel Adams Wilderness of the Sierra National Forest and Inyo National Forest. Thousand Island Lake sits at the base of Banner Peak in the Ritter Range. It is the source of the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, which flows southeast, and then west, into the San Joaquin Valley. The lake is a glacial tarn, formed in the bottom of a cirque when a glacier retreated.[3]

Access

Thousand Island Lake is accessible from several hiking routes:[citation needed]

View of the lake from near the outlet creek

Culture

Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras is a portfolio of 18 silver gelatin photographic prints made by Ansel Adams in 1927. It was the first publication of a portfolio of his prints, produced not long after he decided to become a professional photographer, and has since been called "a landmark work in twentieth-century photography."[citation needed] His photograph, "Banner Peak – Thousand Island Lake", was one of the 18 chosen for the collection. The photograph also appears in the Smithsonian American Art Museum[4] and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thousand Island Lake.

References

  1. ^ a b U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Thousand Island Lake
  2. ^ Browning, Peter (1986) Place Names of the Sierra Nevada. Berkeley: Wilderness Press. p. 215.
  3. ^ Schoenherr, Allan A. (1992). A Natural History of California. University of California Press. p. 553. ISBN 0-520-06922-6.
  4. ^ "Banner Peak – Thousand Island Lake, Central Sierra". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Ansel Adams: Banner Peak – Thousand Island Lake, from the portfolio Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras, 1923". San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 17 October 2023.

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