Mount Princeton

Mount Princeton
Mount Princeton
	Mt. Princeton from near Buena Vista
Highest point
Elevation	14,204 ft (4327.25 m); NAVD88
Prominence	2177 ft (664 m)
Isolation	5.19 mi (8.36 km)
Listing	North America highest peaks 46th; US highest major peaks 32nd; Colorado highest major peaks 15th; Colorado fourteeners 18th;
Coordinates	38°44′57″N 106°14′33″W / 38.7492079°N 106.2424367°W
Geography
	Mount Princeton Colorado
Location	Chaffee County, Colorado, U.S.
Parent range	Sawatch Range,; Collegiate Peaks
Topo map	USGS 7.5' topographic map; Mount Antero, Colorado
Climbing
Easiest route	East Slopes: Hike, class 2

Mount Princeton is a high and prominent mountain summit of the Collegiate Peaks in the Sawatch Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,204 feet (4,329 m) fourteener is located in San Isabel National Forest, 7.8 miles (12.6 km) southwest (bearing 225°) of the Town of Buena Vista in Chaffee County, Colorado, United States. The mountain was named in honor of Princeton University.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Mountain

While not one of the highest peaks of the Sawatch Range, Mount Princeton is one of the most dramatic, abruptly rising nearly 7,000 ft (2,134 m) above the Arkansas River valley in only 6 miles.^[5]

The first recorded ascent was on July 17, 1877, at 12:30 pm by William Libbey of Princeton University.^[6] It is likely that various miners had climbed the peak earlier.^[7] The name Mount Princeton was in use as early as 1873, and the peak was most likely named by Henry Gannett, a Harvard graduate and chief topographer in a government survey led by George M. Wheeler.^[7]^[8]

Climate

Climate data for Mount Princeton 38.7491 N, 106.2407 W, Elevation: 13,684 ft (4,171 m) (1991–2020 normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °F (°C)	22.2 (−5.4)	21.6 (−5.8)	26.4 (−3.1)	31.4 (−0.3)	40.3 (4.6)	52.1 (11.2)	57.3 (14.1)	55.3 (12.9)	49.2 (9.6)	39.1 (3.9)	28.7 (−1.8)	22.5 (−5.3)	37.2 (2.9)
Daily mean °F (°C)	10.3 (−12.1)	9.5 (−12.5)	13.8 (−10.1)	18.5 (−7.5)	27.2 (−2.7)	37.8 (3.2)	43.2 (6.2)	41.8 (5.4)	35.8 (2.1)	26.4 (−3.1)	17.4 (−8.1)	11.0 (−11.7)	24.4 (−4.2)
Mean daily minimum °F (°C)	−1.5 (−18.6)	−2.7 (−19.3)	1.2 (−17.1)	5.5 (−14.7)	14.1 (−9.9)	23.4 (−4.8)	29.0 (−1.7)	28.3 (−2.1)	22.4 (−5.3)	13.7 (−10.2)	6.0 (−14.4)	−0.5 (−18.1)	11.6 (−11.4)
Average precipitation inches (mm)	3.95 (100)	3.98 (101)	3.44 (87)	3.98 (101)	2.44 (62)	1.20 (30)	2.82 (72)	3.24 (82)	2.23 (57)	2.43 (62)	3.30 (84)	3.04 (77)	36.05 (915)
Source: PRISM Climate Group^[9]