Notch Mountain (Utah)

Notch Mountain is an 11263 ft mountain summit in Summit County, Utah, United States.

Description
Notch Mountain is located 50. mi east of Salt Lake City in the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. It is situated in the western Uinta Mountains which are a subrange of the Rocky Mountains. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains north into headwaters of the Weber River and south into headwaters of the Provo River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 1100. ft above Wall Lake (source of the Provo River) in 0.75 mile (1.2 km). Access to the mountain is via the Mirror Lake Highway and hiking the 10-mile Notch Mountain Trail which passes through "The Notch", but does not lead to the summit. The Notch is a 10,621-foot-elevation gap between the 11,263-ft east peak and the 11,258-ft west peak. The mountain's descriptive toponym was officially adopted in 1932 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.

Geology
Notch Mountain is composed of metasedimentary rock of the Mount Watson Formation. Fluvial sediment processes deposited a sequence of nearly white quartz arenite and subarkose interbedded with minor amounts of pale-red arkosic arenite and grayish-green shale during the Late Precambrian. The Uintas were uplifted during the Laramide orogeny about 70 to 50 million years ago. Numerous glacial cycles during the Quaternary Period sculpted the mountain and scoured the surrounding land forming many depressions that are now lakes.

Climate
Based on the Köppen climate classification, Notch Mountain is located in a subarctic climate zone with cold snowy winters and mild summers. Tundra climate characterizes the summit and highest slopes. The months of July through early October offer the most favorable weather to visit the mountain.