Isolation 1.69 mi (2.72 km) Elevation 4,293 m Mountain range San Juan Mountains | Easiest route Scramble (Class 3) Prominence 306 m Parent range Needle Mountains | |
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Listing Colorado fourteeners 33rd Location La Plata County, Colorado, U.S. Topo map USGS 7.5' topographic map
Columbine Pass, Colorado Similar Windom Peak, Sunlight Peak, San Luis Peak, Mount Wilson, Handies Peak | ||
Mount Eolus is a high mountain summit of the Needle Mountains range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,090-foot (4,295 m) fourteener is located in the Weminuche Wilderness of San Juan National Forest, 27.4 miles (44.1 km) northeast by north (bearing 29°) of the City of Durango in La Plata County, Colorado, United States.
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Map of Mt Eolus, Colorado 81122, USA
Named after the Greek god of the wind, the mountain was originally referred to as "Aeolus" in the 1874 Hayden Survey. The current spelling of "Eolus" was first used in the Wheeler Survey of 1878.
ClimbingEdit
Mount Eolus is one of three fourteeners in the Needle Mountains; the others are Sunlight Peak and Windom Peak. All three peaks are located around the cirque known as Upper Chicago Basin. Eolus lies to the west of the upper basin, while the other peaks lie on the east side. These mountains are among the most remote of Colorado's fourteeners and have a strong wilderness character.
North Eolus, elevation 14,045 ft (4,281 m), is a northern subpeak of Mount Eolus, though it is not usually counted as a separate peak or as an official fourteener, since it has a topographic prominence of only 179 ft (55 m). It is sometimes climbed in conjunction with Eolus.
ElevationEdit
Mount Eolus' elevation is very close to, and may even be higher than, that of nearby Windom Peak. If this is the case, Mount Eolus would be the highest summit of the Needle Mountains, La Plata County, and the entire San Juan River drainage basin.