Difference between revisions of "Mount Coomloughra"
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==Geology== | ==Geology== | ||
| − | The mountain was formed during the Eocene Period with rocks dating back to 40 million years on average. The primary rocks are ancient sandstone from the Ballinskelligs Sandstone Formation and the Chloritic Sandstone Formation, which form layers up to five miles deep below the base of the mountain. During the Ice Ages the mountains of the Fjordland were thoroughly scarred by glacial ice. The glaciers eventually receded and now are found only at the higher elevations where they settled into the valleys below the summit, three glaciers persist year-round. The mountain is found in a | + | The mountain was formed during the Eocene Period with rocks dating back to 40 million years on average. The primary rocks are ancient sandstone from the Ballinskelligs Sandstone Formation and the Chloritic Sandstone Formation, which form layers up to five miles deep below the base of the mountain. During the Ice Ages the mountains of the Fjordland were thoroughly scarred by glacial ice. The glaciers eventually receded and now are found only at the higher elevations where they settled into the valleys below the summit, three glaciers persist year-round. The mountain is found in a volcanic hotspot, and the hotsprings allow Lough Coomloughra to be thawed out year round. There is a glacially carved lake at an elevation of six thousand two hundred feet, a third of the way up the mountain's north face. The mountain range was forced up by the collision of the North Ostlandet Plate and the Acernis Plate in a convergence zone, forcing the land upward. |
==Environment== | ==Environment== | ||
Revision as of 17:24, 28 July 2023
| Mount Coomloughra Mount Coomloughra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 18,534 feet |
| Prominence | Tallest peak in Paleocacher |
| Isolation | 23 miles from road |
| Naming | |
| Etymology | It is the Eusazy word for Coom's Resting Place after the demigod, Coomtinkaern |
| Pronunciation | Koo-um-lau-ra |
| Geography | |
| Location | The Fjordland Peninsula. |
| Parent range | Fjordland Range |
| Geology | |
| Age of rock | Eocene Period, Forty million years old |
| Type of rock | Sandstone |
| Climbing | |
| First ascent | August 6, 1866 |
Mount Coomloughra is a non-volcaninc mountain formed by a fault complex under the Terraconservan crust. It is the tallest mountain in Paleocacher and one of the tallest mountains on the continent of Ostlandet. It was first summited by Theodren Cúchulainn in 1866. In the 20th century it has become a tourist destination for the glaciers in the upper valleys, the montane forests and lakes, and the difficult climb up the last three thousand feet to a Àite-seallaidh where a picnic area has been built. The climb to the summit requires an additional fifteen hundred feet of rock climbing, for which there are only a couple of safe paths. Despite the presence of an established trail, the hike even to the Vista Point is of such difficulty that of the roughly one hundred thousand visitors to the mountain every year only about twenty thousand make it to the picnic area and less than a thousand visitors per year make it to the summit on average.
Geology
The mountain was formed during the Eocene Period with rocks dating back to 40 million years on average. The primary rocks are ancient sandstone from the Ballinskelligs Sandstone Formation and the Chloritic Sandstone Formation, which form layers up to five miles deep below the base of the mountain. During the Ice Ages the mountains of the Fjordland were thoroughly scarred by glacial ice. The glaciers eventually receded and now are found only at the higher elevations where they settled into the valleys below the summit, three glaciers persist year-round. The mountain is found in a volcanic hotspot, and the hotsprings allow Lough Coomloughra to be thawed out year round. There is a glacially carved lake at an elevation of six thousand two hundred feet, a third of the way up the mountain's north face. The mountain range was forced up by the collision of the North Ostlandet Plate and the Acernis Plate in a convergence zone, forcing the land upward.
Environment
The ecosystem of the mountain is varied. On the lower slopes and in the valleys the temperate forests of the Fiordland ecoregion cluster along streams and small rivers streaming down from the glaciers into the Loughs and fjords below. The temperate conifer forests provide homes for alpine wallabies, several types of flightless birds, and other marsupial species. The higher slopes of the mountain have been largely dominated by introduced goats and hares, feeding on the lichens and grasses around the loughs. On the highest slopes where the mountain's three permanent glaciers are found, no animals live year-round.
Etymology
The mountain is named Mount Coomloughra in honor of the demigod Coomtinkaern. This demigod, the son of Nemain, the Goddess of Battle, was the ancient Paleocacherian kingdom of Ulaid's greatest hero. Throughout his life he accomplished many heroic deeds including the silencing of the Banshee, the opening of Lough Klaim channel and the unification of the kingdoms of Ulaid and Strathclyde by saving the wedding of the Prince and Princess of the two kingdoms respectively from an attack by rebels against the crown. After attaining a great age and retiring he was summoned to the high mountains to do battle with Caoránekh, a monstrous snake-dragon that lived in the mountain lake attacking the shepherds who brought their flocks to graze in the high meadows. Following a great and brutal battle, the seemingly invincible serpent was mortally wounded by the hero but managed to snare him in its coils before sinking with him to the bottom of the lough. The mountain and lough which had different names previously were subsequently renamed to Mount Coomloughra and Lough Coomloughra, for Coom's resting place.
Modern History
The mountain lough and the mountain itself became a pilgrimage site for several of the Clovity religion's sects. These pilgrimages consisted of walking up the mountain to the lough over the span of three days, fasting for 24 hours in the meadow, climbing two thousand feet up to Elbrus Point, making a personal sacrifice there and praying, and then descending back to the lough for a grand festival. These pilgrimages take place on the eves of the Summer and Winter Solstices. The mountain's lower slopes were heavily logged and grazed by local sheepherders during the 18th and 19th centuries before the Paleocacherian government declared the entirety of the Fiordland Peninsula to be a National Park in 1910. Due to the fifteen hundred foot sheer rock wall at the top of the mountain and the treachorous glaciers below it, no expedition had ever successfully reached the mountain's summit until a group of fraternity brothers from the University of Paleocacher's Bullmar campus made the climb, led by explorer and future politician, Theodren Cúchulainn.
Following the founding of the national park in 1910 the Paleocacherian Department of the Interior charted two trails, marking them with cairns, and put up huts and rest stations along the path to the Àite-seallaidh, which is a lookout point at fourteen thousand feet. The Parks Service also charted a free climbing course leading up to the summit which has a breathtaking view of the surrounding mountains in the National Park. Visitors are required to take a safety training course and to prove that they have ample water and first aid supplies at the base station before they make the sixteen mile trek up from the base of the mountain to the Àite-seallaidh lookout point.
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