| Ebbetts Pass | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Subalpine meadow at Ebbetts Pass | |
| Elevation | 8,736 ft (2,663 m) NAVD 88[2] |
| Traversed by |  SR 4 |
| Location | Alpine County, California,U.S. |
| Range | Sierra Nevada |
| Coordinates | 38°32′40″N119°48′43″W / 38.5443529°N 119.8118455°W /38.5443529; -119.8118455[1] |
  Location inCalifornia | |
| Reference no. | 318[3] |
Ebbetts Pass (el. 8,736 ft or 2,663 m), named after John Ebbetts, is a highmountain pass through theSierra Nevada range inAlpine County, California. Ebbetts is the eastern of two passes in the area traversed byState Route 4. The western pass is the Pacific Grade Summit (el 8,050 ft or 2,450 m). The pass is registered as aCalifornia Historical Landmark.[3] ThePacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile (4,260 km) longNational Scenic Trail crosses State Route 4 at Ebbetts Pass.
Native Americans were undoubtedly the first humans to traverse the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but it is unknown if they regularly used Ebbetts Pass since any trail they would have used is no longer traceable.[4] It is traditionally held to be the pass used byJedediah Smith in late spring of 1827 when leaving California at the end of his first exploratory journey, the first crossing ever of the Sierra Nevada by a non-native, but snow would have obscured any trail so he was blazing his own path. It may also have been used by theBartleson–Bidwell Party on their emigration to California.[5]
John Ebbetts, a fur trader turned guide forCalifornia Gold Rush "Forty-niners" claimed to have led a string of pack mules easterly over the Sierras in the vicinity of Ebbetts Pass in April 1851. He believed the pass he had used would be suitable for thetranscontinental railroad, as he noted little snow at the time. He latersurveyed near the pass for a possible railroad route, but found it unsuitable. He intended to return to the pass itself to survey it for a road but was killed in the explosion of thesteamboatSecretary onSan Pablo Bay in 1854 before he could do so.[5] While the pass was referred to by his name earlier, it was not until 1893, when the U.S. Geological Survey surveyed the Markleeville quadrangle, that the pass was officially named after him.[6]
The route was used only occasionally untilsilver was discovered east of the Sierra, and merchants inMurphys had a road constructed toMarkleeville to more easily transport supplies over the pass to the miners. This became atoll road in 1862. From Markleeville, travel further eastward was taken along established routes.[5]
It was not until the early 1950s that the road overMonitor Pass toU.S. Route 395 was completed, connecting the eastern terminus ofState Route 4 toU.S. Route 395 viaState Route 89 near the community of Topaz.[7]
Ebbetts Pass was designated as a California State Scenic Highway in 1971; it was similarly honored with National Scenic Byway status on September 22, 2005. It is one of only seven nationally so-designated byways in California, and of 151 in the entire nation.[8]
Today, Ebbetts Pass is one of the least traveled passes in the Sierra Nevada. A 23-mile stretch between Lake Alpine and Centerville Flat is less than two lanes, and lacks a dividing line between them.[citation needed] It has very steep sections with hairpin corners.[9] The eastern slope is particularly difficult, as many of the hairpin corners are blind, and steepen suddenly at the apex, making it necessary to shift to first gear in most vehicles. It is rarely used by commercial traffic and is not recommended for vehicles towing long trailers.[10] Furthermore, the pass closes during the winter months, often from November through as late as May.[11]
The pass is the namesake ofEbbetts Pass Granodiorite, aLate Cretaceous rock unit that was identified in 1957 in a geologic survey of the mountain pass.[12]
According to theKöppen Climate Classification system, Ebbetts Pass has adry-summer subarctic climate, abbreviated "Dsc" on climate maps. While snowfall totals aren’t measured, roughly 400+ inches of snow fall on average annually.
| Climate data for Ebbetts Pass, California | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 36 (2) | 36 (2) | 39 (4) | 44 (7) | 51 (11) | 61 (16) | 69 (21) | 68 (20) | 63 (17) | 53 (12) | 42 (6) | 35 (2) | 50 (10) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 19 (−7) | 18 (−8) | 20 (−7) | 23 (−5) | 31 (−1) | 40 (4) | 48 (9) | 47 (8) | 41 (5) | 32 (0) | 24 (−4) | 18 (−8) | 30 (−1) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 9.30 (236) | 8.29 (211) | 7.70 (196) | 4.71 (120) | 2.93 (74) | 1.05 (27) | 0.59 (15) | 0.50 (13) | 0.89 (23) | 3.08 (78) | 5.27 (134) | 9.21 (234) | 53.52 (1,361) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 74 (190) | 88 (220) | 101 (260) | 87 (220) | 58 (150) | 19 (48) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 6 (15) | 23 (58) | 52 (130) | 109 (280) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 12.6 | 13.0 | 13.3 | 12.6 | 9.1 | 4.0 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 3.7 | 6.6 | 10.2 | 13.2 | 102.6 |
| Source: XMACIS2[13] | |||||||||||||
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