Wilkins Peak

Infobox Mountain
Name = Wilkins Peak
Photo = Wilkinspeakscottsbottom.jpg
Caption = Wilkins Peak
Elevation = convert|7650|ft|m|0
Location = Sweetwater County, Wyoming, USA
Range =
Prominence =
Easiest route=Access Road
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = right
pushpin_map_caption = Location in Wyoming
pushpin_mapsize = 200
coordinates_ref = [cite web |url=http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lon=-109.3473541&lat=41.4957981&datum=nad83 |title=Wilkins Peak USGS Wilkins Peak Quad, Wyoming, Topographic Map |accessdate=2008-07-05 |format=html |work= |publisher=United States Geological Survey]
latd=41 |latm=29 |lats=47.44 |latNS=N
longd=109 |longm=20 |longs=45.15 |longEW=W

Wilkins Peak is a small mountain located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, between the cities of Green River and Rock Springs. It is primarily used for radio and television station transmitters, but it also serves radio needs of the FAA, EMS, and local businesses such as Questar Gas. In 2003, a tower on the peak was knocked down by a vehicle delivering propane to customers. The tower was owned by Wyoming Public Radio and was serving the local area with programming from National Public Radio. There are numerous access roads to the peak and it is not gated and open year round, weather permitting. Along with the radio uses, the mountain is also a popular location for mountain biking and hiking. The mountain contains geology typical of its location in southwestern Wyoming.

Geology

Along with other mountains in southwestern Wyoming, Wilkins Peak is part of the Green River Formation, a formation of the intermontane Lake Gosiute environment during the Eocene epoch. Similar to its neighboring Aspen Mountain, Wilkins Peak is part of the Rock Springs Uplift. [ [http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~carroll/green_river.html Alan Caroll: "Green River", Department of Geology & Geophysics, University of Wisconsin-Madison] ] The Rock Springs Uplift itself formed in the Late Cretaceous period by large-scale folding. [Selena Mederos, Basil Tikoff1 and Viki Bankey: "Geometry, timing, and continuity of the Rock Springs uplift, Wyoming, and Douglas Creek arch, Colorado", Rocky Mountain Geology, Volume 40, Number 2, p. 167-191, December 2005 [http://rmg.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/40/2/167 Abstract] ] Some of the largest oil shale and trona beds in the region are located on the mountain. Wilkins Peak also has its own distinct segment of the Green River Formation, which is known as the "Wilkins Peak Formation".cite journal
author = Eugster, H.P.
coauthors = Hardie, L.A.
year = 1975
title = Sedimentation in an ancient playa-lake complex; the Wilkins Peak Member of the Green River Formation of Wyoming
journal = Bulletin of the Geological Society of America
volume = 86
issue = 3
pages = 319-334
url = http://bulletin.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/86/3/319
accessdate = 2008-04-20] [cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/tertiary/eoc/greenriver.html |title=Green River Formation |accessdate=2008-04-19 |format=html |work= |publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology] The peak itself is convert|7650|ft|m|0 in elevation and is located convert|8.18|mi|km|0 from Rock Springs, Wyoming and convert|6.3|mi|km|0 from Green River, Wyoming.

Radio and television uses

Wilkins Peak holds radio towers for several FM radio and television stations. Stations include KYCS (95.1 FM) and its sister stations KFRZ and KZWB (97.9 FM).Several television translators transmit their signals from two small towers located in the center of Wilkins Peak. Additionally, the PBS television station K22BK and the religious television network TBN, known locally as K35CN, share two towers on the mountain. [cite web |url=http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?state=WY&call=&arn=&city=Rock+Springs&chan=&cha2=69&serv=&type=0&facid=&list=2&dist=&dlat2=&mlat2=&slat2=&dlon2=&mlon2=&slon2=&size=9 |title=Rock Springs FCC TV Query |accessdate=2008-04-18 |format=html |work= |publisher=Federal Communications Commission]

Wilkins Peak also has repeater towers for the Wyoming Highway Patrol and local police, fire, and EMS services. The emergency radio repeaters on the mountain are used in conjunction with other repeaters located on nearby Aspen Mountain and Mansface Hill. [cite web |url=http://wyolink.state.wy.us/radio/Steering_Committee_Activity/m021220.pdf |title=WY Public Safety Mobile Communications Steering Committee Meeting |accessdate=2008-04-18 |date=2002-12-20 |format=PDF |work= |publisher=State of Wyoming, Wyolink]

In September 2003, a commercial truck delivering propane to customers on the peak knocked down the then-existent KUWZ tower after the vehicle's brakes failed. The collapse of the tower knocked out power to the mountain for several hours, and while KUWZ borrowed space from neighboring towers for several months thereafter, the station ultimately relocated its transmitter to nearby Aspen Mountain. [cite web |url=http://www.greenriverstar.com/articles/2003/09/17/news/news1.txt |title=Local WPR has bad gas |accessdate=2008-04-18 |author=Kathy Gilbert |date=2003-09-17 |format=txt |work= |publisher=The Green River Star] [cite web |url=http://www.ubstudios.com/rtli/wilkins.html |title=Wilkins Peak Radio Tower Information and Pictures |accessdate=2008-04-18 |format=html |work= |publisher=Ubstudios.com]

Accessing the peak

Wilkins Peak is not gated, and it can be reached via an unpaved road known as "Wilkins Peak Road" that starts on U.S. Route 191 southwest of Rock Springs, Wyoming. The mountain can also be accessed via another unpaved road that begins in the Scott's Bottom Nature Area in Green River, Wyoming. The peak is accessible year-round, weather permitting. The Green River access road is in worse shape than the Rock Springs side, and it has several road hazards such as steep grades, poor grading, and off-road vehicle traffic. Along with serving radio needs, the peak also is a popular hiking and mountain biking location in the area. There are many smaller roads and trails that spring from the peak that offer varied degrees of challenge. [cite web |url=http://balder.prohosting.com/greyhair/wilkinspeak.html |title=Wilkins Peak Trail |author=Wade Liedtke |accessdate=2008-04-18 |format=html |work= |publisher=] [cite web |url=http://balder.prohosting.com/greyhair/ridgeline.html |title=Ridgeline Trail |author=Wade Liedtke |accessdate=2008-04-18 |format=html |work= |publisher=]

References

External links

* [http://www.ubstudios.com/rtli/wilkins.html Wilkins Peak Radio Tower Information and Pictures]

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The_tower_for_KYCS 95.1 FM, Rock Springs, Wyoming

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Wilkins_Peak_as_seen_in_2002,_prior_to_the_KUWZ_tower_(farthest_left)_collapseImage:WilkinsTV_KFRZ.jpg|The_towers_for_KFRZ/KZWB (farthest right) and the two TV stations, K22BK and K35CN (center).

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The_peak_as_seen_from_the_east,_in_March_of_2008Image:WhitemountainWY.jpg|White Mountain from Wilkins Peak, looking north. Pilot Butte (left center) is on top of White Mountain.