Aspen Mountain (Wyoming)

Infobox Mountain
Name = Aspen Mountain, Wyoming
Photo = AspenMountainWyoming.jpg
Caption =Aspen Mountain Wyoming, from the north.
Elevation = convert|8655|ft|m|0
Location = Sweetwater County, Wyoming
Coordinates = coord|41|26|05.64|N|109|06|59.16|W|type:mountain
Easiest route=Access Road

Aspen Mountain is a long mountain located approximately convert|12|mi|km south of Rock Springs, Wyoming and convert|5.5|mi|km south of Arrowhead Springs, in Sweetwater County. The mountain gets its name from patches of Quaking Aspen trees located on the north and southern faces of the mountain. Various older topographical maps name the mountain "Quaking Aspen Mountain". Its primary use is for radio communications and it houses towers for various local and state companies.

Other uses

Aspen Mountain also houses repeaters used by local highway patrol and local police and fire services for Sweetwater County, [ [http://www.co.sweet.wy.us/ema/ Sweetwater County Homeland Security] ] which are also present on nearby Wilkins Peak. If the local emergency repeaters on Aspen Mountain fail, they are automatically switched to the Wilkins Peak repeaters, and vice versa. The mountain also houses amateur radio repeaters, [ [http://wy7u.org/?q=node/5 Sweetwater Amateur Radio Club repeaters] ] [ [http://utahvhfs.org/snowlink.html The Utah VHF Society] ] and a long range radar station (operated by the FAA) is the mountain's most visible feature.

Geology

Aspen Mountain lies to the north of the Uinta Mountains in the center of the Greater Green River Basin. It is part of the Rock Springs Uplift, an area of uplifted Cretaceous to Tertiary rocks surrounded by the Green River Formation, formed in the so called Lake Gosiute. [ [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 formed in the Late Cretaceous 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] ] Aspen Mountain is composed of Miocene deposits. [ [http://waterplan.state.wy.us/plan/green/techmemos/gwdeterm.html Map of "Bedrock Geology of the Green River Basin and Great Divide Basin, Wyoming", Green River Basin Water Plan] ]

Access

Aspen Mountain can be accessed via a number of routes. From Rock Springs, access starts from Blairtown/Flaming Gorge Road, and begins on a road known as Little Bitter Creek Road. Aspen Mountain can also be accessed via county highway 4-27, which begins on Wyoming Highway 430. From the south, the mountain can be accessed via US 191. The roads are usually in good condition year round, weather permitting. Travel is still possible during winter months, but a four wheel drive vehicle is recommended. The road on the mountain itself is known as "Radar Tower Road."Most of the mountain is not off limits, except for various radio towers with fences and the long range radar station, which features no trespassing signs and a fence around its perimeter. The radar site is also manned 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with up to two employees watching the site at a time. In the winter, their only means of travel is often via Snowcats.

Radio and television stations

*KQSW 96.5 FM - Licensed to Rock Springs. [ [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=5300 FCC Query for KQSW] ]
*KSIT 99.7 FM - Also licensed to Rock Springs (Both FM stations are located on the eastern half of the mountain, near the radar site). [ [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=63966 FCC Query for KSIT] ]
*KKWY 106.7 FM - Licensed to Superior, Wyoming, is the only FM station with a tower on the western half of the mountain. [ [http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/finder?call=KKWY&x=0&y=0&sr=Y&s=C KKWY Radio-Locator info.] ]
*KGWR Channel 13 -CBS- Rock Springs (Far eastern side of the mountain, second tower from east). [ [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=63170 FCC Query for KGWR-TV] ]
*K26DK Channel 25 -KJZZ- Rock Springs [ [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=36601 FCC Query for K26DK] ]
*K45IA Channel 45 -The CW- Rock Springs [ [http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/tvq?list=0&facid=131206 FCC Query for K45IA] ]
*KXI34 162.550 MHz- NOAA Weather Radio - Operated by the Riverton National Weather Service office. [ [http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/wy/rocksprings.gifKXI34 Coverage map (NOAA)] ]

References

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.davidrumsey.com/detail?id=1-1-1942-140017&name=Green+River+Basin.+(Geological) "Green River Basin. (Geological) by King, Clarence from 1876", David Rumsey Historical Map Collection]
* [http://www.ubstudios.com/rtli/aspenw.html Aspen Mountain, west side] Radio Tower Locations and Info (RTLI).
* [http://www.ubstudios.com/rtli/aspene.html Aspen Mountain, east side] Radio Tower Locations and Info (RTLI).