Mount Wood is a 12,657-foot-elevation (3,858 meter) mountain summit located just east of the crest of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, in Mono County of northern California, United States.[4] It is situated in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, on land managed by Inyo National Forest. It is approximately 6.0 miles (9.7 km) northwest of the community of June Lake, two miles outside of Yosemite National Park's eastern boundary, and one mile east-southeast of line parent Parker Peak. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises over 5,500 feet (1,700 meters) above Grant Lake in three miles. The mountain is visible from the June Lake Loop.
This geographical feature was named in 1894 by Lieutenant Nathaniel Fish McClure who prepared a map of Yosemite Park for use by Army troops. The toponym honors Captain Abram Epperson Wood, 4th Cavalry US Army, the first acting military superintendent of Yosemite National Park from 1891 to 1893, shortly before he died in 1894.[7] The US Army had jurisdiction over Yosemite National Park from 1891 to 1914, and each summer 150 cavalrymen traveled from the Presidio of San Francisco to patrol the park. This landform's toponym has been officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.[4]
According to the Köppen climate classification system, Mount Wood is located in an alpine climate zone.[8] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range. Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains into Parker and Alger Creeks, both of which are tributaries of Rush Creek.