Matterhorn Peak

USA / California / Mammoth Lakes /

mountain, mountaintop

Elevation 12,279 feet (3743 meters)
Yosemite National Park

First known ascent 1899.
In "The Dharma Bums" Jack Kerouac recounts the excursion in late October 1955 in which proto-beatniks Gary Snyder and John Montgomery take him to the top of Matterhorn Peak.
On the way back down, Snyder remarks that "you can't fall off a mountain." This incites in Kerouac a beatific (hence "beat") experience (i.e. satori or samadhi) as though he had found the answer to a most perplexing ko-an.
Photo shows the view looking north from this spot, with Bridgeport in the upper right corner of the picture.

www.summitpost.org/matterhorn-peak/150488

peakbagger.com/peak.aspx?pid=2595

www.calipidder.com/2014/11/climbing-sierra-nevadas-matt...

peakery.com/matterhorn-peak-california/

peakvisor.com/peak/matterhorn-peak.html

www.wilderlist.app/mountain/5f04d20f676f544db0f0d733

Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matterhorn_Peak

Nearby cities:

Coordinates: 38°5'35"N 119°22'54"W