The Ruby Mountains comprise one of the many mountain ranges of the Great Basin in the western United States. They are the most prominent range in Elko County, in the northeastern section of the state of Nevada. To the north is Secret Pass and the East Humboldt Range, and from there the Rubies run south-southwest for about 80 miles (130 km). To the east lies Ruby Valley, and to the west lie Huntington and Lamoille Valleys. The highest peak is Ruby Dome 11,387 feet (3,471 m), located at 40°37.3'N and 115°28.5'W in the central core of the range, about 21 mi (34 km) southeast of the community of Elko.
The 'Rubies' were named after the garnets found by early explorers. The central core of the range shows extensive evidence of glaciation during recent ice ages, including U-shaped canyons, moraines, hanging valleys, and steeply carved granite mountains, cliffs, and cirques. All of these features can be seen from the 12-mile paved National Forest Scenic Byway up Lamoille Canyon, which enters the range near the town of Lamoille.
Read more about Ruby Mountains: Major Features, Ecology, Geology, Wilderness Area
Famous quotes containing the words ruby and/or mountains:
“Lay down, lay down the bigly bier,
Lat me the dead look on;
Wi’ cherry cheeks and ruby lips
She lay an’ smil’d on him.
O ae sheave o’ your bread, true-love,
An’ ae glass o’ your wine,
For I hae fasted for your sake
These fully day [is] nine.”
—Anna Gordon Brown (1747–1810)
“Have We not made the earth as a cradle
and the mountains as pegs?
And We created you in pairs,
and We appointed your sleep for a rest;
and We appointed night for a garment,
and We appointed day for a livelihood.
And We have built above you seven strong ones,
and We appointed a blazing lamp
and have sent down out of the rain-clouds water cascading
that We may bring forth thereby grain and plants,
and gardens luxuriant.”
—Qur’an, “The Tiding” 78:6-16, ed. Arthur J. Arberry (1955)