I was surprised to discover, while browsing the USGS website, that the official elevations of several prominent Sierra peaks seems to fall short of what I thought their elevation was. According to the official elevations posted by the USGS, Thunderbolt Peak, Mount Muir, Middle Palisade, Mount Tyndall and Mount Langley are all lower than 14,000 feet. That means that, officially, there are only 9 fourteeners in California. Polemonium and Starlight are not listed (and never were) because they lack prominence, but Crooks Peak (Day Needle) is listed among the 9.
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic ... ID:1654923
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic ... ID:1654925
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic ... ID:1654979
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic ... FID:268266
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic ... ID:1654926
I don't think it's that important, but I wonder if there was a recent systematic revision of Sierra elevations, not yet included in commonly available maps. Does anyone know about this?