Bismarck Peak is a mountain summit in

Yakima County Yakima County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 256,728. The county seat and most populous city is Yakima, Washington, Ya ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

state. It is also 24 miles east-southeast of

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier ( ), also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With an off ...

and centrally located in the

William O. Douglas Wilderness The William O. Douglas Wilderness is a designated wilderness in Central Washington. It includes located between the U.S. Route 12 and State Route 410 and is jointly administered by the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and the Gifford P ...

, on land administered by the

Wenatchee National Forest Wenatchee ( ) is the county seat and most populous city of Chelan County, Washington, United States. The population within the city limits in 2010 was 31,925, and has increased to 35,508 as of 2020. Located in the north-central part of the stat ...

. Bismarck Peak is situated east of the crest of the

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

, southeast of

Bumping Lake Bumping Lake is a lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on l ...

, south of

Mount Aix Mount Aix is a mountain summit in Yakima County of Washington state. Description Mount Aix is set in the William O. Douglas Wilderness on land administered by the Wenatchee National Forest and is the highest point in the wilderness area. Mo ...

, and northwest of

Rimrock Lake Rimrock Lake is a lake along the course of the Tieton River, in Yakima County, Washington state, US. The lake is used as a storage reservoir for the Yakima Project, an irrigation project run by the United States Bureau of Reclamation. An impou ...

. Its nearest higher peak is Mount Aix, to the north-northeast. Aix and Bismarck are the two highest peaks midway between

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in southeast Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County and northeast Lewis County, Washington, Lewis County in Washington (sta ...

and

Yakima, Washington Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, United States, and the state's 11th most populous city. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The ...

so they are quite prominent. Precipitation runoff from Bismarck Peak drains into tributaries of the

Yakima River The Yakima River is a tributary of the Columbia River in south central and eastern Washington state, named for the indigenous Yakama people. Lewis and Clark mention in their journals that the Chin-nâm pam (or the Lower Snake River Chamnapam N ...

, thence to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

Climate

Bismarck Peak is located east of the Cascade crest. Most

weather front A weather front is a boundary separating air masses for which several characteristics differ, such as air density, wind, temperature, and humidity. Disturbed and unstable weather due to these differences often arises along the boundary. For ins ...

s originating in the Pacific Ocean travel northeast toward the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as many of those in the ...

. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range (

orographic lift Orographic lift occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and cr ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snow onto the Cascades. As a result, the east side of the Cascades experiences less precipitation than the west side of the crest. During winter months, weather is usually cloudy, but due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008.

References

{{Reflist

External links

* National Forest Service web site
William O Douglas Wilderness
* Weather
Bismarck Peak
Cascade Range Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of Yakima County, Washington Two-thousanders of the United States

Climate

See also

References

External links