Chetwoot Lake is a freshwater
lake located on the western slope of
Iron Cap Mountain next to
Crawford Lake
Crawford may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crawford Bay Airport, British Columbia
* Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Ontario
United Kingdom
* Crawford, Lancashire, a small village near Rainford, Merseyside, England
* Crawford, South Lanarkshire, a vi ...
, in
King County
King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
,
Washington.
West Fork Foss River exits Chetwoot Lake towards
Angeline Lake
Angeline Lake is a freshwater lake located on the northern slope of Iron Cap Mountain between Otter Lake, Azure Lake and Big Heart Lake, in King County, Washington. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Big Sn ...
and then to a canyon that produces
Angeline Falls
Angeline Falls is a large waterfall located on an unnamed tributary of the West Fork Foss River in Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area, King County, Washington. It is a horsetail type waterfall high and more than wide. The waterfall is perennial and f ...
downstream towards
Delta Lake. Because Chetwoot Lake is at the heart of the
Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing.
Chetwoot is a compound word from the
Chinook Jargon ''chet’-woot'' or ''its’woot'' meaning
black bear or
grizzly.
Geography
Chetwoot Lake is nestled in a long structural
benchland
In geomorphology, geography and geology, a bench or benchland is a long, relatively narrow strip of relatively level or gently inclined land that is bounded by distinctly steeper slopes above and below it. Benches can be of different origins and ...
with relatively level or gently inclined land bounded by the distinctly steeper slopes of
Tourmaline Peak on the northwest shore of the lake and Atrium Peak above and between Angeline and
Big Heart Lake
Big Heart Lake is the most remote and highest-elevation on-trail lake in the West Fork Foss River system. It is a round-trip hike from the trailhead, just off of the Foss River Road. The lake is located at the eastern base of Camp Robber Peak i ...
. The lake covers from north to south and from east to west. The valley follows patterns of geomorphology typical of the Northern Cascade Mountains of the
Pacific Mountain System
The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...
with a
bedrock
In geology, bedrock is solid Rock (geology), rock that lies under loose material (regolith) within the crust (geology), crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet.
Definition
Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface mater ...
composed of
pyrrhotite and
pyrite found in thin seams wide at a depth of below the surface. The
host rock in this area is
greensand from the
Lopingian epoch 260 to 250 million years ago.
Climate
Chetwoot Lake is within a
hemiboreal climate.
The average temperature is 0 °C. The warmest month is August, with an average temperature of 13 °C, and the coldest month is January, at an average of −10 °C.
The average rainfall is 2,989 millimeters per year. The wettest month is January, with 396 millimeters of rain, and the least in July, with 38 millimeters of rain.
[
]
Access
Access to Chetwoot Lake is through West Fork Foss Lakes Trail #1064 off Forest Service road 6835 a side road of Foss River Road (Forest Service Road #68), which exits
US Highway 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whic ...
. The trail borders
Trout Lake,
Lake Malachite,
Copper lake and
Little Heart Lake
Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Little (album), ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt
*Little (film), ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film
*The Littles, a series of children's nov ...
before ending on campsites along Atrium Peak, the ridge between Big Heart Lake and Angeline Lake to the East. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Necklace Valley area.
[
]
See also
*
List of lakes of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness
The Alpine Lakes Wilderness is a large wilderness area in the North Cascades mountain range, located in northern Washington (state), Washington state, the Northwestern United States. Lakes in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness are protected within the We ...
*
Waterfalls of the West Fork Foss River Valley The valley of the West Fork Foss River contains a fair amount of waterfalls. The river heads in a series of large lakes: Big Heart Lake, Angeline Lake, and Otter Lake- which form spectacular waterfalls as they plunge down to Delta Lake. On the vall ...
References
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Lakes of King County, Washington
Lakes of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness
Okanogan National Forest