Dodger Point is a mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

located within

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a national park of the United States located in Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier e ...

in Jefferson County of

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.

Description

Dodger Point is part of the

Bailey Range The Bailey Range is a mountain range located within Olympic National Park in Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. Description The Bailey Range is a subrange of the Olympic Mountains. These remote mountains are situated within the Daniel ...

, which is a subrange of the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus (Washington), Mount Olympus is the high ...

, and is set within the

Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Daniel commonly refers to: * Daniel (given name), a masculine given name and a surname * List of people named Daniel * List of people with surname Daniel * Daniel (biblical figure) * Book of Daniel, a biblical apocalypse, "an account of the activi ...

. In clear weather, the mountain can be seen from the park's visitor center on Hurricane Ridge. The nearest higher neighbor is

line parent A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col ...

Ludden Peak, two miles to the southwest, Mount Scott rises to the south-southwest, and Stephen Peak is set four miles to the west. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the

Elwha River The Elwha River is a river on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. From its source at Elwha snowfinger in the Olympic Mountains, it flows generally north to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Most of the river's co ...

Topographic relief Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

is significant as the summit rises over 4,300 feet (1,310 m) above the Elwha Valley in approximately 1.5 mile. The Grand Canyon of the Elwha lies near the north base of the mountain.

Etymology

This landform was named by Forest Service District Ranger Sanford Maurice Floe (1896–1975) to honor fellow forest service employee, William Bryan "Dodger" Bender (1896–1930). Bender reportedly discovered an illegal Prohibition-era

still A still is an apparatus used to distillation, distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively Boiling, boil and then cooling to Condensation, condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic Distillation#Laboratory_procedures, ...

in the national forest and was stabbed by the moonshiner, then died a few years later due to complications of losing a lung from the knife attack. He was buried at Ocean View Cemetery in

Port Angeles, Washington Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, Clallam County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 19,960 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most populous city in t ...

Dodger Point Fire Lookout

The Dodger Point Fire Lookout was built atop the mountain in 1933.National Park Service, (1984) ''Historic Building Inventory 1983''
/ref> During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the lookout was used as an

Aircraft Warning Service The Aircraft Warning Service (AWS) was a civilian service of the United States Army Ground Observer Corps instated during World War II to keep watch for enemy planes entering American airspace. It became inactive on May 29, 1944. Purpose During W ...

station in 1942–43. The Dodger Point and Pyramid Peak Lookouts are the only stations remaining in Olympic National Park of the thirteen that were constructed.

Climate

Based on the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Dodger Point is located in the

marine west coast An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring co ...

climate zone of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

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 Olympic Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks (

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. As a result, the Olympics experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

danger. 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. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for viewing and climbing.

Gallery

File:Mount Dana Olympic National Park.jpg, Mt. Dana centered with Dodger Point to the right File:Elwha valley clouds.jpg, Clouds in Elwha Valley, with Dodger Point far right File:Hurricane Ridge - Dodger Point.jpg, Dodger Point centered, from Hurricane Ridge

References

External links

* * Weather forecast
Dodger Point

NGS Data Sheet
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Dodger Point , North = Grand Canyon of the Elwha , Northeast = Hurricane Ridge , East =

, ESE = McCartney Peak , Southeast = , South = Mount Scott , Southwest = Ludden Peak , WSW = , West = Stephen Peak , WNW = , Northwest = Mount Fairchild Olympic Mountains Mountains of Washington (state) Landforms of Olympic National Park One-thousanders of the United States Mountains of Jefferson County, Washington