Fifes Peaks is a compact group of summits and spires from an eroded volcanic cone located 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. Fifes Peaks is situated in 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 ...

on the east side of the crest, within the

Norse Peak Wilderness Norse Peak Wilderness is a designated wilderness area located in central Washington in the United States. It protects the portion of the Cascade Range north of Chinook Pass ( Highway 410), south of Naches Pass (Naches Trail), and east of Moun ...

. The Fifes Peaks are remnants of a now extinct

caldera A caldera ( ) is a large cauldron-like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. An eruption that ejects large volumes of magma over a short period of time can cause significant detriment to the str ...

which exploded 25 million years ago with volcanic activity extending from 20 to 30 million years ago.

Principal summits

* Fifes Peaks West Peak - 6,880+ ft * Fifes Peaks Central Peak- 6,793 ft * Fifes Peaks East Peak - 6,375 ft * Mainmast - 6,400+ ft * Cannonhole Pinnacle - 6,600+ ft * Teddy Bear Pinnacle - 6260 ftBeckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008.

History

Fifes Peaks were named for Thomas X. Fife (1853–1922), a placer miner. Thomas, his brothers, and their father, John, mined in the area near

Chinook Pass Chinook Pass (elevation 5430 ft./1656 m.) is a pass through the Cascade Range in the state of Washington. The pass is located on the crest of the Cascade Range, along a ridge between Yakima Peak to the northwest of the pass, and Naches Pe ...

. Tom homesteaded at Goose Prairie, near

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 ...

. Camp Fife, the Boy Scout Camp at Goose Prairie, also honors Tom Fife because he willed the land to the Boy Scouts.

Climate

Fifes Peaks are 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. Precipitation runoff from Fifes Peaks drains into tributaries of the

American River The American River is a List of rivers of California, river in California that runs from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada mountain range to its confluence with the Sacramento River in downtown Sacramento. Via the Sacramento River, it ...

and

Naches River The Naches River is a tributary of the Yakima River in central Washington in the United States. Beginning as the Little Naches River, it is about 75 miles (121 km) long. After the confluence of the Little Naches and Bumping River the name b ...

Gallery

File:Middle and East Fifes Peaks.jpg, Central and East File:Mainmast Fifes Peaks.jpg, Mainmast File:East Fifes Peak.jpg, East Peak File:Fifes Peaks 16960.JPG, West Peak File:Fifes Peaks unnamed pinnacle.jpg, pinnacle

References

External links