Hal Foss Peak 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 in 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 ...

, 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. It is situated 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 ...

, and 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 ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is Mount Mystery, to the southwest, and Mount Fricaba is to the northeast. Precipitation runoff from the peak drains east to the

Dungeness River The Dungeness River is a long river located in the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. It rises near Mount Constance in the Olympic Mountains within the Olympic National Park, flows through the Buckhorn Wilderness, passes by the ...

via Heather Creek, and west into Deception Creek which is a tributary of the Dosewallips River.

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 2,800 feet (853 m) above Heather Creek in approximately one mile.

Etymology

The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1977 by the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a Federal government of the United States, federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geogr ...

to honor Harold Alfred "Hal" Foss (1922–1974), the first

Search and Rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

coordinator for the Washington State Department of Emergency Services.Olympic Mountain Rescue, ''Olympic Mountains: A Climbing Guide'', 4th Edition, 2006, Mountaineers Books, , page 146. He was instrumental in forming the National Search and Rescue Coordinators Association, of which he was president. He was also president of the

Mountain Rescue Association In the United States, mountain rescue is handled by professional teams within some national parks and by volunteer teams elsewhere. Volunteer teams are often members of the Mountain Rescue Association (MRA). Under the National Incident Manageme ...

, chairman of the Washington Mountain Rescue Council, and member of the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...

. Foss died of a heart attack while climbing

Mount St. Helens Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the local Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States ...

with his 18-year-old son Lynn on July 14, 1974.''Appalachia'', Volume 40, (1974), page 130.

Climate

Hal Foss Peak 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 climbing Hal Foss Peak.

Gallery

File:Mystery, Hal Foss, Fricaba.jpg, Mount Mystery (left), Hal Foss Peak (center), and Mount Fricaba (right). File:Looking south from Marmot Pass.jpg, Hal Foss Peak to left with Mount Mystery looming directly behind it.
Mount Fricaba to right. View from Marmot Pass. File:Mystery and Deception from Constance.jpg, The two prominent peaks in the distance are Mts. Mystery and Deception.
Hal Foss Peak can be seen between them. View is from Mt. Constance.

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=https://www.nps.gov/olym/index.htm , title=Olympic National Park , publisher=National Park Service * Weather
Hal Foss Peak
* Tribute to Hal Foss
Search and Rescue Magazine
* Hal Foss Peak photo
Flickr
Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of Jefferson County, Washington Olympic Mountains Landforms of Olympic National Park Two-thousanders of the United States

Etymology

Climate

Gallery

See also

References

External links