Marcus Peak is a summit located in Mount Rainier National Park in Pierce County of Washington state. It is part of the Sourdough Mountains which are a small subset 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 and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, and it is situated north of

Dege Peak Dege Peak is a 7,006-foot (2,135 m) summit located in Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. It is part of the Sourdough Mountains in Mount Rainier National Park. It was named in 1932 for James ...

. The peak was named in 1932 for Marcus Whitman (1802–1847), an early pioneer and physician.''Mount Rainier National Park Place Names''. Gary Fuller Reese (author), 2009. The

Whitman Glacier The Whitman Glacier is a medium-sized glacier on the eastern flank of Little Tahoma Peak, a sub-peak of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named for the missionary Marcus Whitman, it covers and contains 4.4 billion ft3 (125 million m3) of ice. Starting ...

Little Tahoma Little Tahoma Peak, also called Little Tahoma, is a satellite peak of Mount Rainier in Pierce County, Washington and in Mount Rainier National Park. It is quite noticeable from Seattle over away. Little Tahoma Peak is a volcanic remnant. It ...

also honors him. Access to Marcus Peak is limited due to snow closing the Sunrise Road much of the year. July, August, and September are typically the months when the Sunrise Road is seasonally open for vehicle traffic. The nearest higher peak is Palisades Peak, to the north-northeast. Precipitation

runoff Runoff, run-off or RUNOFF may refer to: * RUNOFF, the first computer text-formatting program * Runoff or run-off, another name for bleed, printing that lies beyond the edges to which a printed sheet is trimmed * Runoff or run-off, a stock market ...

from Marcus Peak drains into the White River.

Climate

Marcus Peak is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Most weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean travel northeast toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range ( orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snow onto the Cascades. As a result, the west side of the Cascades experiences 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 high avalanche 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.

References

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External links

* National Park Service web site
Mount Rainier National Park
* Weather
Marcus Peak
Cascade Range Mountains of Pierce County, Washington Mountains of Washington (state) Mount Rainier National Park North American 2000 m summits