Mount Bailey is a relatively young

tephra Tephra is fragmental material produced by a Volcano, volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism. Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, ...

cone and

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

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 ...

, located on the opposite side of Diamond Lake from Mount Thielsen in southern

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, United States. Bailey consists of a -high main cone on top of an old

basaltic andesite Basaltic andesite is a volcanic rock that is intermediate in composition between basalt and andesite. It is composed predominantly of augite and plagioclase. Basaltic andesite can be found in volcanoes around the world, including in Central Ameri ...

shield

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

. With a volume of , Mount Bailey is slightly smaller than neighboring Diamond Peak. Mount Bailey is a popular destination for recreational activities. Well known in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

region as a haven for skiing in the winter months, the mountain's transportation, instead of a conventional

chairlift An elevated passenger ropeway, or chairlift, is a type of aerial lift, which consists of a continuously circulating steel wire rope loop strung between two end terminals and usually over intermediate towers. They are the primary on-hill tran ...

, is provided by

snowcat A snowcat (a portmanteau of snow and caterpillar) is an enclosed-cab, truck-sized, fully tracked vehicle designed to travel over snow. Major manufacturers are PistenBully (Germany), Prinoth (Italy), and Tucker (United States). Snow groomer ...

s—treaded, tractor-like vehicles that can ascend Bailey's steep, snow-covered slopes and carry skiers to the higher reaches of the mountain. In the summer months, a hiking trail gives foot access to Bailey's summit. Mount Bailey is one of Oregon's Matterhorns. Native Americans are credited with the first ascents of Bailey. Spiritual leaders held feasts and prayer vigils on the summit.McArthur, p. 664.

Etymology

The origin of the mountain's name is a matter of dispute. Older maps show its name as either "Old Baldy" or "Old Bailey", "Bailey" possibly being a drafting error. The summit's bald, burnt-over appearance might indicate the origin of the designation "Baldy". No record of a person named Bailey who was connected with the peak has been found. In 1992, the Oregon Geographic Names Board voted to name the mountain in honor of

naturalists Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

Vernon and Florence Bailey. According to William G. Steel, the Klamath name for the mountain was ''Youxlokes'', which means "Medicine Mountain". According to Klamath tradition, their medicine men and priests would feast on the mountain's summit and commune with the upper world.

Geography and geology

Mount Bailey is part of the High Cascades in the western United States. The High Cascades have long been glaciated, by both Pacific-bred storms and natural, elevation-caused, glaciation. In fact, glaciation probably formed on them as early as the late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

. Over time, as the range built up, newer activity diminished older

Tertiary Tertiary (from Latin, meaning 'third' or 'of the third degree/order..') may refer to: * Tertiary period, an obsolete geologic period spanning from 66 to 2.6 million years ago * Tertiary (chemistry), a term describing bonding patterns in organic ch ...

age rock. Creating

lava plateau A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced by volcanic activity. There are two main types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic plateaus. Lava plateau Lava plateaus are formed by highly fluid basaltic lava during numerous successive eruptions throug ...

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Union Peak Union Peak is a heavily eroded shield volcano in the Cascade Range of central Oregon, located along the Cascade Crest less than southwest of the rim of Crater Lake. Ice age glaciers eroded away most of the flanks of the volcano, leaving numer ...

. Mount Bailey heads the Mount Bailey chain, which consists of the mountain and smaller

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

s trending north. Similarly to its neighbor Mount Thielsen, it is a

with precipitous summit slopes. Built around the same time as Rodley Butte, according to morphological study, the current volcano is no more than 100,000 years old, and formed relatively close to Diamond Peak's current cone. Despite its similarity to Rodley Butte, both in age and original composition, Bailey switched from erupting

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

andesite Andesite () is a volcanic rock of intermediate composition. In a general sense, it is the intermediate type between silica-poor basalt and silica-rich rhyolite. It is fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic in texture, and is composed predomina ...

.Wood and Kienle, pp. 190–191. Bailey is comprised by a central

cone, upon which basaltic andesite eruptions streamed over, building up to create the current volcano. Eventually switching to andesite, it may have been built over several eruptions or even eruptive periods, judging from the

silicic Silicic is an adjective to describe magma or igneous rock rich in silica. The amount of silica that constitutes a silicic rock is usually defined as at least 63 percent. Granite and rhyolite are the most common silicic rocks. Silicic is the g ...

nature of its rock. It is currently

inactive Inactive is a TRPV channel in invertebrates Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including ...

, having been since approximately the time

Mount Mazama Mount Mazama ( Klamath: ''Tum-sum-ne'') is a complex volcano in the western U.S. state of Oregon, in a segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and Cascade Range. The volcano is in Klamath County, in the southern Cascades, north of the Oregon– ...

became active, sometime in the early

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

epoch.

Ecology and recreation

Diamond lake snowmobile trail near mount bailey GOPR2154

Diverse flora exists on Mount Bailey. Starting at the lower slopes, the prominent tree type is standard

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

, eventually changing to a landscape of

mountain hemlock ''Tsuga mertensiana'', known as mountain hemlock, is a species of hemlock native to the west coast of North America, found between Southcentral Alaska and south-central California. Description ''Tsuga mertensiana'' is a large evergreen conifer ...

, western white pine, and Shasta

fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

. Bailey is a popular hiking and skiing site, due to its steep climbs and views of Diamond Lake. It is accessible from Oregon Route 230, starting at the Fox Spring trailhead. Following the Mount Bailey Trail, part of the Diamond Lake Recreational Area,Dunegan, p. 157. hikers can see "panoramas to the northeast of Diamond Lake and Bailey's dizzying avalanche bowl".Bernstein, p. 32. To skiers, the peak is known for its method of transportation, featuring

References

Bibliography

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External links