Mount Constance is a peak 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 ...
of
Washington and the third highest in the range. It is the most visually prominent peak on
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
's western skyline. Despite being almost as tall as the ice-clad
Mount Olympus
Mount Olympus (, , ) is an extensive massif near the Thermaic Gulf of the Aegean Sea, located on the border between Thessaly and Macedonia (Greece), Macedonia, between the regional units of Larissa (regional unit), Larissa and Pieria (regional ...
to the west, Mount Constance has little in the way of glaciers and permanent snow because the eastern, and particularly this northeastern, portion of the Olympics receives far less precipitation. However the narrow and steep Crystal Glacier still exists on the mountain's north face, shaded by the bulk of the main peak and with a small lake at its terminus. In addition, the treeline is higher here than mountains to the west, also hinting at the drier alpine conditions.
By virtue of its position at the eastern edge of the Olympics, Mount Constance also enjoys spectacular vertical relief. For example, it rises over above the
Dosewallips River to the south in only . It is also only from the tidewater of
Hood Canal. The summit of Mount Constance lies on the boundary between
Olympic National Park and
Buckhorn Wilderness. The Constance massif includes Mount Constance,
Inner Constance, the twin peaks of
Warrior
A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste.
History
...
to the north, as well as numerous subsidiary summits on rocky southern ridges enclosing the cirque basin that contains Lake Constance.
History
In 1853, surveyor
George Davidson named three mountains in the Olympics. He named
Mount Ellinor for Ellinor Fauntleroy, who later became his wife, Mount Constance for Ellinor's older sister and
The Brothers for her two brothers.
A U.S. Army bomber plane from
McChord Field crashed below the peak of Mount Constance in September 1941, killing all six aboard.
21 March 1975: an air traffic controller confused aircraft call signs and cleared a McChord AFB based C-141A, 64–0641, of the 62d Military Airlift Wing, to descend below safe minimums and it impacted Mount Constance in the Olympic National Forest, Washington, killing 16 passengers and crew
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 ...
, Mount Constance is located in the
marine west coast 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 ...
.
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 originate in the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
, and travel northeast toward 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 ...
. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Olympic Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall (
Orographic lift). As a result, the Olympics experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months. 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 or climbing this peak.
Geology
The Olympic Mountains are composed of
obducted clastic
Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, or clasts, of pre-existing minerals and rock. A clast is a fragment of geological detritus,Essentials of Geology, 3rd Ed, Stephen Marshak, p. G-3 chunks, and smaller grains of rock broken off other rocks by ...
wedge material and oceanic crust, primarily
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
sandstone
Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...
,
turbidite
A turbidite is the geologic Deposition (geology), deposit of a turbidity current, which is a type of amalgamation of fluidal and sediment gravity flow responsible for distributing vast amounts of clastic sediment into the deep ocean.
Sequencing
...
, and
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 ...
ic oceanic crust.
The mountains were sculpted during the
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 ...
era by erosion and glaciers advancing and retreating multiple times.
Climbing
Routes on the mountain are from Class 3 to mid-Class 5, with ratings from Grade 2 to Grade 4.
Mount Constance was first climbed in 1922 by R. Schellin and A.E. Smith from the southeast.
Access
Boulder Ridge (including the Gargoyles, Charlia Lakes, Cloudy Peak, Alphabet Ridge, and Warrior) and Home Lake / Constance Pass are readily accessed via the Buckhorn Wilderness Area (
U.S. Forest Service) side of the Upper
Dungeness River Trail and Marmot Pass. An alternative approach to the Mount Constance massif—including Inner Constance and the twin peaks of
Warrior
A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal society, tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, social class, class, or caste.
History
...
—is via the
Dosewallips River Trailhead off of
US 101 and
Hood Canal. A third alternative is to access the Constance massif via
Quilcene logging roads (FS 2700 aka "Penny Creek Road" off U.S. 101) leading to a brief ascent to Tunnel Creek Ridge and the high alpine shores of Harrison Lake. Views of the east side of Mount Constance and Warrior are available from these roads (the lower portions of which are paved) which actually connect to FS 2800 and the
Dungeness /
Sequim area via the 5000-foot Bon Jon Pass.
Gallery
File:Olympic mountain range, Olympic National Forest (35681711973).jpg, Mt. Constance from ENE (Tunnel Creek area)
File:The summit block of Mount Constance.jpg, The summit block of Mount Constance
File:Mount Constance from West Seattle.jpg, Constance from West Seattle
File:Mount Constance.jpg, Constance seen from Hood Canal
File:Avalanche Canyon of Mt. Constance.png, Avalanche Canyon of Mt. Constance
File:Mt Constance.jpg, North aspect of Constance from Buckhorn Mountain
See also
*
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 ...
*
Geology of the Pacific Northwest
References
External links
* Weather forecast
Mount Constance*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Constance, Mount
Mountains of Jefferson County, Washington
Mountains of Washington (state)
Olympic Mountains
Landforms of Olympic National Park