Mount Redoubt is a mountain in the
North Cascades range in
Whatcom County,
Washington state. The peak is located from the
Canada–US border, east-northeast of
Mount Shuksan. It is the 21st highest peak in the state, with a height of and a
prominence of .
Redoubt is in the
Skagit Range, a sub-range of the
North Cascades, in the Custer-Chilliwack Group which includes
Mount Spickard, Mount Redoubt,
Mount Custer and
Mox Peaks, among others.
Redoubt, Bear, and
Depot creeks drain off the mountain, which is composed of Skagit
gneiss.
Mount Redoubt is listed as one of the "Classic Eight Peaks" in the North Cascades.
The mountain lies within the
Stephen Mather Wilderness of North Cascades National Park, in remote terrain far from human settlement and difficult to access. It was first climbed in 1930, by Jimmy Cherry and Bob Ross.
The nearest higher peak is
Mount Spickard, (), which is to the east-northeast.
Spickard's prominence is much greater than Redoubt's.
The
Redoubt Glacier lies on the eastern slopes of the peak and smaller unnamed glaciers lie to the north.
There is a smaller mountain northwest of Mount Redoubt called
Nodoubt Peak, whose name is a play on the larger mountain's name. Nodoubt Peak was named by a group of geologists who climbed the peak in 1967.
Climate
Mount Redoubt 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 ...
.
[Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008.] 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
Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach the
North Cascades, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of
rain
Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
or
snowfall
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes.
It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
onto the Cascades (
Orographic lift). As a result, the west side of the North Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. 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, p. 16] Because of
maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in high
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.
Geology
The North Cascades features some of the most rugged topography 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 ...
with craggy peaks, spires, ridges, and deep
glacial valleys. Geological events occurring many years ago created the diverse topography and drastic elevation changes over the Cascade Range leading to the various climate differences.
The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late
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 ...
Epoch.
With the
North American Plate overriding the
Pacific Plate, episodes of
volcanic igneous activity persisted.
[ In addition, small fragments of the oceanic and continental lithosphere called terranes created the North Cascades about 50 million years ago.][
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 ...
period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured the landscape leaving deposits of rock debris.[ The U-shaped cross section of the river valleys is a result of recent glaciation. Uplift and faulting in combination with glaciation have been the dominant processes which have created the tall peaks and deep valleys of the North Cascades area.
]
Gallery
File:Mt. Redoubt from Copper Ridge.jpg, Mount Redoubt from Copper Ridge
See also
*
* Mount Prophet
* Mount Spickard
* List of mountains by elevation
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Redoubt (Washington), Mount
Skagit Range
Mountains of Whatcom County, Washington
North Cascades National Park