Mount Steel is a 6,225-foot-elevation (1,897-meter) 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 a m ...

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 is the highest at ; however, the east ...

, in

Jefferson County Jefferson County may refer to one of several counties or parishes in the United States, all of which are named directly or indirectly after Thomas Jefferson: *Jefferson County, Alabama *Jefferson County, Arkansas *Jefferson County, Colorado **Jeffe ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

state. It is situated in

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of 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 ...

and the

Daniel J. Evans Wilderness Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is

Mount Duckabush Mount Duckabush is a peak located in Olympic National Park in the Olympic Mountains of Washington (state), Washington state. The headwaters of the Duckabush River include the northwest slopes of Mount Duckabush. Climate Based on the Köppen c ...

, to the southwest. 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 the mountain drains south into tributaries of the North Fork

Skokomish River The Skokomish River is a river in Mason County, Washington, United States. It is the largest river flowing into Hood Canal, a western arm of Puget Sound. From its source at the confluence of the North and South Forks the main stem Skokomish River ...

, and north into headwaters of the

Duckabush River The Duckabush River is located in the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, United States. It rises near Mount Duckabush and Mount Steel Mount Steel is a 6,225-foot-elevation (1,897-meter) mountain summit located in the Olympic Mountains, in Jef ...

Topographic relief Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin w ...

is significant as the summit rises over 3,400 feet (1,036 m) above the Duckabush River in approximately one mile.

Climate

Mount Steel is located in the

marine west coast An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...

climate zone of western North America. 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 ...

s originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the

. 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 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 ...

). As a result, the Olympics experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months. 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. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in

avalanche An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be set off spontaneously, by such factors as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, animals, and ear ...

danger. The months May through October offer the most favorable weather for climbing or viewing.

History

The mountain's name was officially adopted in 1902 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal govern ...

. It honors

William Gladstone Steel William Gladstone Steel (September 7, 1854 – October 21, 1934) was an American journalist who was known for campaigning for 17 years for the United States Congress to designate Crater Lake as a National Park. Steel is from Ohio, and worked in th ...

(1854–1934), American journalist and mountaineer who encouraged the US Army to permit one of theirs to explore the Olympic Mountains, which resulted in the 1885 and 1890 O'Neil Expeditions. Gail E. H. Evans, T. Allan Comp, 1983, Olympic Historic Resource Study, nps.gov
/ref> Steel was also founder of the Oregon Alpine Club, the first mountaineering organization in the Pacific Northwest. Steel recruited three of the club's members to join Lieutenant

Joseph P. O'Neil Joseph Patrick O'Neil (December 27, 1863 – July 27, 1938) was a United States Army officer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served in several conflicts, including World War I. Biography Joseph O'Neil was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

's second expedition, and sometime during or immediately after the expedition, the mountain was christened after him. It was during the second expedition that the north slope of Mt. Steel was burned when a small fire that the group set to eradicate wasps got out of control. William G. Steel led an ascent of Mount Steel on August 24, 1906.

Climbing routes

Established ascent routes on Mt. Steel: * via First Divide – * via Marmot Lake Trail – class 1

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 rock ...

wedge material and oceanic crust, primarily

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...

turbidite A turbidite is the geologic 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 Turbidites w ...

, and

basalt Basalt (; ) is an 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 surface of a rocky planet or moon. More than 90% of a ...

ic oceanic crust. The mountains were sculpted during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the '' Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed ...

era by erosion and glaciers advancing and retreating multiple times.

Gallery

File:Mount Steel, Olympic Mountains.jpg, South aspect of Mt. Steel, centered
( West Peak directly behind) File:Mts. Duckabush and Steel, Olympic National Park.jpg, Mt. Duckabush (left) and Mt. Steel (right) seen from

Mount Skokomish Mount Skokomish is a 6,434 ft (1,961 meter) mountain summit located in the Olympic Mountains, in Mason County of Washington state. It is situated on the shared boundary of Olympic National Park with Mount Skokomish Wilderness, and i ...

File:William Gladstone Steel (old).jpg, William Gladstone Steel

References

External links

* {{cite web , url=http://www.nps.gov/olym , title=Olympic National Park , publisher=National Park Service * Weather forecast
Mount Steel
Steel Steel Steel Steel Steel