The Stuart Range is a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have aris ...

in central

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, United States. The range lies within the eastern extent 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 (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

immediately southwest of Leavenworth and runs east–west. The western peaks make up a single sharp ridge. The eastern half of the range splits into two parallel ridges, the northern of which is known as the Enchantment Peaks. Between these ridges lies the Enchantment Basin, which holds the dozens of tarns known as the Enchantment Lakes. Collectively, the basin and the encircling eastern peaks of the Stuart Range make up

The Enchantments The Enchantments is a region within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness area of Washington (state), Washington state's Cascade Mountain Range. At an elevation of 4,500 feet (1,372 m), it is home to over 700 alpine lakes and ponds surrounded by the vast ...

, a well-known backpacking destination. The south face of the Stuart Range falls off steeply to

Ingalls Creek The Ingalls surname is an English name with Norse roots, deriving from either of two Old Norse personal names "Ingjaldr," or from "Ingólfr" "Ing's wolf," Ing was an ancient Germanic fertility god. Some instances of this name in Britain are thought ...

, beyond which rise the roughly parallel

Wenatchee Mountains The Wenatchee Mountains are a range of mountains in central Washington State, United States of America. A major subrange of the Cascade Range, extending east from the Cascade crest, the Wenatchee Mountains separate the drainage basins of the Y ...

Partial list of peaks

A list of notable peaks is below. Within each subsection, peaks are ordered as nearly as possible from west to east.

Western peaks

Mount Stuart Mount Stuart is a mountain in the Cascade Range, in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is the second highest non-volcanic peak in the state, after Bonanza Peak (Washington), Bonanza Peak and seventh-highest overall. Mount Stua ...

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Sherpa Peak Sherpa Peak is an granite summit located in the Stuart Range, in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Chelan County of Washington state. The nearest higher peak is Mount Stuart, to the west, and Argonaut Peak lies to the east. The Sherpa Glaci ...

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Argonaut Peak Argonaut Peak is a tall mountain in the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Washington. Part of the Stuart Range part of the Wenatchee subrange of the Cascades, it is within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness of the Wenatchee National Forest and part ...

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Colchuck Peak Colchuck Peak is an mountain summit located in the Stuart Range, in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. The nearest higher peak is Dragontail Peak, to the ea ...

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Dragontail Peak Dragontail Peak, also known as Dragon Tail, is a mountain in the Stuart Range, in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County, Washington (U.S. state), Washington. While climbing an adjacent peak, Lex Maxwell, Bob McCall, and Bill Prater remarked t ...

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Eastern peaks of south ridge

* Witches Tower - - *

Little Annapurna Little Annapurna is an mountain summit located in Chelan County of Washington state. The origin of the name came from the Sherpa Climbing Club of Ellensburg and is inspired by the obvious resemblance to its Himalayan namesake when comparin ...

- - * McClellan Peak - - * Rocket Peak - - * Gremlin Peak - -

Enchantment Peaks (eastern peaks of north ridge)

Colchuck Balanced Rock Colchuck Balanced Rock is an granite mountain summit located in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. Colchuck Balanced Rock is part of The Enchantments within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. It bel ...

- + - * Cannon Mountain - - *

Enchantment Peak Enchantment Peak is an granite summit located in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. Enchantment Peak is part of The Enchantments within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Enchantment Peak belongs t ...

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Prusik Peak Prusik Peak is an granite summit located at the west end of The Temple in Chelan County of Washington state. Prusik Peak is part of The Enchantments within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness and is often the iconic photographic image of both ar ...

- - * The Temple - -

Geology

The Mount Stuart

batholith A batholith () is a large mass of intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock (also called plutonic rock), larger than in area, that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust. Batholiths are almost always made mostly of felsic or intermediate ...

underlies the Stuart Range and the nearby

. The batholith is about 13 by 16 miles in extent. Two plutonic masses are separated by a thin screen of Chiwaukum

Schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock generally derived from fine-grained sedimentary rock, like shale. It shows pronounced ''schistosity'' (named for the rock). This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a l ...

and rocks of the Ingalls Complex. The more-eastern

pluton In geology, an igneous intrusion (or intrusive body or simply intrusion) is a body of intrusive igneous rock that forms by crystallization of magma slowly cooling below the surface of the Earth. Intrusions have a wide variety of forms and com ...

is 93 million years old, while the more-western rock mass is between 83 and 86 million years old. Exposed rock tends to be

quartz diorite Quartz diorite is an igneous, plutonic ( intrusive) rock, of felsic composition, with phaneritic texture. Feldspar is present as plagioclase (typically oligoclase or andesine) with 10% or less potassium feldspar. Quartz is present at between 5 an ...

and

granodiorite Granodiorite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gra ...

. The range sits near a

convergent plate boundary A convergent boundary (also known as a destructive boundary) is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other, a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a ...

where one plate overrides another. In Western Washington, the North American Plate overrides the Juan de Fuca Plate, resulting in both volcanic and seismic activity. This convergence has been ongoing for over 200 million years. Continuing uplift and erosion has exposed the underlying granite batholith, making for one of the more spectacular mountain ranges in Washington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart Range Mountain ranges of Washington (state) Cascade Range

Partial list of peaks

Western peaks

Eastern peaks of south ridge

Enchantment Peaks (eastern peaks of north ridge)

Geology

See also

References