Bulls Tooth
Climate
Weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean travel east toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades. As a result, the Cascades experience 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.
Geology
The Alpine Lakes Wilderness features some of the most rugged topography in the Cascade Range with craggy peaks and ridges, deep glacial valleys, and granite walls spotted with over 700 mountain lakes. Geological events occurring many years ago created the diverse topography and drastic elevation changes over the Cascade Range leading to the various climate differences. Glacier Peak, a stratovolcano that is 30 mi (48 km) north of Bulls Tooth, began forming in the mid-Pleistocene.
During the Pleistocene period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured the landscape leaving deposits of rock debris. The last glacial retreat in the Alpine Lakes area began about 14,000 years ago and was north of the Canada–US border by 10,000 years ago. The U-shaped cross section of the river valleys is a result of that 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 Alpine Lakes Wilderness area.
See also
Gallery
References
- ^ "Bulls Tooth, Washington". Peakbagger.com.
- ^ "Bulls Tooth - 6,860' WA". listsofjohn.com. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ^ Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008.
- ^ "Bulls Tooth". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 2020-06-24.
- ^ Barnes, Nathan and Jeremy, Alpine Lakes Wilderness: The Complete Hiking Guide, Mountaineers Books. 2019.
- ^ Smoot, Jeff (2004). Backpacking Washington's Alpine Lakes Wilderness. Helena, Montana: The Globe Pequot Press.
- ^ Kruckeberg, Arthur (1991). The Natural History of Puget Sound Country. University of Washington Press.
External links
- Weather forecast: Bulls Tooth
- Alpine Lakes Wilderness (Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest) U.S. Forest Service