Cirque Mountain is a mountain summit located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of the North Cascades in Washington state. The mountain is situated on the crest 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 and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

, on the shared border of Snohomish County and Chelan County, also straddling the boundary between the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Wenatchee National Forest. Its nearest higher peak is

Napeequa Peak Napeequa Peak is an pyramidal mountain summit located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of the North Cascades in Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. The mountain is situated on the crest of the Cascade Range, on the shared border of Snohomi ...

, to the south. The peak is set on Chiwawa Ridge with Napeequa, and other notable peaks on this ridge include Fortress Mountain, Buck Mountain,

Brahma Peak Brahma Peak is a remote mountain summit located on Chiwawa Ridge in the North Cascades, in Chelan County, Washington, Chelan County of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state. The mountain is situated in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, on land m ...

Mount Berge Mount Berge is a double-summit granitic mountain located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of the North Cascades, in Chelan County of Washington state. The mountain is situated along the crest of the Cascade Range, on land managed by the Okanogan ...

, and Chiwawa Mountain. Topographic relief is significant since the western aspect of the mountain rises 4,000 feet above the Suiattle Valley in approximately . This mountain has small, unnamed, hanging glaciers in

cirque A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...

s surrounding the summit. Precipitation runoff from the peak and meltwater from the glaciers drains east to the headwaters of

Napeequa River The Napeequa River is a long river in the U.S. state of Washington on the east side of the Cascade Range. It rises in northwest Chelan County and flows southwest into the White River near Twin Lakes. The White River flows into Lake Wenatchee. ...

; or west into the

Suiattle River The Suiattle River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington. Course The Suiattle River originates from the Suiattle Glacier on the east slopes of Glacier Peak in the Cascade Range. It flows generally northwest to join the Sauk River north of ...

Geology

The North Cascades features some of the most rugged topography in the

with craggy peaks, 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 various climate differences. The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late Eocene Epoch. With the North American Plate overriding the

Pacific Plate The Pacific Plate is an oceanic tectonic plate that lies beneath the Pacific Ocean. At , it is the largest tectonic plate. The plate first came into existence 190 million years ago, at the triple junction between the Farallon, Phoenix, and Iza ...

, 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 period dating back over two million years ago, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured and shaped the landscape. Glaciation was most prevalent approximately , and most valleys were ice-free by .Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. 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. Napeequa Peak and Cirque Mountain

Subduction and tectonic activity in the area began during the late cretaceous period, about . Extensive volcanic activity began to take place in the

oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

, about 35 million years ago. Glacier Peak, a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

that is west of Cirque Mountain, began forming in the mid-Pleistocene.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Due to Glacier Peak's proximity to Cirque Mountain, volcanic ash is common in the area.

Climate

Cirque Mountain is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, 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 or snowfall 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.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. 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, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in high avalanche danger.

References

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External links

* Weather forecast
National Weather Service
* Napeequa, Cirque, and Glacier Peaks
PBase aerial photo
Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of Chelan County, Washington Mountains of Snohomish County, Washington Cascade Range North Cascades North American 2000 m summits

Geology

Climate

See also

References

External links