Fay Peak is a

double-summit A double summit, double peak, twin summit, or twin peak refers to a mountain or hill that has two summits, separated by a col or saddle. One well-known double summit is Austria’s highest mountain, the Großglockner, where the main summit of ...

mountain located in

Mount Rainier National Park Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preservi ...

, in Pierce County of

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 on ...

state. It is part 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, ...

, and lies northwest of the summit of

Mount Rainier Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...

. The 6,492-foot elevation summit of Fay Peak lies a quarter-mile west of the highest point, East Fay Peak, . Echo Rock is its nearest higher neighbor, to the southeast. 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 Fay Peak is drained by Cataract Creek on the east side of the mountain, and the west side drains into

Mowich Lake Mowich Lake is a lake located in the northwestern corner of Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state at an elevation of . The name "Mowich" derives from the Chinook jargon word for deer. Access to the lake is provided by a long unpaved ro ...

and

Mowich River The Mowich River is a river in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Its drainage basin, watershed drains a portion of the western side of Mount Rainier, part of the Cascade Range. The river has two main Source (river or stream), headw ...

Climate

Fay Peak 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 The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, and travel northeast toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range ( Orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or

snowfall Snow comprises 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 throughout ...

onto the Cascades. As a result, the west side of the 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. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for viewing or climbing this peak.

History

This mountain's name honors Fay Fuller (1869–1958), the first woman to stand atop the summit of Mount Rainier. Her first successful ascent occurred on August 10, 1890, and her second on July 27, 1897. The name ''Fay Peak'' first appeared on a map of the mountain published in 1895.Mount Rainier National Park Place Names. Gary Fuller Reese (author), 2009. The toponym was officially adopted in 1913 by the

United States 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 governm ...

. The

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

of this peak was made August 15, 1884, by J. Warner Fobes, George James, and R. O. Wells.

Gallery

File:Fay Peak (c18b68965000409aabf166311567e6c1).JPG, Fay Peak from Mowich Lake File:Fay Peak 20956.JPG, Fay Peak from Knapsack Pass

References

External links

* National Park Service web site
Mount Rainier National Park
* Fay Peak
weather forecast
{{Geographic Location , Center = Fay Peak , North = Castle Peak , Northeast = Mother Mountain , East = Old Desolate , Southeast = Spray Park , South = Hessong Rock , Southwest =

, West = Elizabeth Ridge , Northwest =

Cascade Range Mountains of Pierce County, Washington Mountains of Washington (state) Mount Rainier National Park North American 1000 m summits

Climate

History

See also

Gallery

References

External links