Glee Peak is a 7,180-foot-elevation (2,188 meter) mountain summit located in

Whatcom County Whatcom County is a county located in the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Washington, bordered by the Canadian Lower Mainland (the Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley Regional Districts of British Columbia) to the north, Okanogan ...

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, United States. It is set within North Cascades National Park and Stephen Mather Wilderness, where it is situated 1.7 mile north of The Roost and one mile south of

Azure Lake Azure Lake is a fjord-like lake located in east-central British Columbia, Canada. It is an expansion of the Azure River which rises from an unnamed glacier in the Cariboo Mountains. The outflow is also called the Azure River, but it is only long ...

. The nearest higher neighbor is McMillan Spire, to the north-northwest. Glee Peak is part of the Picket Range which is a sub-range of the

North Cascades The North Cascades are a section of the Cascade Range of western North America. They span the border between the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. state of Washington and are officially named in the U.S. and Canada as the Casca ...

, and like many North Cascades peaks, it is more notable for its large, steep rise above local

terrain 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 wo ...

than for its absolute elevation.

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 northeast aspect rises 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) above Stetattle Creek in approximately one mile, and the southwest aspect rises 6,000 feet (1,830 meters) above

Goodell Creek Goodell Creek is a tributary of the Skagit River in the U.S. state of Washington. Course For most of its length Goodell Creek flows through North Cascades National Park. It originates in the Picket Range of the North Cascades. Its headwaters dr ...

in three miles. 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 marke ...

from the mountain drains into these two creeks which are both tributaries of the

Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...

. Who made the first ascent of the summit is unknown, but Glee Davis and Burton Babcock were climbing in the immediate area as early as 1905.

Etymology

Davis Peak, located three miles southeast of Glee Peak, is officially named for the pioneering Davis family, who settled in the Skagit Valley near the base of the mountain. The family was led by Lucinda Davis, the mother of three children, who named her youngest son, Glee Davis (1885–1982). In his later years, Glee would have a homestead here and construct an electric generator on Stetattle Creek. The homestead was lost when

Seattle City Light Seattle City Light is the public utility providing electricity to Seattle, Washington, in the United States, and parts of its metropolitan area, including all of Shoreline and Lake Forest Park and parts of unincorporated King County, Burien, N ...

had the land condemned for the purpose of building hydroelectric dams on the Skagit. He also worked for the Forest Service, and in 1917 he built one of the country's first fire lookout towers on nearby Sourdough Mountain after he built the Sourdough Mountain trail in 1916.Erik Molvar (2019), ''Hiking the North Cascades: A Guide to More Than 100 Great Hiking Adventures'', Falcon Guides, , p. 70 Glee Peak is the unofficial name of this landform, and will remain unofficial as long as the

USGS The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, a ...

policy of not adopting new

toponyms Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...

in designated wilderness areas stays in effect.

Geology

The North Cascades features some of the most rugged topography in the Cascade Range with craggy peaks, ridges, and deep

glacial valley U-shaped valleys, also called trough valleys or glacial troughs, are formed by the process of glaciation. They are characteristic of mountain glaciation in particular. They have a characteristic U shape in cross-section, with steep, straight s ...

s. Geological events occurring many years ago created the diverse topography and drastic elevation changes over the Cascade Range leading to the various climate differences. These climate differences lead to vegetation variety defining the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) or ecozone (ecological zone) is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than a bioregion, which in turn is smaller than a biogeographic realm. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of ...

s in this area. The history of the formation of the Cascade Mountains dates back millions of years ago to the late

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'', " ...

Epoch. With the

North American Plate The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacif ...

overriding the Pacific Plate, episodes of volcanic igneous activity persisted. In addition, small fragments of the

oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

and

continental lithosphere A lithosphere () is the rigid, outermost rocky shell of a terrestrial planet or natural satellite. On Earth, it is composed of the crust and the portion of the upper mantle that behaves elastically on time scales of up to thousands of years or ...

called

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust (geology), crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and Accretion (geology), accreted or "Suture (geology), sutured" to crust lying on another pla ...

s created the

about 50 million years ago. 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 in ...

period, glaciation advancing and retreating repeatedly scoured the landscape leaving deposits of rock debris. The “U”-shaped cross section of the river valleys are a result of 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 North Cascades area.

Climate

Glee Peak 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 in ...

s 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 contin ...

, and travel east toward the

Cascade Mountains 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, a ...

. As fronts approach the

, 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 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 west side of the North Cascades experiences high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in high

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 eart ...

danger. 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.

Gallery

File:Glee Peak.jpg, View from Ruby Mountain, featuring Davis Peak (left), Glee Peak (centered), Mt. Degenhardt/Inspiration Peak (right of center), and the McMillan Spires to the right. File:Southern Pickets from Trappers Peak.jpg, Southern Picket Range seen from

Trappers Peak Trappers Peak is a elevation mountain summit located in the North Cascades of Washington (state), Washington state. It is situated within North Cascades National Park, Stephen Mather Wilderness, and Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County. It ...

with Glee Peak in upper right corner of frame. File:Glee Peak nw.jpg, Northwest aspect

References

External links

* Glee Peak aerial photo
PBase
* Glee Peak aerial photo
PBase

* Glee Peak with Azure Lake (photo)
Summitpost.org
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Glee Peak , North = Rhino Butte

, Northeast = Elephant Butte , East = Sourdough Mountain , Southeast = Davis Peak , South = The Roost , Southwest = Mount Triumph , West = The Chopping Block , Northwest =

Inspiration Peak Inspiration Peak is a glacial feature of the Leaf Hills Moraines and of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, Otter Tail County in the U.S. State of Minnesota and is the second highest peak in Otter Tail County. It is northwest of Alexandria, Minnesota ...