Hidden Lake Peaks is series of peaks with a maximum elevation of that are located in 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 Cascad ...

, in

Skagit County Skagit County is a county in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 129,523. The county seat and largest city is Mount Vernon. The county was formed in 1883 from Whatcom County and is named for the Skagit Ind ...

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. The peaks extend three miles southwest from the nearest higher peak called The Triad. Situated on the western boundary of

North Cascades National Park North Cascades National Park is an American national park in the state of Washington. At more than , it is the largest of the three National Park Service units that comprise the North Cascades National Park Complex. North Cascades National Par ...

, Hidden Lake Peaks are positioned west of 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, ...

, approximately ten miles east of the town of

Marblemount Marblemount is a census-designated place in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 203 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Present-day Ma ...

. The popular subsidiary peak, Hidden Lake Lookout (6890 ft), lies a half mile to the southwest of the highest summit. The mountain's name is taken from its proximity to Hidden Lake which lies in a

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 ...

below the east aspect of these two main peaks. 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 Hidden Lake Peaks drains into Cascade River which is a tributary 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& ...

Climate

Hidden Lake Peaks are 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 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 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 continen ...

, and travel northeast 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, ...

. As fronts approach the

, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range (

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 ...

), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades. As a result, the west side of the North 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. 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 earth ...

danger, particularly on the steep western meadow-covered slopes that are above treeline.

Geology

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

with craggy peaks and ridges, 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, and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

spires.

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 The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

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 Pacific ...

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 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 o ...

called

terrane In geology, a terrane (; in full, a tectonostratigraphic terrane) is a crust fragment formed on a tectonic plate (or broken off from it) and accreted or " sutured" to crust lying on another plate. The crustal block or fragment preserves its own ...

s created the

about 50 million years ago. During the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), 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 fina ...

period dating back over two million years ago, 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 Uplift may refer to: Science * Geologic uplift, a geological process ** Tectonic uplift, a geological process * Stellar uplift, the theoretical prospect of moving a stellar mass * Uplift mountains * Llano Uplift * Nemaha Uplift Business * Uplif ...

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.

Hidden Lake Peak Lookout

The gable roof single-room 14' by 14' lookout was built by the U.S. Forest Service in 1931 and was staffed until 1958, when many fire lookouts in the North Cascades were closed. In 1961 Dr. Fred Darvill and the Skagit Alpine Club obtained a special use permit to restore and maintain the structure. A volunteer group now maintains the lookout, which is open to the public on a first-come-first-serve basis for overnight use. The lookout is generally accessible from July until October, as determined by snow conditions.

National Register

The Hidden Lake Peak Lookout was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on July 14, 1987, and is also on the

National Historic Lookout Register The National Historic Lookout Register is a program administered by the United States Forest Service, the Forest Fire Lookout Association, the National Forestry Association, the National Woodland Owners Association, state forestry departments and D ...

. :Structure - ID #87001184 :North Cascades National Park overlooking the

Cascade Pass Cascade Pass (formerly also known as Skagit Pass Marblemount, Washington Marblemount is a census-designated place in Skagit County, Washington, United States. The population was 203 at the 2010 census. It is included in the Mount Vernon– Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Present-day Ma ...

:Elevation

Access

The trailhead for Hidden Lake Trail #745 to the top of Hidden Lake Peak Lookout is located at the end of five mile long Forest Service Road #1540, which junctions 9.5 miles up the Cascade River Road from Marblemount. The steep trail, with a elevation gain, starts in forest then transitions to wonderful

wildflower A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...

filled meadows before climbing high into heather and rock gardens. The summit provides views of the peaks of the Ptarmigan Traverse, the

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 ...

Glacier Peak Glacier Peak or Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language as "Tda-ko-buh-ba" or "Takobia") is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the U.S state of ...

and

Mount Baker Mount Baker (Lummi: '; nok, Kw’eq Smaenit or '), also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount ...

, and other giants such as

Forbidden Peak Forbidden Peak is an glacial horn located in North Cascades National Park, in Skagit County of Washington state. It is part of the North Cascades and is located near Cascade Pass. Forbidden Peak features a rock climbing route named '' West Rid ...

, Eldorado Peak, and Snowking Mountain.

Gallery

File:Hidden Lake Pk.jpg, Hidden Lake Peak and Hidden Lake File:Hidden Lake Peaks north.jpg, One of the northern Hidden Lake Peaks File:Hidden Lake Peak views.jpg, The highest of the Hidden Lake Peaks seen from the lookout with

Dorado Needle Dorado Needle is an mountain summit located in North Cascades National Park in Skagit County of Washington state. The peak lies 0.73 miles north of Eldorado Peak and southeast of Perdition Peak. It can be seen from the North Cascades Hig ...

(left) and Eldorado Peak (right) File:Hidden Lake Peaks vista north.jpg, Hidden Lake Peaks with Early Morning Spire and Dorado Needle (left) File:Snowking Mountain with Mutchler Peak.jpg, Snowking Mountain seen from Hidden Lake Peak File:Hidden Lake Peaks snowy.jpg, Hidden Lake Peaks, east aspect File:Mt. Baker seen from Hidden Lake Peaks.jpg, Mt. Baker seen from Hidden Lake Peaks

References

External links

Hidden Lake Trail
National Park Service * Hidden Lake Peaks weather
Mountain Forecast
* Hidden Lake Peaks
YouTube
* Hidden Lake Peaks photo
Flickr
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Hidden Lake Peaks , North = Perdition Peak , Northeast = Eldorado Peak , ENE =

, East =

Boston Peak Boston Peak is a tall peak in the North Cascades in the U.S. state of Washington and within North Cascades National Park. At in elevation it is the 26th highest peak in Washington. Its nearest higher neighbor is Buckner Mountain, to the east. ...

, ESE =

Cascade Pass Cascade Pass (formerly also known as Skagit Pass Johannesburg Mountain Johannesburg Mountain is one of the most famous peaks in the North Cascades of Washington (U.S. state), Washington U.S. state, state. Though not one of the top 100 peaks in the state by elevation, nor one of the top peaks as ranked by topograp ...

, South = Mount Misch , Southwest = Snowking Mountain , WSW =

Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, West =

, WNW = Cascade River , Northwest = Big Devil Peak North Cascades Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of Skagit County, Washington Cascade Range Fire lookout towers on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)

Hidden Lake Peak Lookout Hidden or The Hidden may refer to: Film and television Film * ''The Hidden'' (film), a 1987 American science fiction/horror film * ''Hidden'' (2005 film) or ''Caché'', a French thriller film * ''Hidden'' (2009 film), a Norwegian horror film ...

North Cascades National Park North American 2000 m summits