Knight Peak is a 2,235-meter-elevation (7,333-foot) mountain

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

located in the

Cheam Range The Cheam Range (pronounced or ) is a mountain range in the Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia near the city of Chilliwack. The region is also a part of the Skagit Range of the Canadian Cascades and contains many rugge ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Description

Knight Peak is situated east of Chilliwack and south of the southern tip of

Wahleach Lake Wahleach Lake, commonly known as Jones Lake, is a lake and reservoir located in the Skagit Range in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, east of the city of Chilliwack, British Columbia, Chilliwack and southwest of the town of Hope, Brit ...

. Knight Peak is more notable for its steep rise above local terrain than for its absolute elevation. Topographic relief is significant as the south aspect rises over above Airplane Creek in , and the north aspect rises in . 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 this mountain drains south to the

Chilliwack River Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

via Airplane and Foley creeks, and north to the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

via Wahleach Lake and Wahleach Creek. The nearest higher neighbor is

Baby Munday Peak Baby Munday Peak is a 2,250-meter-elevation (7,382-foot) mountain summit located in the Cheam Range of British Columbia, Canada. Description Baby Munday Peak is a sharp summit set east of Chilliwack and south of the southern tip of Wahleach La ...

, to the east.

History

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 the summit was made in September 1892 by Ebe B. Knight and David Walker. Don Serl and Bruce Kay first climbed the northwest face in April 1987. The peak was likely named after Ebe R. Knight who made the first ascent and was a leading spirit in various ascents in this area during 1888–1892. He also made first ascents of

Cheam Peak Cheam Peak or Mount Cheam (pronounced and in English, in Halqemeylem, the local indigenous language, referring to the lowland below. The Halqemeylem name for the mountain is Lhílheqey – ''Theeth-uhl-kay'' – from the word ''Lhelqey'' – " ...

, Stewart Peak and

Lady Peak Lady Peak is a mountain located just southeast of Cheam Peak in the Cheam Range near Chilliwack, British Columbia. It is west of the four peaks in the eastern portion of the range known as '' The Lucky Four Group'' or ''The Lucky Four'', consistin ...

. The toponym was officially adopted May 30, 1946, by the

Geographical Names Board of Canada The Geographical Names Board of Canada (GNBC) is a national committee with a secretariat in Natural Resources Canada, part of the Government of Canada, which authorizes the names used and name changes on official federal government maps of Canada ...

Climate

Knight Peak is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America. 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 the North Cascades, 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 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 earth ...

danger. Temperatures in winter can drop below −20 °C with wind chill factors below −30 °C. This climate supports a small glacier in the cirque northeast of the peak. 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.

Geology

The North Cascades feature some of the most rugged topography in 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, ...

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 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 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 North Cascades 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 is 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.

Gallery

File:Knight, Baby Munday, Cheam Range.jpg, Cheam Range seen from Mt. Laughington. Left to rightː Knight Peak, Baby Munday Peak, The Still, and part of Welch Peak. File:Jones Lake - Cheam Range.jpg, Cheam Range seen from the north at Wahleach Lake.
Knight Peak is the large peak to right of center. File:Lady Peak and Knight Peak.jpg, Lady Peak (left) and Knight Peak (right) seen from west near Chilliwack File:Cascades near Chilliwack, BC.jpg, Cheam Range seen from the west near Chilliwack.
L to R: Cheam, Lady, Knight (center), Baby Munday, Still, Welch.

References

External links

* Knight Peak
Weather Forecast
* Northwest Face (photo)
Flickr
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Knight Peak , North =

, Northeast = Stewart Peak , East =

, Southeast = Airplane Creek , South =

, Southwest = Mount Laughington , West = , WNW =

, Northwest =

Two-thousanders of British Columbia North Cascades Yale Division Yale Land District Cascade Range