Little Devil Peak is a 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 Skagit County of Washington state. It is set within

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 ...

and

Stephen Mather Wilderness The Stephen Mather Wilderness is a wilderness area honoring Stephen Mather, the first director of the National Park Service. It is located within North Cascades National Park, Lake Chelan National Recreation Area, and Ross Lake National Recreat ...

, where it is situated 3.1 miles northeast of Lookout Mountain. Little Devil is the second-highest peak of Teebone Ridge, and other peaks on this ridge include

line parent A peak's line parent is the closest higher peak on the highest ridge leading away from the peak's "key col". A col is the lowest point on the ridge between two summits and is roughly synonymous with pass, gap, saddle and notch. The highest col of ...

Big Devil Peak, Fallen Angel, and The Trapezoid. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains into tributaries of the Skagit River. Like many North Cascades peaks, it is more notable for its large, steep rise above local terrain than for its absolute elevation. Topographic relief is significant as the south aspect rises above Marble Creek in three miles, and the east aspect rises above Newhalem Creek in approximately 1.5 mile.

Climate

Little Devil 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, and travel east 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. Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in high avalanche danger. This climate supports a small glacier and glacierets on Little Devil's slopes. 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.

Geology

The North Cascades features 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, spires, 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 the 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 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.

References

External links

* Weather forecast
Little Devil Peak
* Little Devil Peak
The Mountaineers
National Park Service {{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Little Devil Peak , North = Fallen Angel , Northeast = Newhalem Creek , East =

Perdition Peak Perdition Peak is a mountain summit located in North Cascades National Park in Skagit County, Washington, Skagit County of Washington (state), Washington state. The peak lies northwest of Dorado Needle and northwest of Eldorado Peak. It can b ...

, Southeast = Marble Creek , South = Monogram Lake , Southwest = Lookout Mountain , West = Skagit River , Northwest = Big Devil Peak Mountains of Washington (state) North Cascades National Park Mountains of Skagit County, Washington North Cascades Cascade Range North Cascades of Washington (state) North American 2000 m summits