Magic Mountain is a mountain summit located on the shared boundary of

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 ...

and Chelan County in

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. It is part 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 ...

Range, a subset of the Cascade Range. Magic Mountain is situated southeast of Cascade Pass on the shared border of North Cascades National Park and

Glacier Peak Wilderness Glacier Peak Wilderness is a , , wilderness area located within portions of Chelan, Snohomish, and Skagit counties in the North Cascades of Washington. The area lies within parts of Wenatchee National Forest and Mount Baker National Forest ...

. The nearest peak is Pelton Peak to the northeast, and the nearest higher peak is Hurry-up Peak to the south. The

Yawning Glacier Yawning Glacier is in North Cascades National Park in the U.S. state of Washington, on the east slopes of Magic Mountain. Yawning Glacier descends from . S Glacier lies to the south, and Cache Col Glacier is to the northwest. See also *List o ...

and

Cache Col Glacier Cache Col Glacier is in North Cascades National Park in the U.S. state of Washington, on the east slope of Mix-up Peak. Cache Col Glacier retreated nearly between 1950 and 2005. Cache Col Glacier is northwest of Yawning Glacier. See also *List ...

rest on its northern flank. Magic Mountain is at the northern end of the Ptarmigan Traverse. Surface runoff on the north side the mountain drains into the Stehekin River, while precipitation drains into the Cascade River from the southwest side.

Climate

Magic Mountain 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.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 contin ...

, 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, 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. 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 eart ...

danger.

Geology

The North Cascades features some of the most rugged topography in the Cascade Range 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 under ...

spires. 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 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 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

*
North Cascades National Park
National Park Service * Magic Mountain weather
Mountain Forecast
{{Geographic Location 2 , Center = Magic Mountain , North =

Sahale Mountain Sahale Mountain is a jagged, glaciated mountain, in North Cascades National Park, in northern Washington state. The summit of Sahale Mountain is referred to as Sahale Peak. It is south of its higher neighbor, Boston Peak, and the saddle betwee ...

, Northeast =

Buckner Mountain Buckner Mountain (sometimes called Mount Buckner) is a tall peak in the North Cascades of Washington state and in the Stephen Mather Wilderness of North Cascades National Park. At in elevation it is the highest in Skagit County and one of a ...

, ENE = Booker Mountain , East = Pelton Peak , ESE = Trapper Lake , Southeast =

Trapper Mountain Trapper Mountain is a summit located in Chelan County of Washington state. It is part of the North Cascades Range. Trapper Mountain is situated southeast of Cascade Pass on the shared border of North Cascades National Park and Glacier Pe ...

, South = Hurry-up Peak , Southwest =

Mount Formidable Mount Formidable is a mountain in the North Cascades of Skagit County, in Washington state. Its first ascent was undertaken by members of the original Ptarmigan Traverse, and the peak is a popular climb for parties on the traverse. It was named ...

, West = Cascade River , WNW =

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 ...

, Northwest =

Mix-up Peak Mix-up Peak, also known as Mixup Peak, is a mountain summit located on the shared boundary of Skagit County and Chelan County in Washington state. It is part of the North Cascades Range and is situated one mile south of Cascade Pass on the ...

North Cascades Mountains of Washington (state) Mountains of Chelan County, Washington Mountains of Skagit County, Washington Cascade Range North Cascades National Park North Cascades of Washington (state) North American 2000 m summits