Mount Bullen 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 at the western edge of the North Cascades, in Snohomish County of

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. It is situated east of the community of Arlington, Washington, in the

Boulder River Wilderness Boulder River Wilderness is a wilderness area within the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in the western Cascade Range of Washington state. Topography Boulder River Wilderness is made up of dense forests and steep ridges that rise to ...

, on land managed by Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Nearby neighbors 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 ...

Whitehorse Mountain, to the northeast and Three Fingers, to the south. Precipitation

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from the mountain drains into headwaters of the Boulder River. Topographic relief is significant as the southeast aspect rises above Bullen Lake in approximately one-half mile, and the west aspect rises above Boulder River in two miles.

History

This mountain is named for Chauncey Bullen, a government

log scaler The log scaler is an occupation in the timber industry. The Log Scaler measures the cut trees to determine the scale (volume) and quality (grade) of the wood to be used for manufacturing. When logs are sold, in order to determine the basis for a ...

who died as a result of a log falling from a railroad car near Darrington in 1919.''Decisions on Geographic Names in the United States'', 1990, US Department of the Interior, p. 27 This geographical feature's "Mount Bullen" spelling was officially adopted in 1990 by the

U.S. Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

. Prior to that it was misspelled "Mount Bullon" which appears on older maps. 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 1936 by Hermann F. Ulrichs and companion. Ulrichs wrote of the experience: "I felt as if we had joined Sisyphus and his rock in Hell."

Climate

Mount Bullen is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Most weather fronts coming off the Pacific Ocean travel east toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach the North Cascades, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range ( orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snow 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. 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. Due to its temperate climate and proximity to the Pacific Ocean, areas west of the Cascade Crest very rarely experience temperatures below or above .

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, 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 l ...

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

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Epoch. With the

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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

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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 sections of the river valleys are the 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 creating the tall peaks and deep valleys of the North Cascades area.

Gallery

File:Mtbullon.jpg, Mt. Bullen centered at top, Whitehorse Mountain in upper right corner. Slopes of Three Fingers in foreground. File:Bullen mtn.jpg, Mt. Bullen seen from Whitehorse Mountain File:North Cascade Mountains from Everett, Washington.jpg, Left to rightː Whitehorse Mountain, Mount Bullen, Three Fingers (centered), Big Bear Mountain, Liberty Mountain File:Lake Cavanaugh with White Horse Mountain.JPG, Whitehorse (left), Bullen (center), Three Fingers (right) seen from Lake Cavanaugh

References

External links