Mount Fremont is a 7,214-foot-elevation (2,199 m) mountain summit located in
Mount Rainier National Park in
Pierce County of
Washington state.
[
] Mount Fremont is a minor peak at the southwest corner of the
Sourdough Mountains which are a subset 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, ...
. It also the juncture for a small ridge of peaks of similar size running to the northeast. Mount Fremont is situated northwest of the
Sunrise Historic District
The Sunrise Historic District, also known as the community of Sunrise, Washington, is located at approximately on a ridge overlooking the northeast side of Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park. The district comprises seven individual s ...
, with a popular trail leading to the
Mount Fremont Fire Lookout
The Mount Fremont Fire Lookout is a fire lookout in the northern region of Mount Rainier National Park at an elevation above , the highest in the park. One of four fire lookouts remaining in the park, the lookout is used for visitor services dur ...
. However, this trail does not reach the true summit which is north of Frozen Lake. Peak 7317, also known as Mount Fremont North, located west-northwest along the ridge is its nearest higher neighbor. Access is limited by
snowpack closing the Sunrise Road much of the year. July, August, and September are typically the months when the Sunrise Road is seasonally open for vehicle traffic.
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 Mount Fremont drains into the
White River.
Climate
Mount Fremont 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 originating in the Pacific Ocean travel northeast toward the
Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, 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 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.
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.
History
Mount Fremont honors
John C. Frémont
John Charles Frémont or Fremont (January 21, 1813July 13, 1890) was an American explorer, military officer, and politician. He was a U.S. Senator from California and was the first Republican nominee for president of the United States in 1856 ...
(1813-1890), who was an American explorer, politician, and soldier. His explorations of the
Oregon Territory stimulated the American desire to own that region. His journals recorded that
Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier (), indigenously known as Tahoma, Tacoma, Tacobet, or təqʷubəʔ, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, located in Mount Rainier National Park about south-southeast of Seattle. With a s ...
was erupting in November 1843.
This landform's toponym was officially adopted in 1932 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 ...
.
See also
*
Geography of Washington (state)
Washington is the northwesternmost state of the contiguous United States. It borders Idaho to the east, bounded mostly by the meridian running north from the confluence of the Snake River and Clearwater River (about 117°02'23" west), except f ...
*
Geology of the Pacific Northwest
Gallery
References
External links
* Mount Fremont
weather forecast* National Park Service web site
Mount Rainier National Park
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fremont
Cascade Range
Mountains of Pierce County, Washington
Mountains of Washington (state)
Mount Rainier National Park
North American 2000 m summits
Cascade Volcanoes