Mount Olympus, at , is the tallest and most prominent mountain in the

Olympic Mountains The Olympic Mountains are a mountain range on the Olympic Peninsula of the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are not especially high – Mount Olympus is the highest at ; however, the easter ...

of western

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, US. Located on the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...

, it is also the central feature of

Olympic National Park Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...

. Mount Olympus is the highest summit of the Olympic Mountains; however, peaks such as

Mount Constance Mount Constance is a peak in the Olympic Mountains of Washington and the third highest in the range. It is the most visually prominent peak on Seattle's western skyline. Despite being almost as tall as the ice-clad Mount Olympus to the west, Mou ...

and The Brothers, on the eastern margin of the range, are better known, being visible from the

Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierce ...

Description

With notable local relief, Mount Olympus ascends over from the elevation confluence of the

Hoh River The Hoh River is a river of the Pacific Northwest, located on the Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. state of Washington. About long, the Hoh River originates at the Hoh Glacier on Mount Olympus and flows west through the Olympic Mountains of Olympi ...

with Glacier Creek in only . Mount Olympus has of

prominence In topography, prominence (also referred to as autonomous height, relative height, and shoulder drop in US English, and drop or relative height in British English) measures the height of a mountain or hill's summit relative to the lowest contou ...

, ranking 5th in the state of Washington. Due to heavy winter snowfalls, Mount Olympus supports large glaciers, despite its modest elevation and relatively low latitude. These glaciers include

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

Hoh Water () is a polar inorganic compound that is at room temperature a tasteless and odorless liquid, which is nearly colorless apart from an inherent hint of blue. It is by far the most studied chemical compound and is described as the "univer ...

Humes Humes may refer to: *Humes, former name of Hume, Fresno County, California * Humes (surname), people with the surname Humes * Humes-Jorquenay, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Wes ...

Jeffers Jeffers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alex Jeffers, American author * Alexis Jeffers (born 1968), St. Kitts and Nevis politician * Anne Burton Jeffers (1851 - 1946), American librarian * Audrey Jeffers (1898–1968), ...

Hubert Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and '' beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers ...

, Black Glacier, and

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, the longest of which is the Hoh Glacier at . The largest is Blue with a volume of and area of . As with most temperate latitude glaciers, these have all been shrinking in area and volume, and shortening in recent decades.

History

According to Edmond S. Meany (1923), ''Origin of Washington geographic names'', citing Joseph A. Costello (1895), ''The Siwash, their life, legends and tales'', the

Duwamish Duwamish may refer to: * Duwamish tribe, a Native American tribe in Washington state * Duwamish River, in Washington state * ''Duwamish'' (fireboat) See also * Elliott Bay Elliott Bay is a part of the Central Basin region of Puget Sound. It is ...

used the name ''Sunh-a-do'' for the Olympian Mountains (or Coast Range in Costello 1895) ; besides its unclear origin, some references misuse this name for the Native American name of the mountain. Upon sighting in 1774 by the Spanish explorer Juan Pérez, the mountain was named ''Cerro Nevado de Santa Rosalía'' ("Snowy Peak of

Saint Rosalia Rosalia (1130–1166), also called La Santuzza or "''The Little Saint''", and in Sicilian as "Rusulia", is the patron saint of Palermo in Italy, Camargo, Chihuahua, and three towns in Venezuela: El Hatillo, Zuata, and El Playon. She is es ...

"). This is said to be the first time a European named a geographic feature in what is now Washington state. In 1788, on July 4, the British explorer

John Meares John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. Career Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an ...

gave the mountain its present name. In 1890 an expedition, led by US Army officer

Joseph P. O'Neil Joseph Patrick O'Neil (December 27, 1863 – July 27, 1938) was a United States Army officer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He served in several conflicts, including World War I. Biography Joseph O'Neil was born in Brooklyn, New York, ...

, reached the summit, of what is today presumed to have been the southern peak."Members of the Olympic Exploring Expedition make first recorded ascent of Mount Olympus on September 22, 1890."
www.historylink.org, accessed 26. January 2019 On March 2, 1909, Mount Olympus National Monument was proclaimed by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. On June 28, 1938, it was designated a national park by President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. In 1976 the Olympic National Park became an

International Biosphere Reserve Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an intergovernmental scientific program, launched in 1971 by UNESCO, that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments. MAB's work engag ...

. In 1981 it was designated a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

. In 1988 Congress designated 95% of the park as the Olympic Wilderness.

Climate

The peak of Mount Olympus has a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

(ET) with extremely heavy precipitation from October to April and heavy precipitation from May to September. A large part of this precipitation falls as snow. The west peak is the wettest place in mainland USA.

References

External links

* * *
The Mountaineers: 1920 Outing to Mt. Olympus
- University of Washington Library

- University of Washington Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Olympus, Mount Mountains of Washington (state) Highest points of United States national parks Mountains of Jefferson County, Washington Olympic Mountains Landforms of Olympic National Park