Mount Saul is a prominent mountain summit located in Chelan County of Washington state. The mountain is situated in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, on land managed by the Okanogan- Wenatchee National Forest. Mount Saul is the fourth-highest point on Wenatchee Ridge, a subrange which also includes Indian Head Peak,

Whittier Peak Whittier Peak is a mountain summit located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness of the North Cascades in Washington state. The mountain is situated in Chelan County, in the Wenatchee National Forest. Its nearest higher neighbor is Mount David, to ...

, Mount David, and Mount Jonathan. Its nearest higher neighbor is Mount David, to the south-southeast. Precipitation runoff from Mount Saul drains into tributaries of the White River. Although modest in elevation, relief is significant since the south aspect of Mt. Saul rises 4,000 feet above the Indian Creek Valley in a little more than one mile. This peak was named for the biblical Saul because of its gloomy appearance by Albert Hale Sylvester, a pioneer

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, explorer, topographer, and forest supervisor in the Cascades who named thousands of natural features.

Geology

The North Cascades feature 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. View from Clark Mountain

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. Glacier Peak, a

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

that is northwest of Mount Saul, began forming in the mid- Pleistocene.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. Due to Glacier Peak's proximity to Mount Saul, volcanic ash is common in the area. 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 and shaped the landscape. 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.

Climate

Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, 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 Cascades experience 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.Beckey, Fred W. Cascade Alpine Guide, Climbing and High Routes. Seattle, WA: Mountaineers Books, 2008. The months July through September offer the most favorable weather for viewing or climbing this peak.

References

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External links

* Weather forecast
Mount Saul
Saul Saul Saul Saul Saul Saul

Geology

Climate

See also

References

External links