Mount Triumph is a summit in 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 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 o ...

state. Located approximately west-northwest of the town of Newhalem, it was named by Lage Wernstedt, a surveyor with the U.S. Forest Service. A significant peak in North Cascades National Park, Mount Triumph is one of its "outstanding sights" and is well known among regional climbers for its lack of easy

climbing routes A climbing route is a path by which a climber reaches the top of a mountain, rock, or ice wall. Routes can vary dramatically in difficulty and grade; once committed to that ascent, it can sometimes be difficult to stop or return. Choice of rout ...

to the summit. Despite its moderate elevation, its local

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

is dramatic. With the terrain deeply dissected by the valleys of

Bacon Creek Bacon Creek is a glacial stream in Whatcom County, Washington. It originates in a glacier on the southwest face of Bacon Peak, flows into a small tarn, then flows over the Berdeen Falls. At the base of the waterfall, the creek turns southeast a ...

on the west and

Goodell Creek Goodell Creek is a tributary of the Skagit River in the U.S. state of Washington. Course For most of its length Goodell Creek flows through North Cascades National Park. It originates in the Picket Range of the North Cascades. Its headwaters dr ...

on the east, it rises in less than on the latter side. The mountain is extremely rugged and one author describes it as "a rock thumb with near-vertical to overhanging

faces The face is the front of an animal's head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affe ...

on three sides." From above, it has the appearance of a three-bladed propeller consisting of the northeast, northwest, and south ridges. Mount Despair () is located to the north-northwest. The two peaks are connected by Triumph Pass ().

Geology

The mountain lies completely within the drainage of the

Skagit River The Skagit River ( ) is a river in southwestern British Columbia in Canada and northwestern Washington in the United States, approximately 150 mi (240 km) long. The river and its tributaries drain an area of 1.7 million acres (690,000& ...

, Bacon Creek and Goodell Creek being tributaries of the Skagit. Two small glaciers are found below the east face and north faces, both of which are receding. The south ridge of Mount Triumph ends at a minor peak that has been called Thornton Peak (). On its south flank is a deep cirque that hold the Thornton Lakes, a chain of three lakes at to , the source of south-flowing Thornton Creek, another tributary of the Skagit River. Thornton Peak and lake

Mount Triumph is composed of old

orthogneiss Gneiss ( ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. Gneiss forms at higher temperatures an ...

. Neighboring Mount Despair is an exposure of light grey

granodiorite Granodiorite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock similar to granite, but containing more plagioclase feldspar than orthoclase feldspar. The term banatite is sometimes used informally for various rocks ranging from gr ...

, part of the great pluton of the Chilliwack batholith, which is visible west of the Thornton Lakes. East of the lakes are dark amphibolite, orthogneiss and mica quartz

schist Schist ( ) is a medium-grained metamorphic rock showing pronounced schistosity. This means that the rock is composed of mineral grains easily seen with a low-power hand lens, oriented in such a way that the rock is easily split into thin flakes ...

Climbing

The easiest route to the summit is on the west. It is rated and can be dangerous when wet. The approach is by means of the Triumph Pass climber's route. The northeast ridge is more difficult at class 5.5, but is a notable climb on generally good rock. It is approached by means of the Thornton Lakes Trail. A

scrambling Scrambling is a mountaineering term for ascending steep terrain using one's hands to assist in holds and balance.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. It is also used to describe terrain that falls between hiking and rock climbing (as a “scrambl ...

route from Thornton Lakes Trail leads to the summit of Trappers Peak () which provides good views of Mount Triumph.

Climate

Mount Triumph 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. 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.

Nearby mountains

* Mount Blum * Mount Despair *

Mount Shuksan Mount Shuksan is a glaciated massif in the North Cascades National Park. Shuksan rises in Whatcom County, Washington immediately to the east of Mount Baker, and south of the Canada–US border. The mountain's name ''Shuksan'' is derived from t ...

* Mount Terror

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Triumph Mountains of Washington (state) North Cascades of Washington (state) Mountains of Whatcom County, Washington North Cascades National Park