The
Olympic Mountains is a mountain range on the Olympic
Peninsula
of western
Washington
in the United States
. The mountains are not
especially high - Mount Olympus
is the highest at - but the western slopes of the
Olympics rise directly out of the Pacific Ocean
and are the wettest place in the 48 contiguous
states. The Hoh Ranger Station in the Hoh Rain Forest
records an average of 360 cm (142 in) of rainfall each year. Areas to the east of the
mountains, however, are located in a rainshadow and are much drier
relative to other places in coastal Washington.
Most of the mountains
are protected within the bounds of the Olympic National
Park
. Physiographically, they are a section of
the larger Pacific Border province, which in turn are part of the
larger
Pacific
Mountain System physiographic division.
Geography
The Olympics have the form of a cluster of steep-sided peaks
surrounded by heavily-forested foothills and incised by deep
valleys.
The climax
forests consist of
Sitka spruce and
western hemlock.
Douglas fir occurs in groves. Other types of
firs may be seen also. Due to high
precipitation, clearings in the forest quickly become covered with
vine maple,
slide alder,
and
devil's club, making cross-country
travel most challenging.
Another consequence of the high precipitation is the large number
of snowfields and
glaciers, reaching down to
1,500 m (5,000 ft) above sea level. There are about 266 glaciers
crowning the Olympics peaks.
The most prominent glaciers are those on
Mount
Olympus covering approximately . Beyond the Olympic
complex are the glaciers of Mount Carrie, the Bailey Range,
Mount Christie, and
Mount
Anderson
.
Geology
The Olympics are made up of an obducted
clastic wedge material and oceanic crust. They are
primarily Eocene sandstones,
turbidites,
and
basaltic oceanic crust.
Millions of years ago, vents and fissures opened under the Pacific
ocean and lava flowed forth, creating huge underwater mountains and
ranges called
seamounts. The
plates that formed the ocean floor inched
toward North America about 35 million years ago and most of the sea
floor went beneath the continental land mass. Some of the sea
floor, however, was scraped off and jammed against the mainland,
creating the dome that was the forerunner of today's Olympics.
Powerful forces fractured, folded, and over-turned rock formations,
which helps explain the jumbled appearance of the Olympics.
In the
Pleistocene, a vast continental
ice sheet, descended from Alaska, south
through British Columbia to the Olympics.
The ice split into the
Juan de
Fuca
and Puget
ice lobes,
as they encountered the resistant Olympic Mountains. A
glacial outwash stream surged around
the southern end of the peninsula to the Pacific Ocean. This
isolated the Olympic Peninsula from the nearby Cascade Mountains
and limited species from entering and exiting the peninsula. When
the ice sheet reached the Peninsula, large areas of the continental
shelf were also exposed by the lower sea levels since so much water
was trapped as ice. This created a
coastal
refuge. The distance from Mount Olympus to the Pacific Ocean
may have been double that of today.
Ecology
The ecosystems of the Olympics vary depending on elevation: the
lower elevations are quite different from the higher ones.
The low Olympics contains foothills and mountains and rises to an
elevation of approximately
. Copious precipitation (up to peryear) supports a lush, epiphyte-rich rainforest of Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar, and Douglas-fir. Much of the region is in the third rotation of logging. However, a portion of the region lies within the Olympic National Park and contains ancient forests.
The high Olympics contains steep,
glaciated mountains that reach an elevation of
almost . It is characterized by rock outcrops,
tarns, persistent snow pack,
alpine glaciers, and high-gradient,
glacial-fed streams. Its vegetation includes
subalpine Mountain
Hemlock and
Pacific Silver
Fir forests as well as
alpine
meadows.
Subalpine fir occurs on
the
xeric soils of northeastern rainshadow
areas.
History
The Olympic Mountains first became known to Europeans in 1774, when
they were sighted by the Spanish explorer
Juan Perez, who named them the "Sierra Nevada de
Santa Rosalia". The mountain range was subsequently given its final
name by the English explorer
John
Meares, in 1778. The name became official in 1864 through
lobbying of a local Seattle paper.
Though readily visible from most parts of western Washington, the
interior was almost entirely unexplored until the 1890s. Mount
Olympus itself was not officially ascended until 1907. The first
well-documented exploration was performed by Army Lieutenant Joseph
P.
O'Neil
in 1885, who spent a month hacking through forest to reach Hurricane
Ridge
.
In 1890,
a second exploration was organized by the Seattle Press, a Seattle
newspaper. The exploration party met with
misfortune, including sinking boats, blizzards, and running out of
food. The Press Expedition was forced to hunt and eat bears. The
party took 6 months to cross the mountains. Due to the expedition,
many of the peaks in the Olympic mountains are named after
prominent newspaper publishers and editors of the late 19th
century.
Members of various expedition parties recommended protecting and
conserving the Olympic mountains. By 1897, most of the forested
land of the peninsula was included in the Olympic Forest Reserve
(later Olympic National Forest). In 1909, just before leaving
office, President
Theodore
Roosevelt issued a proclamation creating Mount Olympus National
Monument within the national forest to protect the summer range and
breeding grounds of the
Olympic Elk.
With the support of national conservation organizations, Washington
Congressman
Monrad C. Wallgren in 1935 sponsored a bill for the
establishment of a national park. After a visit to the Olympic
Peninsula in the fall of 1937, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt added his enthusiastic
support to the movement for a national park, and the act
establishing Olympic National Park was signed on June 29, 1938.
Herb Crisler was notable for exploring
the Olympic Mountains in the first half of the 20th century, and
popularizing the location through making a film distributed by
Walt Disney.
Activities
Rock climbing
Most of the rock climbing is done on the eastern side of the Park
-- although there are very few peaks available which are actually
rated technically. "The Needles" (the northernmost section of
Gray Wolf Ridge) and Mt. Deception
are easily accessed from US Forest Service roads (FS 2800) and the
Upper
Dungeness River Trailhead,
(which is accessed via the Palo Alto Road in Sequim). Climbing
above and beyond Royal Lake and the Upper Royal Basin can provide a
significant challenge to the novice or amateur climber. It should
be noted here that a number of fatal accidents have been reported
on the slopes of the 7000-foot Mt. Deception over the years by
unprepared or overanxious beginners.
Boulder Ridge (including the Gargoyles, Charlia Lakes, Cloudy Peak,
Alphabet Ridge, and Warrior) and Home Lake / Constance Pass are
readily accessed via the Buckhorn Wilderness Area (
U.S. Forest Service) side of the Upper
Dungeness River Trail and Marmot
Pass.
An
alternative approach to the Mount Constance
massif -- including Inner Constance and the twin
peaks of Warrior -- is via the Dosewallips River Trailhead off of
US 101 and Hood Canal
. A third alternative is to access the
Constance massif via Quilcene
logging roads (FS 2700 aka "Penny Creek Road" off
US 101) leading to a brief 6 - 7 mile ascent to Tunnel Creek Ridge
and the high alpine shores of Harrison Lake. In fact, the most
stunning views of the east side of Mount Constance and Warrior are readily available from these roads
(the lower portions of which are paved) which actually connect to
FS 2800 and the Dungeness / Sequim
area via the
5000-foot Bon Jon Pass.
The 60-foot vertical summit block of Mt. Constance provides a far
greater technical challenge to the average climber than the more
subtle snow-covered peak of Mt. Olympus and the neighboring
Valhallas.
Mount Olympus in winter from the High
Divide.
Photo courtesy Steve Holm on cross-country skis.
Winter sports
The
Hurricane
Ridge Ski and Snowboard Area is located in higher elevations of
Olympic
National Park. Nearly a mile high, the Hurricane
Ridge Visitor Center offers winter recreation and
activities on the north Olympic Peninsula.
The day
facility built atop ONP's Hurricane Ridge consists of a small, family oriented ski area for
both downhill and cross-country skiers. The area is equipped
with tow rope tows and one poma lift -- offering to Olympic
Peninsula residents and visitors a winter sports experience
without the cost and crowds of larger commercial ski areas.
The Ridge boasts some groomed areas -- and for the accomplished
skier or snowboarder the steeps, bowls and glades are well worth
the hikes to get there. With a summit elevation of 5,240 feet,
there is generally an annual snowfall of 400-plus inches.
Vistas are available for snowshoers or cross-country skiers who can
pursue the old lookout landmark on the summit of Hurricane Hill
while accessing direct views of the backside of Mt.
Carrie and (on a
clear day) partial views of the summit of Mount
Olympus. A longer, and possibly more satisfying trip
for the serious winter traveler, can be accessed in the opposite
direction by following the 12-mile snow covered high mountain road
to the Obstruction Point trailhead area. Passing the legendary
Steeple Rock summit, overnight skiers (and/or snowshoers) have the
option of staying in the A-frame Hut at "The Waterhole" located 4-5
miles down the road -- complete with split wood for the iron stove
on a first-come-first-served basis.
The
Hurricane Ridge Winter Sports Club was formed as a
non-profit corporation in 1986 for the purpose of promoting and
providing organized leadership for winter sports activities at
Hurricane
Ridge. The HRWSC operates the ski lifts under
permit with Olympic
National Park, and strives to promote outdoor activities for the
youth, community and visitors of the Olympic Peninsula.
The National Park charges an entrance fee, $15 per car, or purchase
a yearly pass for $30. The road generally opens to uphill traffic
at 9am and closes to uphill traffic at 4pm. For further details,
contact the Olympic National Park Visitor Center in Port
Angeles.
List of summits
Principal summits:
Other Summits
References
- (and the Reverse side) Sentences in this article are copied
verbatim from the source, which is in the public domain.
External links
- Peak located in the Lake Crescent
and Elwha River
area
- located just to the south of Lake Crescent
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