Glacier Peak Wilderness: Gorgeous?

Glacier Peak Wilderness For The Win

When I first saw these images, I thought for sure they were paintings. The contrast of the mountains, sky grass and rocks seemed too beautiful to be real...then I realized: where does our creativity come from if not from the original beauty of nature? It is by far, the greatest work of art I could ever imagine.

Beautiful...Gorgeous...Pretty Epic!

Upper Yang Yang Lake

Sunset over Glacier Lake

Glacier Peak itself

As demonstrated in the images above, Glacier Peak Wilderness is "characterized by heavily forested stream courses, steep sidedvalleys, and dramatic glacier-crowned peaks". (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Peak_Wilderness)

So where is this place?

(and why don't we all live there)?

Natural History & Ecology

"Glacier Peak Wilderness, which shares its northern border with North Cascades National Park, has few equals in terms of sheer ruggedness. Glacier Peak, the highest summit in the area at 10,541 feet, is more remote than any of the state's other famous old volcanoes. Above the tree line (5,000 feet to 6,000 feet), lovely meadows stretch out below the tattered ridges and the dozen or so summits draped with active glaciers, while below the tree line you will wander through dense forest cover. Ultimately, the steep fractured walls and ragged peaks lead to deep U-shaped valleys tangled with huckleberry and other woody plants. Numerous ice-cold creeks splash gloriously through the valleys from their sharp drainages.

Other bodies of water include more than 200 lakes, many unnamed and tremendously difficult to access, in various cirques and hidden basins. Wildlife species include several that epitomize Wilderness: grizzly bears, wolverines, gray wolves. Snows accumulate to depths of 45 feet on the west side of the crest. The paths of old avalanches mark some of the forested hillsides."

http://www.wilderness.net/index.cfm?fuse=NWPS&sec=wildView&wname=Glacier%20Peak

Geology

"Remnants of past, prehistoric lava domes are main components of the summit of the volcano, in addition to its "false summit", Disappointment Peak. Past pyroclastic flow deposits are easily visible in river valleys near the volcano, likely caused by lava dome collapse, along with ridges found east of the summit consisting of ash cloud remains.On its western flank, the volcano also has a lahar, or mudflow deposit, which runs for about 35 kilometres (22 mi) into the White Chuck River Valley around 14,000 years ago. 10 other pyroclastic flow deposits are visible, all identified as relatively 10,000 years old. There is also a considerably newer mudflow, about 5,500 years old, which covers an area of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) between the same river valley, along with two small incidents both under 3,000 years old. Another lahar, of unidentified age, was rich in oxyhornblende dacite; and continued for 30 kilometres (19 mi) into the Sauk River.

There are also ash cloud deposits on the opposite eastern flank of the volcano. Studies of the mountain have to date been unable to find any correspondence with pyroclastic flows, but several past mudflows have been identified. In the Dusty Creek, located by the mountain, there is a lahar at least 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) thick, containing pyroclastic flow deposits and other mudflows. However, this large mudflow is part of a 300 metres (980 ft) thick concentration of past incidents at the volcano that spans the Dusty and Chocolate Creek. In the area at least ten cubic kilometers of lithic debris are contained. Tephra deposits are for the most part constrained to the left flank of the volcano, and at least nine past incidents have been identified. These form several layers of tephra constructing the mountain. Smaller eruptions involving tephra occurred between 6,900-5,500 years ago, 3,450–200 years ago, and as recent as 316–90 years ago.

On the mountain, three additional cinder cones, Dishpan Gap, Indian Pass, and White Chuck, are located about 1,800 m (5,900 ft) up. The volcano has also caused such thermal events such as hot springs, there were three on the mountain: Gamma, Kennedy, and Sulphur, but Kennedy Hot Springs was destroyed and buried in a slide."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Peak

The glaciers are melting guys!!!!!

"During the middle of the 20th century, examination of the maps and photographs from the previous century provided clear evidence that the 150 glaciers known to have existed in the park a hundred years earlier had greatly retreated, and in many cases disappeared altogether. Repeat photography of the glaciers, such as the pictures taken of Grinnell Glacier between 1938 and 2009 as shown, help to provide visual confirmation of the extent of glacier retreat." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_National_Park_(U.S.)

Animals found in the Glacier Peak Wilderness area
(Some of the many)

Mountain goat (the official park symbol)

Canadian lynx
Wolverine
Bighorn sheep
Moose
Grizzly bear
Elk
Mule
White-tailed deer
Coyote
Mountain lion
badger
River otter
Porcupine
Mink
Marten
Fisher

"A total 260 species of birds have been recorded, with raptors such as the Bald Eagle, Golden Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Osprey and several species of hawks residing year round.The Harlequin Duck is a colorful species of waterfowl found in the lakes and waterways. The Great Blue Heron, Tundra Swan, Canada Goose and American Wigeon are species of waterfowl more commonly encountered in the park. Great Horned Owl, Clark's Nutcracker, Steller's Jay, Pileated Woodpecker and Cedar Waxwing reside in the dense forests along the mountainsides, and in the higher altitudes, the Ptarmigan, Timberline Sparrow and Rosy Finch are the most likely to be seen.The Clark's Nutcracker is less plentiful than in past years due to the decline in the number of whitebark pines."
Because of the colder climate, ectothermic reptiles are all but absent, with two species of garter snakes and the western painted turtle being the only three reptile species proven to exist.Similarly, only six species of amphibians are documented, although those species exist in large numbers. After a forest fire in 2001, a few park roads were temporarily closed the following year to allow thousands of Western toads to migrate to other areas.
Glacier is also home to the endangered bull trout, which is illegal to possess and must be returned to the water if caught inadvertently. A total of 23 species of fish reside in park waters and native game fish species found in the lakes and streams include the cutthroat trout, northern pike, mountain whitefish, Kokanee salmon and grayling. Introduction in previous decades of lake trout and other non-native fish species has greatly impacted some native fish populations, especially the bull trout and west slope cutthroat trout."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_National_Park_(U.S.)#Fauna

If you think the animals are ballin, here are some pretty epic plants to check out in this fine wilderness
(There are over 1,132 species!)

Trees

Engelmann spruce

Douglas fir

Limber pine

Subalpine fir

Add caption

Cottonwood

Western larch (which is a deciduous conifer, producing cones but losing its needles each fall)

Small plants and flowers

Grasses (various types)
Beargrass (a tall flowering plant commonly found near moisture sources)
Monkeyflower
Glacier lily
Fireweed
Balsamroot
Indian paintbrush

Monkeyflower

Glacier Lily

Fireweed

Balsamroot

Beargrass

Indian Paintbrush

Native American History

Early Native Americans recognized the volcanoes of Washington as spirits. They admired the power and the unpredictability of the volcanoes.

"In their history, local Native Americans have recognized Glacier Peak and other Washington volcanoes. It is a part of their history and story-telling. When foreign explorers reached the region, they learned basic information about surrounding landforms, but did not learn that Glacier Peak was a volcano. Positioned in Snohomish County, the volcano is only 70 miles (110 km) northeast of Seattle – closer to that city than any volcano except Mount Rainier. However, unlike Mount Rainier, Glacier Peak is rather short, and is barely visible from a distance."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Peak

"For thousands of years Native Americans traveled through this area to the meadows and peaks of the North Cascades in search of plants and game. The first white man to record seeing Glacier Peak was Daniel Linsley, surveying in 1870 for a possible railroad route for the Northern Pacific Railroad. Mining claims were filed in the Glacier Peak area during the North Cascades "gold rush" of the 1880's and 1890's. Except for the Holden Mine, just east of the Wilderness, all that remains of early day mining and trapping activities are abandoned mine shafts, rusting equipment, and a few rotting cabins."

http://www.naturenw.org/wild-glacier-peak.htm

Pretty Epic Hiking in the Wilderness
Here are some blogs, videos and websites from fellow hikers. Check 'em out!