|
Click button for more
Pacific
Northwest
VISITOR INFORMATION
Getting There
National Forests
Ski Area
Scenic Drives
Wilderness Area
"Mt. Baker"
refers to a:
Community
Mountain
National Forest
Recreation Area
Scenic Highway
Ski Area
Volcano
Wilderness Area
Communities Serving the Mt. Baker area
Bellingham
Chelan
Concrete
Glacier
Mazama
Sedro Woolley
Winthrop
More
Cascades
North Cascades
Central Cascades
South Cascades More
Washington
Cascade Mountains
Northeast
Northwest
Olympic Peninsula
Puget Sound
San Juan Islands
Seattle
South Central
Southeast
Southwest
Name
In
1792 an English lieutenant by the name of Joseph Baker sighted the
mountain from the deck of Captain George Vancouver’s sloop Discovery
in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Captain Vancouver named the mountain in Lt.
Baker’s honor.
Movies
filmed at Mt Baker
The
Call of the Wild (1935)
Also filmed along the banks of the North Fork Nooksack River. Starring
Clark Gable and Loretta Young.
|
Mount
Baker the Volcano
Elevation
10,778 feet (3,285 meters)
Getting to Mt Baker
Road
The best view of the mountain is from the Glacier
Creek Road off of Highway 542. A 10-kilometer hike, taking off from Dead Horse Road
(No.3907) affords closer views of Baker's north side. On the south side of the
mountain Forest Service Road 372, taking off from Baker Lake Road, ends near the
Schreibers Meadow cinder cone.
Description
Mount Baker is the most isolated of the Cascade volcanoes in the
USA. It rests on a foundation of non-volcanic rocks in a region that is largely
non-volcanic in origin. Since the last Ice Age, the area around the mountain has
been largely ice free, but the mountain itself remains heavily mantled with snow and
ice. After Mount Rainier, it is the most heavily glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes,
the volume of snow and ice being greater than that of all the other Cascades volcanoes
(except Rainier) combined. Due to its many
glaciers, local Native Americans gave Mt. Baker a name meaning "White Steep
Mountain." The present-day cone sits atop a similar older volcanic cone called
Black Buttes volcano which was active between 500,000 and 300,000 years ago.
During the last 10,000 years there
have been at least two or more lava flows, at least eight mudflows and a pyroclastic
flow. Mount Baker
erupted on several occasions during the 19th century, and its most prominent crater,
Sherman Crater, may have formed in the 18th or early 19th century. Most hydrothermal
activity at Mount Baker is concentrated within Sherman Crater. This activity, in the form
of steam and flows of hot rock and gas, increased significantly in March 1975 and caused
concern that an eruption might be imminent. The activity diminished somewhat by
1978. Mudflows remain the most likely hazard from the volcano. Avalanches of
snow and rock debris from the rim of Sherman Crater have swept down Boulder
Glacier at least six times since 1958. |
The Cascades map will help you
locate cities, towns and attractions.
Go
Northwest!
Bookstore
Best selection of books on the
Northwest.
Click here!
Hiking the North Cascades
by Erik Molvar
Paperback, 388
pages; Publisher: Falcon; 1.00 edition (April 1,
1998)
Order
now...
Moon
Handbooks: Washington
by Don Pitcher
(June 2002, 7th edition.)
Paperback,
1000 pages, (guidebook)
In-depth coverage of the history,
landscape, and changes in a state that has come of age. Ranges from
Olympic Peninsula's lush rainforests and long sandy beaches, to
glacier-clad Cascade summits, friendly eastern towns and wineries, the
tranquil Puget Sound, Seattle, and the San Juan Islands.
Order
now...
We appreciate your orders. They help
keep Go Northwest! online.
|
