Big Four Mountain

Big Four Mountain

Big Four Mountain
Highest point
Elevation 6160+ feet (1878+ m) [1]
Prominence 1,080 ft (329 m) [1]
Coordinates 48°02′35″N 121°31′26″W / 48.0431619°N 121.524004°W / 48.0431619; -121.524004Coordinates: 48°02′35″N 121°31′26″W / 48.0431619°N 121.524004°W / 48.0431619; -121.524004 [2]
Geography
Location Snohomish County, Washington, U.S.
Parent range Cascade Range
Topo map USGS Silverton

Big Four is a mountain in the Cascade Range, located about 20 miles (32 km) east of Granite Falls, Washington. Debris piles on the mountain's northern flank form as a result of avalanche activity. These fields of disturbed snow are able to remain year round in the shadow of the mountain. During the summer months snow-melt streams flow beneath the debris piles and cause caves to form in the ice. The caves vary in size from season to season and are unpredictably dangerous. The mountain is open to the public and a large snowfield can be reached by a short trail, but the snowfield itself is off-limits due to cave-ins and slides which have killed hikers in incidents in 1998, 2010, and 2015.[3]

History

Big Four is not named for the five peaks on its top but either for a figure 4 that is visible in one of its snowfields, or 4 husky brothers who were prospecting and trapping in the valley.[4]

See also

One of Big Four's ice caves, ca. 1920.

References

  1. 1 2 "Big Four Mountain, Washington". Peakbagger.com. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  2. ↑ "Big Four Mountain". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2008-11-26.
  3. ↑ "Girl killed by falling ice at Big Four Ice Caves identified". Seattle Times. August 2, 2010.
  4. ↑ "History of Darrington > Origin Of Area Names > Big Four Mountain". Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved May 30, 2016.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.