Mount Townsend (Washington)

The Mt. Townsend Trail rises from the trailhead to the summit, a rise of 3,010 ft (920 m). The summit affords a 360 degree view of the area.[4]

Townsend from northeast at Mt. Zion

Mount Townsend is located in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.[5] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel northeast toward the Olympic Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Olympic Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall (Orographic lift). As a result, the Olympics experience 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 avalanche danger.

South aspect

The Olympic Mountains are composed of obducted clastic wedge material and oceanic crust, primarily Eocene sandstone, turbidite, and basaltic oceanic crust.[6] The mountains were sculpted during the Pleistocene era by erosion and glaciers advancing and retreating multiple times.

• Geology of the Pacific Northwest
• Welch Peaks