Stuart Range
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Stuart Range is a mountain range in central Washington, USA. The range lies on the eastern side of the Cascade Range. To the north is The Enchantments, a well-known backpacking destination. To the south is Ingalls Creek and the Wenatchee Mountains.
Partial list of peaks:
- Mount Stuart - 9,415' (2870m)
- Dragontail Peak - 8,840' (2694m)
- Colchuck Peak - 8,705' (2653m)
- Cannon Mountain - 8,638' (2633m)
- Sherpa Peak - 8,605' (2623m)
- Enchantment Peak - 8,520' (2597m)
- Witches Tower - 8,520' (2597m)
- Argonaut Peak - 8,453' (2576m)
- Little Annapurna - 8,440' (2573m)
- McClellan Peak - 8,364' (2549m)
[edit] Geology
Much of the Cascade Range in Washington is volcanic, including active volcanoes such as Mount Saint Helens, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier and Mount Baker. The Stuart Range is not actively volcanic, but their granite was formed as the batholithic roots of former volcanoes in the Cascades, which were active over 100 million years ago. [1]
The range sits on a convergent plate boundary where one plate overrides another. In Western Washington, the North American plate overrides the Juan de Fuca plate, resulting in both volcanic and seismic activity. This convergence has been ongoing for over 200 million years. Continual uplifting and erosion exposed the former magma chamber under a previous generation of volcanoes to expose the granite which is currently one of the more spectacular mountain ranges in Washington.[1]
