Mount Blum

Mount Blum
Mount Blum Whatcom County, Washington USA
Elevation	7,685 ft (2,342 m) NAVD 88[1]
Prominence	3,280 ft (1,000 m) [2]
Location
Range	Cascade Range
Coordinates	48°45′15″N 121°28′57″W / 48.754142456°N 121.482452603°W / 48.754142456; -121.482452603Coordinates: 48°45′15″N 121°28′57″W / 48.754142456°N 121.482452603°W / 48.754142456; -121.482452603[1]
Topo map	USGS Mount Blum
Geology
Age of rock	15,000 years
Volcanic arc/belt	Cascade Volcanic Arc
Climbing
Easiest route	Rock/ice climb

Mount Blum, or Mount Bald,^[3] is a 7,680-foot (2,340 m) summit of the North Cascades range in Washington state, on the western edge of North Cascades National Park. It is the highest summit of a string of mountain peaks located east of Mount Shuksan and west of the Picket Range. Two small active glaciers rest on its northern flank. Mount Blum was named after John Blum, a United States Forest Service fire patrol pilot who crashed in a 1931.^[4]

Six small glacial-fed tarns, called the Blum Lakes, occupy successive bowls on the southeast side of the mountain. Several other ice sheets are spread across cirques and basins on Mount Blum and neighboring peaks.^[5] Blum Creek, a stream named for the mountain, drains north and west off Mount Blum and flows into the Baker River, which in turn flows into the Skagit River. The Baker Lake reservoir, one of a series of reservoirs that impound the lower Baker River, touches Mount Blum at its far northeastern segment. Lonesome Creek and Scramble Creek also drain valleys east and north of Mount Blum, respectively. Steep cliffs and drop-offs in the valleys produce some extremely tall waterfalls, such as 1,680-foot (510 m) Blum Basin Falls.

Skiing is an occasional activity on the slopes of Mount Blum.^[6] Despite the popularity of the sport, Mount Blum is nearly surrounded by trail-less wilderness, except the southern ridge that connects to Mount Hagan.

Mount Blum is composed of extremely firm granite. This intrusion is common throughout the range, and is much stronger than the looser rock that makes up Mount Shuksan and the Picket Range.

Nearby mountains

• Mount Triumph
• Mount Despair
• Mount Shuksan
• Mount Terror
• Mount Prophet

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Blum". NGS data sheet. U.S. National Geodetic Survey. http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/ds_mark.prl?PidBox=TQ0680. 
2. ^ Blum 1640 2009-03-17 Mount Blum 
3. ^ "Mount Blum". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1516730. 
4. ^ Beckey, Fred W. (1995). Cascade Alpine Guide: climbing and high routes, Vol. 3, Rainy Pass to Fraser River (2nd ed.). Mountaineers Books. p. 82. ISBN 9780898864236. 
5. ^ "Mount Blum". SummitPost.org. http://www.summitpost.org/page/327541. Retrieved 2009-03-17. 
6. ^ "The Baker River Smorgasbord". skisickness.com. http://skisickness.com/BakerLake/BlumHagan/. Retrieved 2009-03-17.