Big Jim Mountain Lakes

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Big Jim Mountain Lakes
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Big Jim Mountain Lakes
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Big Jim Mountain Lakes
Location Chelan County, Washington, United States
Coordinates 47°39′58″N120°49′24″W / 47.6662365°N 120.8233391°W / 47.6662365; -120.8233391
Primary outflows Battle Canyon Creek [1]
Basin  countriesUnited States
Surface elevation6,309 ft (1,923 m) [2]

Big Jim Mountain Lakes are a set of small freshwater lakes located on the northeast skirt of Big Jim Mountain, East of Icicle Ridge, in Chelan County, Washington. Because of its close proximity to Icicle Ridge Trail, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing. Lake Augusta is a short distance on the opposite side of Icicle Ridge. The lakes are located approximately 2.5 miles from a trail junction area called "The Badlands". [3]

Contents

Geography

The Big Jim Mountain Lakes are located on the northern skirt of Big Jim Mountain, consisting of rocky soils of intrusive rock geology. The exposed rock tends to be quartz-dolerite and granodiorite with influence from the intrusions originated from the Mount Stuart Batholith which underlies the Stuart Range and the nearby Wenatchee Mountains. [4] This batholith is about 13 by 16 miles in extent. Two plutonic masses are separated by a thin screen of Chiwaukum Schist and rocks of the Ingalls Complex. The more-eastern pluton is 93 million years old, while the more-western rock mass is between 83 and 86 million years old. [5]

The trail to the lakes consists of sandy loam the first half and boulders added in the second half of the trajectory. The west hills of Big Jim Mountain surrounding Lake Augusta grow tonalite and granodiorite corona-bearing dikes. The East hill grew pyroxenites, gabbro amphibolites and other diorites. [6] Mineral boundaries are sharp along Big Jim Mountain except between these two matrix subdomains, which are not immediately distinguishable.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big Lou</span> Mountain in Washington (state), United States

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Lake Sylvester is a freshwater lake located on the north slope of the Grindstone Mountain, in Chelan County, Washington. The lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing. Lake Sylvester is located approximately 15 miles west of the city of Leavenworth and access is obtained by Chatter Creek Trail #1580. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Grindstone Mountain area.

Lower Florence Lake is a freshwater lake located on the west skirt of Ladies Peak and Cape Horn, and North of Grindstone Mountain, in Chelan County, Washington. The lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing cutthroat trout. Lower Florence Lake is located further down the slope from Upper Florence Lake, approximately 15 miles west of the city of Leavenworth. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit is required for transit within the Lake Alice area.

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Upper Florence Lake is a freshwater lake located on the west skirt of Ladies Peak and Cape Horn, and North of Grindstone Mountain, in Chelan County, Washington. The lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing, especially for rainbow trout. Lower Florence Lake is located further down the slope of Mary Pass from Upper Florence Lake, approximately 15 miles west of the city of Leavenworth. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Lake Alice area.

Lake Augusta is a freshwater lake located on the southwest skirt of Big Jim Mountain, East of Icicle Ridge, in Chelan County, Washington. Because of its close proximity to Icicle Ridge Trail, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing cutthroat trout. Smaller Lake Ida is a short distance on the opposite side of Icicle Ridge and Big Jim Mountain Lakes or on the northeast slope of the mountain. Lake Augusta is located approximately 15 miles west of the city of Leavenworth. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Lake Augusta area.

Lake Ida is a freshwater lake located along Icicle Ridge, approximately 10 miles west of the city of Leavenworth in Chelan County, Washington. Because of its close proximity to Icicle Ridge Trail, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing cutthroat trout. Lake Augusta is a short distance on the opposite side of Icicle Ridge. Lake Ida sits on a highly glaciated alpine cirque, surrounded by a coniferous forest primarily larch pines and outflows into Ida Creek, a tributary of Icicle Creek. At least one unrated waterfall is found downstream as Ida Creek runs the south slope of Icicle Ridge. Self-issued Alpine Lake Wilderness permit required for transit within the Lake Ida and Augusta area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lake Edna</span> Lake in Washington state, US

Lake Edna is a freshwater lake located along Icicle Ridge, approximately 10 miles west of the city of Leavenworth in Chelan County, Washington. Because of its close proximity to Icicle Ridge Trail, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing. Lake Alice is a short distance in a prominent cirque on the opposite side of Icicle Ridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Icicle Ridge</span> Mountain ridge in Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Washington state, USA

Icicle Ridge is a mountain ridge located in the eastern border of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, in the Washington state, United States. Several trails lead to Icicle Ridge which borders several prominent mountains, peaks, and lakes. Icicle Ridge is located at the western edge of the city of Leavenworth on land managed by the Okanogan–Wenatchee National Forest.

Josephine Lake is a natural lake and reservoir near Stevens Pass in Chelan County, Washington, United States. At the south skirt of Big Chief Mountain, Josephine Lake is the source of the Icicle Creek. Because Josephine Lake is at the heart of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, the lake is a popular area for hiking, swimming, and fishing golden trout.

References

  1. Northwest Fishing Guide. 1952. p. 130.
  2. "Big Jim Mountain". SummitPost.com. Retrieved 12 Apr 2021.
  3. Kelemen, P. B., & Ghiorso, M. S. (1986). Assimilation of peridotite in zoned calc-alkaline plutonic complexes: evidence from the Big Jim complex, Washington Cascades Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology, 94(1), 12-28.
  4. Beckey, Fred (2003). Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes - 1: Columbia River to Stevens Pass. Seattle, WA, USA: The Mountaineers Books. p. 236. ISBN   978-0-89886-577-6.
  5. Evans, B. W., & Berti, J. W. (1986). Revised metamorphic history for the Chiwaukum Schist, North Cascades, Washington. Geology, 14(8), 695-698.