Rock Creek Lake | |
---|---|
Location | Elkhorn Mountains, Baker County, Oregon |
Coordinates | 44°48′29″N118°05′13″W / 44.808158°N 118.086854°W |
Type | Glacial Cirque Tarn |
Primary inflows | Precipitation, basin drainage |
Primary outflows | Lake Creek |
Basin countries | United States |
Surface area | 35 acres (14 ha) |
Average depth | 104 ft (32 m) |
Surface elevation | 7,600 ft (2,300 m) |
References | [1] |
Rock Creek Lake is an alpine lake along the Elkhorn Crest trail in the southern end of the Elkhorn Mountains in Baker County, eastern Oregon. It is located on the northern slope of Rock Creek Butte, the highest point in the Elkhorn Mountains range. While the lake is located on a glacial cirque, it is part of the West Fork Rock Creek drainage basin. [2]
Other alpine lakes are found a short distance from Rock Creek Lake. Sharing a neighboring cirque is Bucket Lake, to the south over the southern skirt of Rock Creek Butte is Twin Lakes and to the east is Goodrich Lake over the Elkhorn Crest trail. Rock Creek Lake empties into a second smaller lake which later produces Rock Creek and small waterfalls along its course to join the North Fork Rock Creek. [3]
Rock Creek Lake lays within the Rock Creek Glacier, which originated from a cirques at the base of the butte. [4] The glacier meltwater flowed northwest in the direction of the cirque and then veered northeast producing a confluence with the North Fork of Rock Creek. A second flow came from Willow Creek Glacier that intersected the Rock Creek Glacier. The northern slope of the cirque has been mined for chrysotiles and asbestos.
The major biomes are the lake itself, which is an aquatic biome, and the surrounding region, which is classified as temperate coniferous forest. It is nested within the Blue Mountains ecoregion, the largest in the state of Oregon. [5] The Elkhorn Crest trail is east of the lake. The lake has several species of fish, including Bass, Bluegill, Crappie, and Sauger. [6] Opposite of Rock Creek Lake is Pine Creek Reservoir which has a Uranium occurrence, part of the Rock Creek Mining District. [7]
The hills that surround Rock Creek lake are a frequented location by mountain goats. [8] A census in 2019 yielded 100 goats in the Twin Lakes basin, approximately a third of the goats in the Elkhorn mountain range. The population was established after 21 goats were released between 1983 and 1986 along the Pine Creek drainage, a short distance north of Rock Creek Lakes. [9] These individuals had been purposefully trapped in Idaho, Olympic National Park in Washington and Misty Fjords National Monument in Alaska for transplant in the Elkhorn Mountains. [10] [11]
Mount Jefferson is a stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. The second highest mountain in Oregon, it is situated within Linn County, Jefferson County, and Marion County and forms part of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness. Due to the ruggedness of its surroundings, the mountain is one of the hardest volcanoes to reach in the Cascades. It is also a popular tourist destination despite its remoteness, with recreational activities including hiking, backpacking, mountaineering, and photography. Vegetation at Mount Jefferson is dominated by Douglas fir, silver fir, mountain hemlock, ponderosa pine, lodgepole pine, and several cedar species. Carnivores, insectivores, bats, rodents, deer, birds, and various other species inhabit the area.
Mount Adams, known by some Native American tribes as Pahto or Klickitat, is a potentially active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range. Although Adams has not erupted in more than 1,000 years, it is not considered extinct. It is the second-highest mountain in Washington, after Mount Rainier.
Mount McLoughlin is a dormant steep-sided stratovolcano, or composite volcano, in the Cascade Range of southern Oregon and within the United States Sky Lakes Wilderness. It is one of the volcanic peaks in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, within the High Cascades sector. A prominent landmark for the Rogue River Valley, the mountain is north of Mount Shasta, and south-southeast of Crater Lake. It was named around 1838 after John McLoughlin, a Chief Factor for the Hudson's Bay Company. Mount McLouglin's prominence has made it a landmark to Native American populations for thousands of years.
The Wind River Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately 100 mi (160 km). The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and includes Gannett Peak, which at 13,802 ft (4,207 m), is the highest peak in Wyoming; and also Fremont Peak at 13,750 ft (4,191 m), the third highest peak in Wyoming. There are more than 40 other named peaks in excess of 12,999 ft (3,962 m). With the exception of the Grand Teton in the Teton Range, the next 19 highest peaks in Wyoming after Gannett are also in the Winds.
The Blue Mountains are a mountain range in the northwestern United States, located largely in northeastern Oregon and stretching into extreme southeastern Washington. The range has an area of about 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2), stretching east and southeast of Pendleton, Oregon, to the Snake River along the Oregon–Idaho border.
The Elkhorn Mountains are a mountain range, part of the Blue Mountains in the northwest United States. Located in northeastern Oregon west of Baker City, the highest point in the range is Rock Creek Butte at 9,106 feet (2,776 m) above sea level.
The Hells Canyon Wilderness is a wilderness area in the western United States, in Idaho and Oregon. Created 49 years ago in 1975, the Wilderness is managed by both the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service and contains some of the most spectacular sections of the Snake River as it winds its way through Hells Canyon, North America's deepest river gorge and one of the deepest gorges on Earth. The Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984 added additional acreage and currently the area protects a total area of 217,927 acres (88,192 ha). It lies entirely within the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area except for a small 946-acre (383 ha) plot in southeastern Wallowa County, Oregon which is administered by the Bureau of Land Management. The area that is administered by the Forest Service consists of portions of the Wallowa, Nez Perce, Payette, and Whitman National Forests.
Broken Top is a glacially eroded complex stratovolcano. It lies in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the extensive Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of the Three Sisters peaks, the volcano, residing within the Three Sisters Wilderness, is 20 miles (32 km) west of Bend, Oregon in Deschutes County. Eruptive activity stopped roughly 100,000 years ago, and erosion by glaciers has since reduced the volcano's cone to where its contents are exposed. There are two named glaciers on the peak, Bend and Crook Glacier.
The Purcell Wilderness Conservancy is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It was established in 1974, and encompasses six large drainages in the Purcell Mountains in the southeast of the province. It contains high peaks, alpine meadows and ridges, deep creek and river valleys, and hot springs at Dewar Creek.
The Wallowa–Whitman National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and Idaho. Formed upon the merger of the Wallowa and Whitman national forests in 1954, it is located in the northeastern corner of the state, in Wallowa, Baker, Union, Grant, and Umatilla counties in Oregon, and includes small areas in Nez Perce and Idaho counties in Idaho. The forest is named for the Wallowa band of the Nez Perce people, who originally lived in the area, and Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, Presbyterian missionaries who settled just to the north in 1836. Forest headquarters are located in Baker City, Oregon with ranger districts in La Grande, Joseph and Baker City.
Diamond Peak is a volcano in Klamath and Lane counties of central Oregon in the United States. It is a shield volcano, though it might also be considered a modest stratocone. Diamond Peak forms part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Cascade Range in western North America extending from southern British Columbia through Oregon to Northern California. Reaching an elevation of 8,748 feet (2,666 m), the mountain is located near Willamette Pass in the Diamond Peak Wilderness within the Deschutes and Willamette national forests. Surrounded by coniferous forest and visible in the skyline from foothills near Eugene, Diamond Peak offers a few climbing routes and can be scrambled. Diamond Peak is one of Oregon's Matterhorns.
The Red Buttes Wilderness is a wilderness area in the Klamath and Rogue River national forests in the U.S. states of Oregon and California. It comprises 19,940 acres (8,070 ha), approximately 16,190 acres (6,550 ha) of which is located in California, and 3,750 acres (1,520 ha) in Oregon. It was established by the California Wilderness Act of 1984 and the Oregon Wilderness Act of 1984.
The North Fork John Day Wilderness is a wilderness area within the Umatilla and Wallowa–Whitman National Forests in the Blue Mountains of northeastern Oregon.
The Sawtooth Range is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in central Idaho, United States, reaching a maximum elevation of 10,751 feet (3,277 m) at the summit of Thompson Peak. It encompasses an area of 678 square miles (1,756 km2) spanning parts of Custer, Boise, Blaine, and Elmore counties, and is bordered to the east by the Sawtooth Valley. Much of the mountain range is within the Sawtooth Wilderness, part of the Sawtooth National Recreation Area and Sawtooth National Forest.
The Cascades ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Somewhat smaller than the Cascade mountain range for which it is named, the ecoregion extends north to Snoqualmie Pass, near Seattle, and south to Hayden Pass, near the Oregon-California border, including the peaks and western slopes of most of the High Cascades. A discontiguous section is located on Mount Shasta in California.
The Imnaha Guard Station is a rustic cabin located in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in western Oregon, United States. It was originally built to house fire crews assigned to patrol the surrounding National Forest. In the 1990s, the United States Forest Service began renting the Imnaha Guard Station to recreational visitors. The Imnaha Guard Station is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Mokelumne Wilderness is a 105,165-acre federally designated wilderness area located 70 miles (110 km) east of Sacramento, California. It is within the boundaries of three national forests: Stanislaus, Eldorado and Toiyabe. First protected under the Wilderness Act of 1964, the Mokelumne's borders were expanded under the California Wilderness Act of 1984 with the addition of 55,000 acres. The wilderness takes its name from the Mokelumne River, which was named after a Mi-wok Indian village located on the riverbank in California's Central Valley.
Icicle Creek is a non navigable stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It originates at Josephine Lake near the crest of the Cascade Range and flows generally east to join the Wenatchee River near Leavenworth. Icicle Creek's drainage basin is mountainous and mostly undeveloped land within the Wenatchee National Forest and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The final 6 miles (10 km) of the creek are moderately developed with scattered homes and pasture, a golf course, children's camp, a small housing development called Icicle Island Club, and the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery. Some water is diverted from the creek for municipal use by the City of Leavenworth at Icicle Creek river mile 5.6. Near Leavenworth, the wheelchair-accessible Icicle Creek Nature Trail, a National Recreation Trail designated in 2005, runs 1.0 mile (1.6 km) along a historic creek channel.
Rock Creek Butte is a 9,106-foot (2,776 m) summit in Baker County, Oregon, in the United States. It is located in the Wallowa–Whitman National Forest, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Sumpter.
Twin Lakes is the name of a set of two alpine lakes along the Elkhorn Crest trail in the southern end of the Elkhorn Mountains in Baker County, eastern Oregon. It is a popular area for hikers, camping, fishing and sightseers seeking to see mountain goats that frequent the western hillside of the lake. Hiking to Twin Lakes is approximately 4 miles from Marble Pass. The highest point in the range is Rock Creek Butte, located on the northern ridge above the lakes.