Nature
West Peak, a 7,365-foot summit near the center of Olympic National Park, is the highest point on the Anderson Massif and the hydrographic apex of the Olympic range. From its slopes, runoff reaches three different outlets by way of the Quinault, Elwha, and Dosewallips rivers. Ice, cirques, and steep glacial terrain surround the mountain, and its present form was heavily shaped by repeated Pleistocene glaciation. The peak stands in the Olympics’ wet marine west coast climate and is composed of obducted clastic wedge material and oceanic crust. First recorded climbed in 1930, it is also traditionally linked in name to Mr. West of the 1890 O'Neil Expedition.
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