Trask Mountain

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Trask Mountain
Elevation 3,412 ft (1,040 m)
Location Oregon, USA
Range Northern Oregon Coast Range, Oregon Coast Range
Prominence 1,824 ft (556 m)
Coordinates 45°22′17″N, 123°27′23″W
Topo map USGS Trask Mountain (OR)
Easiest route Trask Toll Road to just below the summit.[1]

Trask Mountain in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, is the tallest mountain in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States.[2] It stands at 3,412 feet (1,040 m) above sea level and is located in the northwest corner of the county.[3] The mountain is named for Elbridge Trask,[citation needed] who settled west of the peak in Tillamook County in 1852.

Contents

[edit] Geology

The mountain is composed of mainly volcanic rock with some sedimentary rocks.[4] Like much of the northern section of the Oregon Coast Range, the origins began around 40 million years ago during the Eocene period. During this era, sandstone and siltstone formed in the area.[5] Additionally, igneous rocks and basalt flows combined with basaltic sandstone to create many of the mountainous formations. The volcanic rocks come from basalt flows that covered much of Oregon that originated from fissures in the central portion of the state.[6] Additional sedimentary rock was formed more recently, around 20 million years ago.[5]

All of the coast range lies over a convergent tectonic margin interacting with the Juan de Fuca Plate that is subducting beneath North America tectonic plate in the Cascadia Subduction Zone.[7] The mountains are created by the plunging structural arch of sedimentary and Tertiary volcanic strata that is being uplifted.[6]

[edit] Flora and fauna

Vegetation in the area includes Sitka Spruce, Douglas-fir, Western Hemlock, Western Redcedar, Salmonberry, Red Alder, Western Sword Fern, and Vine Maple among many others.[8] Other plant life native to the mountains are Coptis laciniata, Salal, Oregon-grape, and Bracken Fern.[9][10][11]

Different insects can include spiders, beetles, and various centipedes.[11][9] Mammals include weevils, chipmunks, bears, hares, white-footed deer mice, and deer.[9] Birds include kinglets, chickadees, woodpeckers, and jays.[9]

[edit] Other

In the northwest part of the county, the mountain is in private forest land owned by Weyerhaeuser.[12] Trask Mountain makes up a portion of the North Yamhill River headwaters that drain to the Willamette River.[4] On its north side, drainage is to the Trask River which flows west to the Pacific Ocean.[8] The mountain receives over 135 inches or precipitation each year.[4] The mountain is home to a U.S. Geologic Survey seismograph station that was installed in 1991.[13] Previously, the peak was home to a fire lookout station that was abandoned in the 1970s.[14] There are plans to construct a 50 Megawatt wind power facility atop the mountain beginning in 2009.[15]

In 1997 Lee John Knoch beat Robert Allen Holliday nearly to death and buried him alive on Trask Mountain.[16]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Yamhill County High Point
  2. ^ Peakbagger.com: Trask Mountain, Oregon
  3. ^ USGS: GNIS-Trask Mountain
  4. ^ a b c North Yamhill Watershed
  5. ^ a b Oregon Department of Forestry: Upper Nehalem Watershed Analysis
  6. ^ a b USGS: Geologic Map of the Tillamook Highlands, Northwest Oregon Coast Range
  7. ^ Geology of the Luckiamute River Watershed, Upper Willamette Basin, Polk and Benton Counties, Oregon
  8. ^ a b ODF: Trask River Watershed
  9. ^ a b c d Biotic Aspection in the Coast Range Mountains of Northwestern Oregon, Ecological Monographs, Vol. 28, No. 1. (Jan., 1958), pp. 21-54. James A. Macnab.
  10. ^ BLM: Management Recommendations for Spleenwort-leaved Goldthread
  11. ^ a b Tree Dictionary: From the Forest to the Sea: A Story of Fallen Trees
  12. ^ Yamhill County High Point 2
  13. ^ USGS: Seismograph Station Codes Listed Alphabetically: T
  14. ^ katu.com: When 'Cloud Girls' watched over the woods
  15. ^ Everpower Renewables: Trask Mountain: Yamhill County, Oregon
  16. ^ Tims, Dana. Dundee man guilty of 1997 murder. The Oregonian, March 28, 1998.

[edit] External links

Image:Flag of Oregon.svg Oregon Coast Range
Northern

Five highest peaks: Rogers Peak · South Saddle Mountain · Larch Mountain · Trask Mountain · Saddle Mountain

Central

Five highest peaks: Marys Peak · Grass Mountain · Laurel Mountain · Prairie Peak · Saddle Bag Mountain

Southern

Four highest peaks: Bone Mountain · Kenyon Mountain · Bear Mountain · Buzzard Rock

See also

Pacific Coast Ranges · Tualatin Mountains · Siskiyou Mountains · Calapooya Mountains · Oregon Coast

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