Mount Baker, Bellingham’s local active volcano, is a dominate feature in the north interior of Washington and deserves its own gallery. Its summit is 10,778-feet above sea level just 30 miles from the city. The mountain was known as Komo Kulshan by indigenous people, although this may be a bad translation of the actual Lummi description. Spanish explorer Gonzalo Lopez de Haro mapped it as Great Mount Carmelo in 1790. It was renamed by Captain George Vancouver for Joseph Baker, his 3rd Lieutenant on board the HMS Discovery in 1792. (The Lt allegedly was the first to report it from the deck.)
Edmund Coleman made the first recorded ascent in 1868, on his 3rd attempt. The largest glacier along his route now bears his name. The summit and sub-peaks reflect the political climate of the time: Grant Peak, Sherman Crater, Lincoln Peak, and Colfax Peak. (My favorite factoid: Colfax was U.S. Grant’s Vice-President.)
The current glaciated mountain is between 90,000 and 140,000 years old, although the mountain’s origins likely began 1.5 million years ago. The last known significant eruption occurred in 1843 or 1860, but the record is unclear. Mount Baker is the most glaciated of the Cascade volcanoes and the third highest of Washington’s five (Rainier, Adams, Baker, Glacier, and Saint Helens).
