Bald Mountain
Bald Mountain, elevation 5,898 feet, is located, twenty-five miles, east of the Cascades crest, in Kittitas County, Washington. It is on the Naches Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Mt. Rainier, the prominent peak to the right of center, is about thirty miles away. Bald Mountain is best reached by Forest Road 1702 (Rock Creek) off Highway 410.
In viewing the historic photograph, at first glance there appears to large areas of snow-covered meadows. It is not snow, but rather the result of film and processing, that created very high contrast. Of particular note is how the meadow area has shrunk in eighty years time. Fires are a factor that create and maintain meadows, and serve as places where fires might not be sustained, for lack of fuel. Meadows certainly are a place where retardant can be effective today in stopping wildfires. Dense forest covers what was once meadow area. Although dense forests benefit some species of wildlife, others find more forage in meadows. Note the cliffs to the left of Mt. Rainier. That is an area known as Devil's Slide, and is inhabited by mountain goats. Mountain goats in the Washington Cascades have not recovered from a decline in the 1970s. Portions of this scene were acquired from Plum Creek Timber Company, by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, with the help of The Nature Conservancy, using Land and Water Conservation Funds.
Top Image by George Clisby, from National Archives and Records Administration, Seattle, Wa. Bottom image by John F Marshall as funded by Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest and Wenatchee Forestry Sciences Lab of Pacific NW Research Station.
Mountain Goat nannys and kids in the vicinity of Devil's Slide. Naches Ranger District of Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, WA. Photography funded by The Nature Conservancy.