Welch Peaks
North aspect, seen from Mt. Townsend trail
Highest point
Elevation	6,110 ft (1,862 m)^[1]
Prominence	350 ft (107 m)^[2]
Parent peak	Mount Townsend (6,243 ft)^[3]
Isolation	1.17 mi (1.88 km)^[3]
Coordinates	47°50′42″N 123°03′50″W / 47.8450031°N 123.0638362°W / 47.8450031; -123.0638362^[4]
Geography
Welch Peaks Location of Welch Peaks in Washington Show map of Washington (state) Welch Peaks Welch Peaks (the United States) Show map of the United States
Country	United States
State	Washington
County	Jefferson
Protected area	Buckhorn Wilderness
Parent range	Olympic Mountains
Topo map	USGS Mount Townsend
Geology
Age of rock	Eocene
Climbing
Easiest route	class 2 scrambling^[3]

Welch Peaks is a 6,110-foot (1,862-metre) mountain in the eastern Olympic Mountains in Jefferson County of Washington state, United States. It is set within Buckhorn Wilderness, on land managed by the Olympic National Forest. The nearest higher neighbor is Mount Townsend, 1.2 mi (1.9 km) to the north, and Mount Worthington rises 2.1 mi (3.4 km) to the southwest. Precipitation runoff from Welch Peaks drains into tributaries of the Big Quilcene River, and Silver Creek which is a tributary of the Dungeness River. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises 3,100 feet (945 m) above Townsend Creek in approximately one mile. The mountain's toponym was officially adopted in 1963 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names.^[4]

Climate

Welch Peaks is in the marine west coast climate zone of western North America.^[5] Weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean travel northeast toward the Olympic Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks (orographic lift), causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snow. As a result, the Olympics experience high precipitation, especially during the winter months in the form of snowfall.^[6] Because of maritime influence, snow tends to be wet and heavy, resulting in avalanche danger. During winter months weather is usually cloudy, but due to high pressure systems over the Pacific Ocean that intensify during summer months, there is often little or no cloud cover during the summer.^[6]

Geology

The Olympic Mountains are composed of obducted clastic wedge material and oceanic crust, primarily Eocene sandstone, turbidite, and basaltic oceanic crust.^[7] The mountains were sculpted during the Pleistocene era by erosion and glaciers advancing and retreating multiple times.