French Cabin Mountain

French Cabin Mountain is a triple-peak mountain located in Kittitas County of Washington state. The highest summit is West Peak, elevation 5,724-feet, the South Peak is 5,560-feet-elevation, and the North Peak is 5,498-feet. French Cabin Mountain is situated six miles north of Easton, between Kachess Lake and Cle Elum Lake, on land managed by Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest. Precipitation runoff from the mountain drains north into French Cabin Creek and south into Silver Creek, which are both part of the Yakima River drainage basin. Topographic relief is significant as the summit rises above Silver Creek in one mile, and the east aspect rises above Cle Elum Lake in. French Cabin Mountain is the toponym officially adopted by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names, however "Frenchman Mountain" is a variant. West Peak is also an official toponym.

Climate

Lying east of the Cascade crest, the area around French Cabin Mountain is a bit drier than areas to the west. Summers can bring warm temperatures and occasional thunderstorms. Most weather fronts originating in the Pacific Ocean travel east toward the Cascade Mountains. As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks of the Cascade Range, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the Cascades. As a result, the eastern slopes of the Cascades experience lower precipitation than the western slopes. 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.