Drive over Washington Pass on Highway 20 in the North Cascades and you will be treated to views of some of the most dramatic and severe mountains in the entire United States.
The 7,700-foot Liberty Bell looms large over the landscape, and at sunset and sunrise it turns a brilliant gold.
That’s because it’s made of an orange-colored granite and is part of the Golden Horn batholith – a massive granite formation that makes up about half of the skyline at Washington Pass. The other half? The darker Black Peak batholith formation.
Nick Zentner looks for the spot where these two batholiths meet to tell a story 50 million years in the making!
Support for Nick on the Rocks is provided by the Pacific Science Center.
Topics: History, Multimedia, Video, Nick on the Rocks, Geology, batholith