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Fife's Peak Viewpoint - 360° Photography 360 degree image - panorama of the Chinook Scenic Byway

The Fife’s Peak viewpoint is located on the Mather Memorial Parkway and offers a spectacular view of Fife’s Peak with interpretive panels and ample parking.

Fifes Peaks is a mountain summit in Yakima County, WA that climbs to 6,119 feet (1,865.07 meters) above sea level. The volcano is composed of andesite lava flows, volcanic ash and breccia, which is composed of rock fragments. The peaks are remnants of a large low-profile caldera that exploded 25 million years ago. The base of the spire marks the margin of the filled caldera. Fifes Peaks is part of a north-south volcanic chain extending through Washington and Oregon through Northern California, called the Cascade Arc. Fossilized wood, resulting from the replacement of wood by silica, can be found at the base of some flows or within the interbeds. Silicified nuts and fish are also associated with these interbeds.

Fife’s Peak is named for Thomas X. Fife. The Fife brothers: Tom, Joseph, Robert, and their father John, emigrants from Fifeshire Scotland, are credited with finding the first nearby quartz gold mine during 1888. The mine is in the Gold Hill area near Chinook Pass. Tom Fife would trek to his mine following 'X' blazes on trees (there were no roads) and remain in the hills until December each year, when supplies ran out and hunger got the best of him. Tom homesteaded at Goose Prairie, near Bumping Lake. Camp Fife, the Boy Scout Camp at Goose Prairie, is named for Tom Fife as he willed the land to the Boy Scouts. Never married, Tom was known for his kindness to and love of children. When World War I arrived, Tom made an earnest effort to enlist, but being 65, he was denied. According to Jack Nelson, caretaker of Bumping Dam, when Tom acquired a khaki coat and trousers his joy was boundless for he felt that he was wearing a US soldier's uniform.

Anyone attempting to climb Fife’s Peaks and reach the summit should look for topographic information on the Fifes Peak area and consult the Goose Prairie USGS quad. Five trails are also located nearby: Fife’s Ridge, Pleasant Valley Lake Trail 958b, Pleasant Valley Nature Loop Trail, Pleasant Valley Loop Cross-Country Skiing and Goat Peak Trails 958c & 958.

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