Mount Hood is the highest mountain in Oregon and the fourth highest in the Cascade Mountain Range. The mountain is located 50 miles (80 km) east of Portland and is an important factor in the development of the tourism and agricultural sectors of the local economy.
 |
| Mount Hood |
Key Facts
There is currently no single estimate of Mount Hood's height. In addition to natural seismic factors influencing peak height, the imperfection of the technology used for the measurement contributed to the wide scatter of available data.
Previously, the range of possible altitudes ranged from 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) as estimated by early explorers to 19,400 feet (5,900 meters) as estimated by one Mr. Beden, who claimed to have climbed Mount Hood. For a while, Mount Hood was even considered the tallest mountain in North America.
 |
| Mount Hood |
Modern technology has reduced the list of possible heights to three: 11,240 feet (3426 meters), 11,239 feet (3426 meters) and 11,249 feet (3429 meters).
Mount Hood is covered by twelve named glaciers and snowfields, covering an area of about 5 sq. miles (13.5 sq. km). Glacier melt water is an indispensable component of the irrigation system used by the famous orchards of the Hood River Valley.