Mountains

•    A mountain is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain in a limited area and usually has an identifiable summit.
•     Mountain building processes include topographic relief generation through faulting.  A fault is a break in the Earth’s crust along which slippage and displacement occur. Extensional (pull apart) faulting of the Earth’s crust is responsible for the generating the current topographic relief forming the Wasatch Mountains. This faulting is also responsible for generation of earthquakes at the Earth’s surface.
•    The Wasatch fault is the extensional (normal) fault at the western base of the Wasatch Range. This fault is ~ 250 miles long and has been active for 17 million years.
•    Recent motion along the Wasatch fault can be seen along slip surfaces called fault scarps. A good example of this can be seen at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon.
•    Many well adapted animals and plants have found ways to thrive in the harsh climate that exists in our mountains.
•    Most mountains in the western United States receive most of their annual precipitation in the form of snowfall that typically accumulates throughout the winter before melting over a relatively short period of time in the spring and early summer.
•    Water leaves the mountains through several processes including runoff (largest in the springtime), it enters the groundwater, evapotranspiration (the movement of water to the air through plants, soil and water surfaces) and the sublimation of the snowpack in the winter.  

The Wasatch Mountains

•    The Wasatch Mountains exhibit over 1 billion years of Earth history including during this time oceans came and went, mountains rose, were eroded and rose again, sand dunes moved across the land, and glaciers and lakes appeared and disappeared.
•    Canyons such as Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon have been carved by streams and rivers over millions with a recent stint of glacial erosion between 30,000 and 8,000 years ago.  
•    The Wasatch Mountains are not that tall relative to surrounding mountain ranges in the western United States.  The tallest peak in the Wasatch, Mount Nebo, rises to 11,877ft above sea level approximately 75 miles to the south of the Salt Lake valley.  
•    There are many peaks in the cottonwood canyons that top out over 11,000ft, which leaves over 7000ft of vertical relief between the bottom of the Salt Lake valley and the highest peaks (~10 miles as a crow flies).  
•    Due to varying soil types and the different facing aspects (N vs. S) and the subsequent variations in soil moisture and temperature, many different habitats are found in the Wasatch.  Some of these include riparian zones inhabited by cottonwoods and willows, low elevation scrub habitat inhabited by gambel’s oak, box elder and sagebrush, high elevation deciduous habitat made up mostly of quaking aspens, coniferous forests made up primarily of Douglas, White and Subalpine Firs, and Engelmann and Blue Spruces, and alpine zones above treeline that consist of mostly annual and perennial wildflowers.  
•    The Wasatch Mountain provide habitat for many vertebrates including Mule Deer, Elk, Moose, Mountain Goat, Coyote, Bobcat, Mountain Lion, Beaver, Yellow-bellied Marmots, Striped Skunk, North American Porcupine, Red Squirrel, and several bats, frogs, snakes and fish among others.
•    Many birds breed and migrate through the many varied habitats found in the Wasatch Mountains including Blue and Ruffed Grouse, many kinds of hawks, falcons, Bald and Golden Eagles, hummingbirds, woodpeckers, flycatchers, swallows, vireos, warblers, Western Tanagers, grosbeaks and sparrows.
•    Some invertebrates (animals without backbones) that are common in the Wasatch Mountains include: dozens of butterfly and moths species, dragonflies, damselflies, leeches, mosquitoes, flies, isopods, snails, worms, beetles (including the bark beetle).
o    Invertebrate animals are common in healthy mountain habitat. They serve as an important food source for larger animals like birds, bats, frogs, fish, etc.
o    Many invertebrates common to mountain streams and lakes (like Silver Lake) live in the water only during early stages of their lifecycles and later emerge as flying, air-breathing adults.  Examples include mosquitoes and dragonflies.
•    The Wasatch Mountains benefit us:
o    Mountains provide the majority of our drinking water through runoff and groundwater that percolates from the mountains the valleys below.
o    Runoff (especially in the spring) carries down nutrients, minerals, etc. to the valleys, riparian zones and wetlands below.
o    Millions of dollars are added to our economy each year by people coming to our mountains to recreate.  Some of these activities people from around the world come here to do include skiing and snowboarding, rock climbing, hiking, camping, biking, paragliding, etc..  
o    The mountains can be an escape from the valley heat in the summer.
o    The Wasatch Mountains habitat allows many big game animals such as deer, elk, moose and mountain goats, and birds to thrive that hunters and wildlife watchers enjoy.  

Albion Basin (Upper Little Cottonwood Canyon) and Silver Lake (Upper Big Cottonwood Canyon)

•    The Wasatch Mountains are located to the east of the majority of the population found along the Wasatch Front.  More specifically, the cottonwood canyons are located to the southeast of Salt Lake City.   
•    Much of the water you see in Silver Lake or in Big or Little Cottonwood Creek goes through a water treatment facility at the base of each canyon.  Once the water has been treated, the water ends up at our houses in Salt Lake City and surrounding suburbs.
•    Because much of the water in the canyon is used for our drinking water, dogs are not allowed in either Big or Little Cottonwood Canyons.
•    Much of the land in the cottonwood canyons is owned by the national forest service (NSF).  Most of the privately owned pieces of land already have houses, cabins or condominiums on them already.  
•    Most of the ski resorts (Alta, Brighton, etc.) pay the national forest service to allow them the ability to keep their equipment (lifts, etc.) on the land.  
•    Over 100 bird species have been recorded in the Wasatch Mountains.
•    Most birds that breed in the mountains either fly south or move to lower elevations in the winter.  However, there are a few exceptions and up to 15 species of birds can still be found in the dead of winter at the highest elevations.