THE GLACIERS OF MT. RAINIER 



663 



West Side of Mount Rainier. 



A telephoto view taken from Electron, at a distance of 20 miles. The main summit, composed of two new cinder cones 

 n4.408 feet) is seen in the center. To the left is Liberty Cap (14.112 feet), and to the right is Peak Success (14.150 

 feet), both remnants of the old crater rim. The glaciers in view are 1, North Mowich; 2. Edmunds; 3, South 

 Mowich; 4, Puyallup: 5, Tahoma 



Glacier) lies the South Mowich Glacier, 

 also a cirque-born ice stream, heading 

 against the base of the Liberty Cap 

 massif. It is the shortest of the western 

 glaciers, measuring only a scant 3 miles. 

 Aside from the snows accumulating in 

 its ill-shajjcd cirque it receives strong 

 reenforcements from its neighbor to the 

 south the Puyallup Glacier. 



PUYALLUP GLACIER. 



What esi)ecially distinguishes the 

 Puyallup Glacier from its neighbors to 

 the north is the great elevation of its 

 cirque. The Carbon, North Mowich, 

 and South Mowich Glaciers all head at 

 levels of about 10,000 feet. The amphi- 

 theatre of the Puyallup Glacier, on the 

 contrary, opens a full 2,000 feet higher 

 up. Encircled by a great vertical wall 

 that cuts into the Liberty Cap platform 

 from the south, it has evidently de- 

 veloped through glacial sapping from a 

 hollow of volcanic origin. From this 



great reservoir the Puyallup Glacier 

 descends by a rather narrow' chute. 

 Then it expands again to a width of 

 three-fourths of a mile and sends a 

 ])ortion of its volume to the South 

 Mowich Glacier. In spite of this loss 

 it continues to expand, reaching a 

 maximum width of a mile and a total 

 length of 4 miles. No doubt this is 

 accounted for by the heavy snowfalls 

 that replenish it throughout its course. 



TAHO.MA GLACIER. 



Immediately south of the elevated 

 amphitheater of the Puyallup Glacier the 

 crater rim of the volcano is breached 

 for a distance of half a mile. Through 

 this gap tumbles a voluminous cascade 

 from the neve fields about the summit, 

 and this cascade, recnforced by a flow 

 from the Puyallup cirque, forms the 

 great Tahoma Glacier, the most im- 

 pressive ice stream on the southwest 

 side. Separated from its northern 



