24 The Mountaineer 



The entire distance from Liberty Cap, where the 

 snow accumulates to the extremity of the glaciers, 

 where it melts away, is approximately five miles. The 

 breadth of the glacier where its borders are best de- 

 fined, about a mile above its terminus, is approximately 

 3,000 feet. 



At the head of the canyon there is a steep ascent 

 to the summit of the mountain resembling the higher 

 and more precipitous cliffs at the head of Carbon Gla- 

 cier. There is a noticeable enlargement of the canyon 

 near its head, but it is not extensive enough to be 

 classed as an amphitheater. From the summit of 

 Eagle Cliff — where may be seen the most magnificent 

 of the views about Mount Rainier, and in fact one of 

 the most sublime pictures of noble scenery to be had 

 anywhere in America — the whole of Willis Glacier, 

 from the snow fields that give brilliancy to Liberty Cap 

 down to the dirt-stained and crevassed extremity of the 

 ice stream, is embraced in a single view. 



From Eagle Cliff the manner in which Willis Gla- 

 cier is divided at its extremity into two moraine-cov- 

 ered tongues of ice is a noticeable feature. The bold 

 rocky eminence that causes the division rises steeply 

 in the center of the valley to a height of fully 1,000 feet, 

 and is clothed on its down-stream side with forest trees. 



The retreat of the glacier within recent years has 

 been accompanied by a lowering of its surface, as is 

 plainly recorded by fresh-looking ridges of debris along 

 its border. On the northern side of the glacier, for a 

 mile above the ice fall of 400 feet, there are three well- 

 defined abandoned lateral moraines. 



Inter glaciers. 



The interglaciers were formerly more extensive than 

 now, and much of the beauty of the park-like regions 

 in the neighborhood of the upper limit of timber growth 

 is due to the changes they made in the relief of the 



