EXPLORING THE MOUNTAIN AND ITS GLACIERS, 1896 



a practicable route could probably be found. Thread- 

 ing our way between numerous crevasses we soon came 

 in sight of a bold, outstanding rock mass, which we 

 judged to be Gibraltar, and succeeded in reaching it 

 with but little difficulty. On gaining the junction of 

 the rock with the snow fields rising above it, we found 

 evidences of a trail, which was soon lost, however, and 

 only served to show that our general course was the 

 right one. A deep, narrow space between the border 

 of Nisqually Glacier and the precipitous side of Gib- 

 raltar, from which the snow and ice had been melted 

 by the heat reflected from the cliffs on our left, led us 

 down to a shelf on the lower side of the promontory, 

 which proved a safe and easy way to the crest of a 

 rocky rib on the mountain side which extended far 

 down toward the dark forests in view below. 



Gibraltar is a portion of the cone of Rainier built 

 before the explosion which truncated the mountain. 

 It is an outstanding and very prominent rock mass, 

 left in bold relief by the ice excavation which has 

 carved deep valleys on each side. The rock divides 

 the descending neve in the same manner as does The 

 Wedge, and causes a part of the snow drainage to flow 

 to the Cowlitz and the other part to be tributary to 

 the Nisqually Glacier. The rocks forming Gibraltar 

 consist largely of fragments ejected from the crater 

 above, but present a rude stratification due to the 

 presence of lava flows. When seen from the side and 

 at a convenient distance, it is evident that the planes 

 of bedding, if continued upward at the same angle, 

 would reach above the present summit of the mountain. 

 Gibraltar, like The Wedge, and several other secondary 

 peaks on the sides of Mount Rainier, are, as previously 

 explained, the sharp, upward-pointing angles of large 

 V-shaped masses of the original volcanic cone, left in 

 bold relief by the excavation of deep valleys radiating 

 from the central peak. On the backs, so to speak, of 

 these great V-shaped portions of the mountain which 



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