FIELD NOTES ON MOUNT RAINIER, 1905 



as Liberty Cap. A cross-section of the cap is in plain 

 view and shows very clearly that this is a minor cone 

 or local point of eruption. It is made up of rock very 

 similar to the main mass of the mountain ; and it is 

 likely that the volcanic activity of the mountain was 

 centered here for some time. Looking directly south 

 from the West crater one sees at a distance of less than 

 a mile another peak which is entirely snow-covered ; 

 but which may represent an instance parallel with 

 that of the peak on the north side. 



Mount Rainier is so deeply covered with ice and snow 

 that the glacial aspects of the mountain are far more 

 conspicuous than the volcanic ones. The facts about 

 the vulcanism and the history of the growth of the 

 mountain are very difficult to study ; and it will be 

 a long time before they are fully known. The glaciers, 

 on the other hand, are very conspicuous, comparatively 

 easy of access, and the many facts concerning their 

 extent, rate of motion, recession, or advance, may be 

 quite readily determined. The glaciers, while very 

 prominent at the present time, were at one time much 

 larger than now. There are many things which go to 

 prove that they formerly reached much farther down 

 the valleys. 



From the top of the mountain one may see off to 

 the westward for many miles south of Puget Sound 

 prairies of large size, covering a great many square 

 miles. These prairies represent the plains of gravel 

 derived from the melting glaciers, when these stood 

 in their vicinity. From these points of maximum 

 extension the glaciers have slowly receded to their 

 present position. 



That the glaciers are receding at the present time is 

 a matter of common observation. At the lower end of 

 the Nisqually glacier the advancing line of vegetation 

 is about one-fourth mile below the present limit of the 

 ice. It is the opinion of Mr. Longmire that the glacier 

 has retreated about that far since he first came to the 



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