Mount Baker, also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a 10,781 ft (3,286 m) active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States. Mount Baker has the second-most thermally active crater in the Cascade Range after Mount St. Helens. About 30 miles (48 km) due east of the city of Bellingham, Whatcom County, Mount Baker is the youngest volcano in the Mount Baker volcanic field. While volcanism has persisted here for some 1.5 million years, the current volcanic cone is likely no more than 140,000 years old, and possibly no older than 80–90,000 years. Older volcanic edifices have mostly eroded away due to glaciation.
Mount Rainier National Park is an American national park located in southeast Pierce County and northeast Lewis County in Washington state. The park was established on March 2, 1899, as the fourth national park in the United States, preserving 236,381 acres including all of Mount Rainier, a 14,410-foot (4,390 m) stratovolcano. The mountain rises abruptly from the surrounding land with elevations in the park ranging from 1,600 feet to over 14,000 feet (490–4,300 m). The highest point in the Cascade Range, Mount Rainier is surrounded by valleys, waterfalls, subalpine meadows, and 91,000 acres of old-growth forest. More than 25 glaciers descend the flanks of the volcano, which is often shrouded in clouds that dump enormous amounts of rain and snow.
The Nisqually River is a river in west central Washington in the United States, approximately 81 miles (130 km) long. It drains part of the Cascade Range southeast of Tacoma, including the southern slope of Mount Rainier, and empties into the southern end of Puget Sound. Its outlet was designated in 1971 as the Nisqually Delta National Natural Landmark.
Emmons Glacier is on the northeast flank of Mount Rainier, in Washington. At 4.3 sq mi (11 km2), it has the largest surface area of any glacier in the contiguous United States. The glacier was named after the geologist Samuel Franklin Emmons after his involvement in a survey of Mount Rainier in 1870.
The Konwakiton Glacier is a glacier situated on the southern flank of Mount Shasta, in the U.S. state of California. It occupies the head of a large cirque on the south side of Shasta's Misery Hill cone, just northeast of the prominent outcrop of Thumb Rock at about 11,500 ft (3,500 m). It is the fifth largest glacier on Mount Shasta, although less than one-third the size of any of the four larger ones. The Konwakiton is the most frequently visited of Shasta's glaciers, since the standard climbing route up Avalanche Gulch skirts along its western edge above Thumb Rock saddle, with the boot track often only a few feet from the bergschrund at the glacier's head.
Fryingpan Glacier is on the eastern face of the 11,138-foot (3,395 m) Little Tahoma Peak, just to the east of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington. The glacier is located on top of a cliff from the Emmons Glacier to the north and a small ridge separates this glacier from the Whitman Glacier to the south, except for a small snowfield in which these two glaciers are connected. Most of the ice is located on a broad plateau at an elevation of 8,000 to 8,600 feet. The head of the Fryingpan Glacier is located to the northeast of the ridge and at the foothill of Little Tahoma Peak at around 9,100 to 9,800 feet. The glacier flows downhill eastward and the uneven topography causes the glacier surface to be crevassed The glacier ends on shallow to steep slopes at about 7,100 to 7,500 feet. Numerous snowfields and alpine meadows are located near the bottom and east of the glacier. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the White River.
The Pyramid Glacier is actually a scattering of glaciers and snowfields located on the south-southwestern flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. It covers 0.2 square miles (0.5 km2) and contains 400 million ft3 of ice. The glaciers lie at an elevation ranging from about 7,000 feet (2,100 m) to 9,000 ft (2,700 m). The Success Divide separates this glacier from the South Tahoma Glacier to the west. Both the Success Glacier and lower end of the Kautz Glacier border this glacier on the eastern side. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Nisqually River.
Flett Glacier refers to two glaciers on the northwestern flank of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington. The glaciers lie on a subsidiary peak of Rainier, the 8,364 feet (2,549 m) Observation Rock. There are two sections of glacial ice, an eastern lobe at about 7,600 ft (2,300 m) to 7,300 ft (2,200 m) in elevation, a smaller western lobe at about 7,200 ft (2,200 m) in elevation. Meltwater from the glacier flows into the Puyallup River.
Ingraham Glacier is on the south-eastern flank of Mount Rainier, in the U.S. state of Washington. The glacier is named for the Mount Rainier enthusiast Edward Sturgis Ingraham. From the summit ice cap, Ingraham Glacier flows east between Gibraltar Rock,, and Disappointment Cleaver and south of Little Tahoma Peak, which divides it from the much larger Emmons Glacier to the north. Descending southeast, it approaches the east flank of Cowlitz Glacier and the two glaciers nearly join at 6,700 ft (2,000 m). Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Cowlitz River.
The Kautz Glacier is a narrow glacier on the southern flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named for August Kautz, who is sometimes credited for the first ascent of Mount Rainier, covers 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) and contains 7.8 billion ft3 of ice. Upper Kautz Glacier extends south from the summit ice cap to Kautz Ice Cliff at about 11,700 feet (3,600 m). Immediately west of the main ice cliff, the glacier continues down Kautz Chute which terminates in another ice cliff just above the lower Kautz Glacier at 10,800 feet (3,300 m). Usually reached by a short descent from Camp Hazard at 11,300 feet (3,400 m) on Wapowety Cleaver, climbers following the Kautz Glacier climbing route ascend this chute to the upper glacier.
The Wilson Glacier is a medium-sized tributary glacier located on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named after A.D. Wilson, who was part of an early ascent of Mount Rainier, the body of ice has an area of 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) and has a volume of 1.9 billion feet3. The glacier is directly feeds ice to the adjacent, but much larger Nisqually Glacier. Starting from the head at 9,700 feet (3,000 m), the glacier flows downhill southward. One part of the glacier meets the Nisqually Glacier at 8,000 feet (2,400 m) and the other part of the glacier ends on a cliff in between the Wilson and Nisqually Glacier at 7,200 ft (2,200 m). Meltwater from the glacier feeds the Nisqually River.
The Whitman Glacier is a medium-sized glacier on the eastern flank of Little Tahoma Peak, a sub-peak of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named for the missionary Marcus Whitman, it covers 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) and contains 4.4 billion ft3 of ice. Starting from near the rocky spire of Little Tahoma at 10,000 feet (3,000 m), the glacier flows southeast downhill. A small snowfield connects this glacier with the adjacent Fryingpan Glacier at about 9,200 feet (2,800 m). As the Whitman Glacier flows southeast, the Whitman Crest bounds the glacier to the northeast. Upon reaching a flatter plateau at about 8,300 feet (2,500 m), the glacier does not flow far before reaching its terminus at 8,200 feet (2,500 m) to 7,800 ft (2,400 m). The small Ohanapecosh Glacier lies east of the terminus. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Cowlitz River.
The Tahoma Glacier is a long glacier mostly on the western flank of Mount Rainier in Washington. It covers 1.2 square miles (3.1 km2) and contains 4.3 billion cubic feet of ice. The glacier starts out near the summit of the volcano at over 14,200 feet (4,300 m). As the glacier flows west-southwest out of the summit area, it cascades down a steep rocky face as an icefall from 13,200 feet (4,000 m) to 11,000 feet (3,400 m), where the glacier is connected to the South Mowich Glacier to the north in the Sunset Amphitheater. As the glacier drops below 10,000 feet (3,000 m), it broadens and joins the smaller South Tahoma Glacier. After the broad expanse of ice at over 8,000 feet (2,400 m), the Tahoma Glacier narrows as it descends around the rocky 7,690-foot (2,344 m) Glacier Island, a sub-peak of Rainier once fully encircled by both the South Tahoma and Tahoma Glaciers. Leaving the bottleneck in the glacier, the glacier splits; the larger, longer northern arm continues flowing west-southwest and terminates at around 5,500 feet (1,700 m). The southern arm flows south towards the arm of the South Tahoma Glacier, but this arm terminates before it rejoins the South Tahoma at 5,700 ft (1,700 m). Meltwater from the glacier is the source of the South Puyallup River and Tahoma Creek, a tributary of the Nisqually River.
The Winthrop Glacier is a large glacier on the northeastern side of Mount Rainier in Washington. Named after Theodore Winthrop, the body of ice covers 3.5 mile2 (9.1 km2) and has a volume of 18.5 billion feet3. Starting at over 14,300 feet (4,400 m) at the Columbia Crest, the glacier heads north and descends steeply over the uneven topography of Rainier. Another glacier, the Emmons Glacier is directly connected to this glacier up to the Steamboat Prow. After passing the Prow, the glaciers split up; the Emmons heads east-northeastward and the Winthrop continues northeast. As the terrain becomes flatter, the Winthrop glacier becomes heavily rock-covered when it terminates in a forest at about 4,900 ft (1,500 m). Meltwater from the glacier drains into the White River.
The South Tahoma Glacier is a glacier located on the southwest flank of Mount Rainier in State of Washington. It covers 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2) and contains 4.6 billion ft3 of ice. Starting from an elevation of around 10,600 feet (3,200 m) at the base of a steep cliff, the glacier flows down southwest with the larger, adjacent Tahoma Glacier lying to the north. The smaller South Tahoma is connected to the Tahoma at an ice patch located in midway down the South Tahoma. From then on, the glacier narrows and flows down southwest and accumulates rock debris before turning and ending at an elevation of around 5,100 feet (1,600 m). The southern ice stream used to be connected to a northern ice stream coming down south from the Tahoma Glacier encompassing a jagged 7,690 feet (2,344 m) high sub-peak of Rainier called Glacier Island, but retreat has separated the glaciers at an elevation below 8,000 ft (2,400 m). Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Nisqually River.
Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma, is a large active stratovolcano in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. The mountain is located in Mount Rainier National Park about 59 miles (95 km) south-southeast of Seattle. With a summit elevation of 14,411 ft (4,392 m), it is the highest mountain in the U.S. state of Washington and the Cascade Range, the most topographically prominent mountain in the contiguous United States, and the tallest in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.
Lake Nisqually is used to identify the freshwater lake formed in the Puget Sound trough, west of Tacoma. It is sometime confused with Early Lake Russell which covered the same area during a previous northward retreat of the glacier. The glacier returned southward, then on its final retreat northward, the waters filing this basin are referred to as Lake Nisqually. Its discharge was across the Black Lake channel at 160 feet (49 m) above sea level. Two deltas formed along the eastern margin of the lake from the outflow of Lake Tacoma in the Puyallup River valley. Both the Steilacoom and Sequalichew deltas, at 160 feet (49 m). A rise in level to 180 to 200 feet reflects the closure of the Black Lake outlet while the two deltas were still growing.
During the Vashon Glaciation a series of lakes formed along the southern margin of the Cordilleran Ice Cap. In the Puget Sound depression, a series of lakes developed, of which Lake Russell was the largest and the longest lasting. Early Lake Russell’s surface was at 160 ft (49 m) above sea level, draining across the divide at Shelton, Washington into early Glacial Lake Russell. When the ice margin receded northward, the lake expanded. When it reached the Clifton channel outlet, the water levels dropped to 120 ft (37 m) above sea level. The new longer and lower level lake is referred to as Lake Hood. The glacier continued to retreat until the northern outlet of the Hood Canal was reached as the water level equalized with Glacial Lake Russell becoming part of that body of water.
Lake Puyallup developed along the south edge of the Puget Sound Glacier. The glacier was in retreat northward after having reached its most southerly point. Drainage off the north face of Mount Rainier and the melting ice of the glacier was trapped in the valley of the Puyallup River. As the glacier moved north, the lake grew until it reached its largest capacity with the glacier at the glacial front across the Puyallup valley just south of Commencement Bay at Tacoma and northern bend of the White River at Auburn. When the ice retreated further north, it was reduced in depth and volume and takes on the name of Lake Tacoma.
Mount Rainier is a stratovolcano within the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest. The mountain is within modern-day Washington state, 59 miles south south-east of Seattle. Mt. Rainier is the tallest mountain in the Cascade Range, the fifth tallest in the contiguous 48, and the most prominent peak in the contiguous 48. The peak can be seen from approximately 150 miles away. It is classified as an active volcano with the last eruptions occurring between 1894 and 1895. Mt. Rainier has a height of 14,410 ft and a prominence of 13,246 ft.
