Mount Rainier
From Freepedia
- For other uses, see Mount Rainier (disambiguation).
| Mount Rainier | |
|---|---|
| Image:Rainiersourdoughridge.web.jpg View of Rainier from Sourdough Mountains to the northeast; Little Tahoma is the dark crag on the left, the middle is dominated by the Emmons Glacier, one of the two easier climbing routes, and the Sunrise Ranger Station is to the right. | |
| Elevation: | 14,411 ft (4,392 m) |
| Location: | Washington State, USA |
| Range: | Cascades |
Climbing Mt. Rainier is not an easy endeavour. It is a technical glacier climb and most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure. Climbing teams require experience in glacier travel, self rescue, and wilderness travel. In most years, dangerous route conditions and/or storms take the lives of several climbers.
Hiking, photography, and nature watching are very popular in the park. There are numerous hiking trails including the Wonderland Trail, a 93 mile circumnavigation of the peak.
Mount Rainier is a good place for winter sports, including snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Above 6000 feet (1800m) elevation, Rainier is mostly covered by snow and glaciers, but heat from the volcano keeps areas of the crater rim on its summit cone mostly ice-free. The geothermal heat has also caused the formation of ice caves in the twin summit craters.
The White, Carbon, Puyallup, Nisqually, and Cowlitz Rivers arise on the slopes of Mount Rainier. The first three combine as the Puyallup and empty into Commencement Bay at Tacoma; the Nisqually empties into Puget Sound east of Lacey; and the Cowlitz empties into the Columbia River between Kelso and Longview.
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Geology
Mount Rainier's earliest lavas are over 840,000 years old and are part of the Lily Formation.(2.9 million to 840,000 years ago) The early lavas formed a "proto-Rainier", or an ancestral cone prior to the present-day cone. The present cone is over 500,000 years old. (Sisson, 1995) The volcano is highly eroded with glaciers on its slopes and appears to be made mostly of andesite. Rainier likely once stood even higher than today before a major debris avalanche and the resulting Osceola Mudflow 5,000 years ago.
In the past, Rainier has had large debris avalanches, and has also produced enormous lahars(volcanic mudflows) due to the large amount of glacial ice present. Its lahars have reached all the way to the Puget Sound. About 5,000 years ago, a large chunk of the volcano slid away and that debris avalanche helped to produce the massive Osceola Mudflow, which went all the way to the site of present-day Tacoma and south Seattle. About 530-550 years ago, the Electron Mudflow was produced, although not so as large-scale as the Osceola Mudflow.
After the major collapse 5000 years ago, subsequent eruptions of lava and tephra built up the modern summit cone until about as recently as 1,000 years ago. As many as 11 Holocene tephra layers have been found.
The most recent recorded eruption was between 1820 and 1854, but many eyewitnesses reported eruptive activity in the late 19th Century (Harris, 1988). As of 2002, there is no imminent risk of eruption, but geologists expect that the volcano will erupt again. Lahars from Rainier pose the most risk to life and property, as many communities lie atop older lahar deposits. Not only is there no shortage of ice atop the volcano, the volcano is also slowly being weakened by hydrothermal activity. Rainier is also capable of producing pyroclastic flows as well as lava.
History
Mount Rainier was first discovered by the Native Americans. At the time Europeans reached the area, it was inhabited by the Nisqually, Cowlitz, Yakama, Puyallup, and Muckleshoot tribes. Residents of the mountain's river valleys, they hunted and gathered berries in the forests and mountain meadows.
Captain George Vancouver sailed into Puget Sound in 1792, and became the first European to see the mountain. He named it in honor of his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.
In 1833, Dr. William Tolmie explored the area looking for medicinal plants. He was followed by other explorers seeking challenge. Hazard Stevens and P.B. Van Trump received a hero's welcome in the streets of Olympia after their successful summit climb in 1870. John Muir climbed Mount Rainier in 1888, and although he enjoyed the view, he conceded that it was best appreciated from below. Muir was one of many who advocated protecting the mountain. In 1893, the area was set aside as part of the Pacific Forest Reserve in order to protect its physical/economic resources: timber and watersheds.
Citing the need to also protect scenery and provide for public enjoyment, railroads and local businesses urged the creation of a national park in hopes of increased tourism. On March 2, 1899, President William McKinley established Mount Rainier National Park as America's fifth national park. Congress dedicated the new park "for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and...for the preservation from injury or spoliation of all timber, mineral deposits, natural curiosities, or wonders within said park, and their retention in their natural condition."
In 1998, the United States Geological Survey began putting together the Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System to assist in the evacuation of the Puyallup River valley in the event of a catastrophic debris flow. It is now run by the Pierce County Department of Emergency Management. Tacoma, at the mouth of the Puyallup, is only 37 miles west of Rainier, and moderately sized towns such as Puyallup and Orting are only 27 and 20 miles away, respectively.
References
- Sisson, T.W., History and Hazards of Mount Rainier, Washington, USGS Open-File Report 95-642, (1995).
- Harris, S., Mt. Rainier, in Fire Mountains of the West, Mountain Press Publishing, pages 231-255, (1988).
See also
- High Cascades
- Mount Baker
- Mount St. Helens
- Mount Adams
- Glacier Peak
- Mount Hood
- Mount Shasta
- Crater Lake
External links
- National Parks Service (also used as a reference)
- USGS: Mount Rainier -- Learning to Live with Volcanic Risk
- Mount Rainier Volcano Lahar Warning System
- Mount Rainier stream drainage
- Mount Rainier Trail Descriptions
- Mount Rainier on Peakbagger.com
- Mount Rainier on Bivouac.com
- Photos of Mount Rainier National Park - Terra Galleria
- Mount Rainier Pictures - NationalParksGallery.com
- Time-lapse animation of Mt. Rainier Web Cam
- Maps and aerial photos
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image from TerraServer-USA
- Surrounding area map from Google Maps
- Location in the United States from the Census Bureau
Categories: Stratovolcanoes | Cascade Range | Washington mountains | Volcanoes of Washington | Decade Volcanoes | Active volcanoes
