Willis Wall

46°52′13″N 121°45′32″W / 46.8703855°N 121.7589858°W / 46.8703855; -121.7589858

View of Mount Rainier's Willis Wall, taken from 1912 to 1913

Willis Wall is the name given to the prominent headwall of the Carbon Glacier's eastern cirque on Mount Rainier in the state of Washington. The 3,600 feet (1,097 m) foot wall of volcanic rock on Mount Rainier's north face was named in honor of geological engineer, Bailey Willis, who helped create the first trail to the Carbon Glacier in 1881 and was also influential in securing the passage of the bill that created Mount Rainier National Park in 1899.[1] At over a mile wide, the Carbon Glacier cirque is the largest in the Cascade Mountains.[1] The wall itself is composed of ledges of lava, ash, consolidated breccias, and rock impregnated ice.[2]

  1. ^ a b Mount Rainier National Park: Geologic Resource Evaluation Report (PDF) (Report). U.S. Department of the Interior. 2005.
  2. ^ Molenaar, Dee (1971). The Challenge of Rainier: A Record of the Explorations and Ascents, Triumphs and Tragedies, on the Northwest's Greatest Mountain. Mountaineers Books. p. 118. ISBN 978-1594855207.