14,110 feet above sea level. For most mountains, a summit that high is pretty outstanding. On Mount Rainier, 14,110 is good enough for a bronze medal. Some really solid volcano work but the top of Liberty Cap is just a few feet shorter than Point Success (silver medal) at 14,158 feet and a couple hundred feet shy of Columbia Crest at 14,410 feet above sea level.
But Liberty Cap does have one thing going for it. A glacier. Just like our beautiful Columbia Crest glacier, the Liberty Cap glacier perches atop our glorious volcano. A bit easier to see, especially from the west and north, it’s not a big glacier. Less than a square mile. But oh, the view this little glacier has looking over the Puget Sound, the metropolises of Tacoma and Seattle. Even a view of some other national parks in the state of Washington that you might have heard of. Lots of love for you Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park Service Complex. On a very clear day, climbers atop Liberty Cap can see all the way to Canada. Not too shabby for third highest spot on this volcano.
Coming in third on this mountain isn’t a bad thing for Liberty Cap and its glacier. Judging by the pictures, it looks like a sweet location on the mountain.
Do you have a favorite picture of Liberty Cap and its glacier? Which is better, the view looking up to Liberty Cap or the one from atop the third highest spot on Mount Rainier? ~ams
More information on Mount Rainier’s glaciers can be found here https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/glaciers.htm
NPS Climbing Ranger Photo. Liberty Cap and glacier and Ptarmigan Ridge from an aerial view. May, 2017. NPS Climbing Ranger Photo. Liberty Cap covered in an ice formation called penitentes. July, 2017. NPS/A. Haines Photo. Two climbers looking at Liberty Cap from Columbia Crest.
