Little Tahoma Peak

On June 21, 1981, an avalanche near Ingraham Glacier, in Mount Rainier, struck a climb party attempting to reach the summit of Mount Rainier. Out of the 29 members, 11 were killed, making it the deadliest avalanche in the history of the mountain.

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, (12,660 ft (3,860 m)), and Disappointment Cleaver and south of Little Tahoma Peak (11,138 ft (3,395 m)), 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.

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. Starting at an elevation of over 13,800 ft (4,200 m), the Emmons glacier flows down eastward. Near the Disappointment Cleaver at 12,200 ft (3,700 m), the Emmons is joined by the Ingraham Glacier flowing to the south. The glaciers flow together and remain connected until they split up upon reaching the wedge of Little Tahoma Peak. As the Emmons flows northeast, the massive glacier descends until it reaches its rocky lower terminus at about 5,100 ft (1,600 m) in elevation. In the 1930s, the glacier was found to be receding quickly. In 1963, however, a rock fall from Little Tahoma Peak covered the lower glacier with rock debris. The debris cover insulated the ice from melting. As a result of decreased melting, the glacier advanced rapidly in the early 1980s. That advance was continuing by 1992, but at a slower rate; ice beneath the rock debris was melting irregularly and forming a vast hummocky area. By 2003, the glacier was again retreating. "In the past few decades the glaciers [in the American West] have been receding, continuing a trend from the Little Ice Age." Emmons Glacier is often used as a route (the Columbia Crest route) to climb to the summit of Mount Rainier. There is a Ranger Station at Camp Schurman that was established on the edge of the Steamboat Prow.

The Cowlitz Glacier is a glacier on the southeast flank of Mount Rainier in the U.S. state of Washington. The body of ice covers 1.3 square miles (3.4 km2) and has a volume of 6 billion ft3 (170 million m3). The glacier starts at an elevation of 10,700 feet (3,300 m) and flows southeast. An adjacent glacier, the Paradise Glacier, is connected to this glacier on its southwest margin. As it flows down the slopes of Mount Rainier it nearly meets up with the Ingraham Glacier and during the Little Ice Age, which ended around the year 1850, the two glaciers shared a common terminus. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the Cowlitz River.

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 (2,400 to 2,600 m). 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 (2,800 to 3,000 m). 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 (2,200 to 2,300 m). Numerous snowfields and alpine meadows are located near the bottom and east of the glacier. Meltwater from the glacier drains into the White River.

Mount Ruth is an 8,690-foot summit located within Mount Rainier National Park in Pierce County of Washington state. Part of the Cascade Range, Mount Ruth is situated between the Emmons Glacier and the Inter Glacier. Access is via the Glacier Basin Trail. The name of the peak honors Ruth Knapp, daughter of the prospector who built Knapp's Cabin in Glacier Basin below the peak. Precipitation runoff from Mount Ruth drains into the White River.

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. At over a mile wide, the Carbon Glacier cirque is the largest in the Cascade Mountains. The wall itself is composed of ledges of lava, ash, consolidated breccias, and rock impregnated ice.

Burroughs Mountain is a mountain in Pierce County, Washington, United States.

The Wonderland Trail is an approximately 93-mile (150 km) hiking trail that circumnavigates Mount Rainier in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, United States. The trail goes over many ridges of Mount Rainier for a cumulative 22,000 feet (6,700 m) of elevation gain. The trail was built in 1915. In 1981, it was designated a National Recreation Trail. An estimated 200 to 250 people a year complete the entire trail with several thousand others doing shorter sections of it. The average time taken to complete the entire trip is 10 to 14 days.

Panhandle Gap is a high pass in the U.S. state of Washington, on a ridge to the east of Mount Rainier, lying near the low point between Little Tahoma Peak and the Cowlitz Chimneys. The hike to the gap along the Wonderland Trail, which can be joined 0.1 miles (0.16 km) from Fryingpan Creek Trailhead on Sunrise Road, has been described as "possibly the best day hike" in Mount Rainier National Park; it is 10.6 miles (17.1 km) roundtrip with 3,000 feet (910 m) of elevation gain. The hike is one of the most popular in the park, and can be crowded between late July and September, and it can be difficult to find parking at the trailhead. It has been rated both easy and strenuous. After Summerland—a campsite on a knob about 4 miles (6.4 km) from the trailhead and 1.3 miles (2.1 km) below Panhandle Gap—the trail can be hard to follow, crossing Fryingpan Creek can be hazardous, and in winter and spring there can also be avalanche risk approaching the gap. At around 6,750 feet (2,060 m), the gap is the highest point on the Wonderland Trail encircling the mountain. South of the gap, the Wonderland Trail continues towards Indian Bar and Box Canyon, as the terrain drops off into Ohanapecosh Park, which drains into the Ohanapecosh River. The most popular climbing routes to Banshee Peak and the Cowlitz Chimneys arrive via Panhandle Gap, and while Banshee is a walk-up, the Middle Cowlitz Chimney can be climbed using a Class 2 scrambling route and the Main Chimney is Class 3. On a clear day, Mount Adams is visible from Panhandle Gap, but Mount Rainier itself is largely blocked by the ridge to the west. Some through-hikers deviate to the Eastside Trail, an alternate route to avoid snow and potentially dangerous conditions around the gap. Panhandle Gap is above the tree line and the terrain largely consists of rock and ice past Summerland. The rock around the gap—partly consisting of hypersthene hornblende dacite that may have formed by Tatoosh intrusion as well as andesite—is more red than that found a short distance to the north, closer to Summerland. Snow often covers the trail around the gap into late summer. Species found at the gap include horned lark, ptarmigan, mountain goats, Smelowskia, and Tolmie's saxifrage.

Mineral Mountain is a 6,503 feet (1,982 m) mountain in Mount Rainier National Park, in Pierce County of Washington state. It is part of the Cascade Range, and lies 5 mi (8.0 km) due north of the summit of Mount Rainier. The Wonderland Trail provides an approach to this mountain, and the summit offers views of Old Desolate and the Winthrop and Carbon glaciers on Mount Rainier. Old Desolate is its nearest higher neighbor, 1.16 mi (1.87 km) to the southeast.

Goat Island Mountain is a 7,288-foot (2,221 m) ridge-like mountain located in Mount Rainier National Park, in Pierce County of Washington state. It is part of the Cascade Range, and lies 5.76 mi (9.27 km) east-northeast of the summit of Mount Rainier. This mountain is quite visible from the Sunrise Historic District and the many trails surrounding the Sunrise area. The Wonderland Trail provides an approach to this mountain, and the summit offers views of Cowlitz Chimneys, Fryingpan Glacier, and Mount Rainier. Burroughs Mountain is its nearest higher neighbor, 2.51 mi (4.04 km) to the northwest. Precipitation runoff from Goat Island Mountain drains into the White River. The mountain's descriptive name derives from mountain goats that were often seen on the peak. The toponym was officially adopted in 1932 by the United States Board on Geographic Names.