Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Thompson's Peak

While locating the rock sample in George Smith's field notes (see blog post, I've located all but two. I've located numbers 201-216 and 219-223 with samples 214 and 215 missing from the notes. I can't find the locations of samples 217 and 218.

The field book describes the locations of these samples as:

"Along the east slope of (Mount) Rainier in the Parks and on the gentle slopes there are accumulations of light brown pumice, #217, seemingly rather red in compound. This was first noted in Moraine Park, and in the interior of Little Tahoma “V” was especially abundant, long slopes being wholly covered the fragments of pumice even reaching 8-10 inches in diameter. The quesation of the source of the pumice was not answered definitively by an facts observed.

A dark purple compact rock, #218, with the texture of a porphyrite rather than of an andesite was collected on Thompsonʼs Peak."


I can't find a Thompson's Peak or the "Parks". The samples were taken after their return from Paradise across the east side of the mountain July 26-27th and before sample 219 taken on the east side of Carbon Glacier July 29th. This means the samples were taken somewhere and sometime in between and in the area of their camp at the Winthrop Glacier.

I've searched through old documents and the maps I have from 1880 to 1935 along with the newer edition of USGS 1:24,000 (7 1/2 minute) topographic maps. So if anyone has any suggestions or knowledge, please send an e-mail.

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