Glacial Cirque
Posted by: 
brwhiz
N 40° 26.461 W 105° 45.248
13T E 436043 N 4476980
You can get a close-up view of this glacial cirque from the observation deck at the Alpine Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park near the high point of Trail Ridge Road (US Highway 34).
Waymark Code: WMGAYN
Location: Colorado, United States
Date Posted: 02/07/2013
Views: 14
Glacial Cirque
The cirque before you was the birthplace of many glaciers. Several times during the last two million years, snow hundreds of feet deep accumulated at the top of this valley. The tremendous weight of the compressed snow and ice caused the mass to move slowly downhill thereby giving birth to a glacier.
As glaciers crept down the mountain, they scooped out this bowl-shaped cirque, leaving behind steep headwalls, a sloping valley floor, and a broad U-shaped valley.