Chinese Wall (Montana)
The Chinese Wall is a large cuesta that lies along the crest of the Lewis and Clark Range in Bob Marshall Wilderness Area in northwest Montana. It stretches from Junction Mountain northward for 15 mi (24 km). It has an eastward-facing escarpment, 700 to 1,300 ft (210 to 400 m) high, carved by Pleistocene glaciers from westward tilted, sparsely fossiliferous, Middle Cambrian limestones. At the base of this shear wall, the limestones overlie Middle Cambrian shales and sandstones resting unconformably on late Precambrian sedimentary strata of the Belt Supergroup. The highest points on the wall are named separately as mountain peaks, including Junction, Haystack, Cliff, and Salt mountains.[1] The Chinese Wall makes up part of the Continental Divide, meaning water on the different sides of the wall flow into either the Atlantic Ocean (through the Gulf of Mexico) or the Pacific Ocean.[2]
Access
[edit]The wall is most commonly accessed through Benchmark Trailhead. It normally takes hikers multiple days to reach the wall which is located about 18 miles from the earlier trailhead. The Continental Divide Trail passes directly below the wall.[3]
There is a camping ban in place directly along the wall to maintain the relatively fragile ecosystem from overuse.[3]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Deiss, C.F., 1939. Cambrian stratigraphy and trilobites of northwestern Montana. Geological Society of America Special Papers. 18, 135 pp. ISBN 978-08-137-2018-0
- ^ Thornbury, W.D., 1969. Principles of Geomorphology. 2nd ed. New York, John Wiley and Sons, 604 pp. ISBN 978-0471861973
- ^ a b Chinese Wall, Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Lewis and Clark National Forest, Continental Divide Trail Coalition, Golden, Colorado.
47°39′22″N 113°07′41″W / 47.656°N 113.128°W
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