Glacial U-shaped valley leading to a cirque and headwall: Longs Peak and Chasm Lake Cirque, Colorado.
This photo, in Rocky Mountain National Park, shows a classic U-shaped valley carved into Proterozoic granite. Just behind it lies a bowl-shaped region called a "cirque", and behind that is a 2000' cliff of granite --the glacial headwall. Longs Peak, at 14, 256, is the highest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park. Mt. Meeker (left side) is the second highest peak at 13, 911.

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