River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1915-09-23
OUR ICY OCTOPUS.
Mount Rainier and Its Majestic
Frozen Rivers.
Crippled BY GIANT GLACIERS
Their Huge, WrinkIed, Frosty Arms
Reach Down and Out Among the
Most Luxuriant Masses of Wild Flow
ers to Be Found In This Country.

A frozen octopus of enormous bulk
whose glittering armored body rises
three miles into the sky. with twenty
or more huge wrinkled arms reaching
down among thousands of acres of the
most gorgeous and luxuriant wild flow
ers to squirt from each fngertip a riv-
er of ice water into the valley below!
Surely a quotation from the "Arabi-
an Nights" or a ghost tale to brighten
children on Halloween.
But no. However 1gurative, this is
a true statement of an actual fact.
There really exists such an ice armor-
ed octopus in these United States. 1t
is a justifable description Of the most
interesting mountain in Uncle Sans
dominions and perhaps in the world.
Mount Rainier is in the state of
Washington, ffty-siX miles southwest
Of Tacoma 1t is one of that celebrat-
ed range Of volcanoes which were sup
posed to be extinct until Lassen peak
broke forth again. Rainier, though
supporting one of the most remarkable
single peak glacial systems in the
world, emits steam from certain crew
ices, evidence of present internal heat.
In height Rainier is second in the
United States only to Mount Whitney.
The altitude of the main summit has
for many years been in doubt. Several
figures have been announced from time
to time, no two of them in agreement
with each other, but all of these, it is
to be observed, were obtained by more
or less approximate methods. In 1913
the United States geological survey, in
connection with its topographic sur
veys of the Mount Rainier National
park, made new series of measure
ments by triangulatlon methods at
close range. These give the peak an
elevation of IA, 4OS feet. This last fig
ure is not likely to be in error by more
than a foot or two and may with some
confidence be regarded as final Great
er exactness of determination is scarce
ly practicable in the case of Mount
Rainier, as it's highest summit con-
sists actually of a mound Of snow, the
height Of which naturally varies some
what with the seasons and from year
to year.
This browning snow mound, which
was once supposed to be the highest
point in the United States, still bears
the proud name of Columbia crest. 1t
is essentially a huge snowdrift or
snow dune heaped up by the furious
westerly winds.
Six great glaciers originate at the
very summit. They are the Nisqually,
the Ingraham, the Emmons, the Win
throp, the Tahoma and the Kautz gla-
ciers. But many of great size and
stateliness are born of the SHOWS in
rock pockets or cirQues-ice sculptured
bowls of great dimensions and ever
increasing depth-from which they
merge into the glistening armor Of the
huge volcano. The most distinguished
Of these are the Cowlitz, the Paradise,
the Frying Pan, the Carbon, the Rus
sell, the North and South MOWich, the
Puyallup and the Pyramid glaciers.
More than twenty glaciers, great and
small, clothe Rainier-rtvers of ice, with
many of the characteristics of rivers Of
water, roaring at times over precipiceS
like waterfalls, ripping and tumbling
down rocky slopes, veritable noisy cas-
cades, rising smoothly up on hidden
rocks to foam, brooklike, over it's lower
edges.
Each glacier, whether originating at
the bright summit or In vast springlike
cirqueS, begins in even, immaculate
snow. A thousand feet or SO below it
attains sufficient density and weight
to acquire movement. Here, looking
down into @ crevaSse, one sees nothing
but clean snow, piled in layers-slight-
" compacted and loosely granular
snow, called neve in the Swiss Alps.
Gradually as the current sweeps along
it compacts, under the pressure and the
surface MEETINGS, into hard, dense, blue
ice.
In glowing contrast to this marvellous
spectacle Of ice are the gardens Of wild
flowers surrounding the glaciers, push
ing, wherever the rock and ice will per-
nit, up the giant slopes. These flow
cry spots are called parks-Spray park,
st. Andrews park, Henry's hunting
S1Ouuu. 4
many others.
above the forests" writes John
Muir, there is d zone Of the loveliest
flowers fifty miles in circuit and near
~ two miles wide, SO closely planted
and luxurious that it seems as if ma
ture, glad to make an open space be-
tween woods so dense and ice so deep.
were economizing the precious ground
and trying to see how many of her
darlings she can get together in one
mountain wreath--daisies. anemones,
columbine erythroniums. larkspurs,
etc, among which we wade knee deep
and waist deep, the bright corollas in
myriads touching petal to petal. Alto
gether this is the richest subalpine gar
den have ever found, a perfect flower
elysium.'
The lower attitudes of the park are
,lensely timbered with fir cedar. hem