In late July 2002 I set out with a friend to hike the entire Northern Loop on Mt. Rainier in one day, starting and finishing at Sunrise. At 36 miles with 9,000' elevation gain it was probably the most difficult hike I have ever done, and my knees were not really in shape for it - oops. Well I lived anyways, and what's really important, I got a lot of nice pics! But it was a bit dark by the time we reached Grand Park. Also, we opted to bypass the Natural Bridge since it was foggy and getting late.
 |
Looking north from Sourdough Ridge (above Sunrise) early in the morning. |
 |
A varied assortment of celestial and atmospheric features adorning Mt. Rainier in the morning. |
 |
Little Tahoma. |
 |
Uh, the moon, and, like, some rocks. |
 |
The valleys on the west side of the mountain were filled with fog all day, which was constantly blowing over the divide and dissipating - it was quite strange. |
 |
Aptly named Steamboat Prow divides the Winthrop Glacier (shown here) from the Emmons Glacier (on the far side). At the base is Camp Schurman, used by climers who take the second most popular route up the mountain from the White River. |
 |
Mineral Mountain and Mystic Lake. |
 |
The north face of Mt. Rainier, with Willis Wall and the accumulation zone of the Carbon Glacier. |
 |
Crevasses on the Carbon Glacier. |
 |
Meltwater from Russell Glacier flowing onto the Carbon Glacier. |
 |
The fog trying to advance out of the Carbon River Valley over the east/west divide north of Mt. Rainier. |
 |
Mt. Rainier from the north. |
 |
Terminus of the Carbon Glacier. While most of Mt. Rainier's glaciers receeded 1 - 2 miles or more between 1850-1930, the Carbon Glacier has only receeded about 1/3 of a mile. Now it has the lowest terminus of any glaciers in the park. This is especially odd considering it starts at the base of a wall. There are certainly many aspects to the habits of glaciers that are not well understood scientifically. |
 |
Phyllodoce sp. near Windy Gap. |
<<PREVIOUS | HOME | NEXT>>
