THE Trip - Day 22 (Snow)

680 inches = the average annual snow fall at Paradise, Washington, inside Mount Rainier National Park.   This huge quantity of snow certainly helps to explain the creation and ongoing survival of the 26 different glaciers at the top of Mt. Rainier.   The most snow I ever encountered during the 11 years of living in Minnesota was just over 100 inches in one year.  I can’t even begin to fathom the steady curtain of snow falling day after day that would be necessary to create 6 times that volume….and in no way would I want to shovel any of it!!!

However, all  of this snow contributes to shaping the landscape in a variety of ways…

 

…it continually adds to the glaciers as they advance and retreat.  This grinding motion over thousands of years has shaped amazing valleys and glacial rivers.  

…it adds to the snow fields which bring abundant water down the mountains creating rivers and lakes for plant and animal life.  While we are here in late summer under 84 degree sunny skies, the rivers seem idyllic and delightful.  But, the early spring snow melts push the rivers at a much faster pace to rise above their river banks and flood the meadows.

 

…it impacts the growing patterns of the trees with the weight of the snow causing them to bend, twist, and flex to survive each season.   Many trees just topple and crash during the fierce winds and heavy snows.

So, while remembering that Mt. Rainier is actually an active volcano…what the snow does is to provide a richly varied environment for visitors like Dennis and I to enjoy.

*Posted after our return to ‘technology land’