Mt. Rainier
Mount Rainier
The Native Americans called her “Tacoma” but when the British explorer George Vancouver saw her in 1792, he named the majestic mountain after his friend Rear Admiral Peter Rainier.
Washington State is home to three volcanoes; Mt. Baker, which is the closest American Volcano to Canada, Mt. Rainier southeast of Seattle and Mt. St. Helens, of eruption fame, near the Oregon State line.
From the air, after flying over the impressive Rocky Mountains, the size of Mt. Rainier’s imperfect cone will take your breath away. Looking south from the city of Seattle, visitors are amazed at how imposing she still is from nearly a hundred miles away, and on a very, very clear day even the residents of Portland, Oregon, and Vancouver, Canada can see her.
Mt. Rainier actually has three peaks, is 14,411 Feet and is topped by a glacier with 35 square miles (91km) of snowfield. She has two volcanic craters at the top and even a glacier cave. The first to reach the summit of the mountain was P. B . Van Trump in 1870 and modern day climbers are soon reminded of her volcanic aspects once they discover snow and ice are prevented from sticking to parts of both crater rims due to geothermal heat.
The source of several rivers, scientists claim part of Mt. Rainier slid away causing a mud flow that traveled down the valley into Puget sound as recent as 5000 years ago. Not unlike people in other parts of the world, the residents of the lush Puyallup River Valley continue to live in the immediate danger zone. In 1998, the United States Geological Survey began a warning system for emergency evacuation hoping to avoid the loss of life experienced in the Mt. St. Helen‘s tragedy.
Will Mt Rainier erupt? Some geologists predict Mt. Baker in northern Washington State will blow first, but everyday we are reminded of the possibility by a multitude of small earthquakes. Yet if you dare, as we do daily, the site of our splendid Mt. Rainier is well worth the cost of coming to see her.
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by Marti Talbott
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Recommended:
The Measure of a Mountain: Beauty and Terror on Mount Rainier
Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide (A Climbing Guide) 2nd Edition
