Skyline Trail Mt Rainier and Nisqually Glacier Vista

Last week I left you hanging right at the top of a mountain meadow along Deadhorse Creek Trail without showing you what was on the other side, remember? Well, we crest the hill together, and this is your new view…nice! Now you can really start to see just how far that glacier creeps down the slope. But we still need to get past those trees to really see…

…and we will, but first let’s look a little closer at that impressive, gleaming white glacier cap at the top. This glacier spilling down on the right is the Nisqually Glacier, the seventh largest on the mountain. Mount Rainier has 25 named glaciers and about 50 smaller, unnamed glaciers and ice patches.

Glaciers form when snowfall repeatedly exceeds melting over a number of years. With so much snowfall (Paradise averages over 50 feet of snow each year), it’s no wonder Mount Rainier has so many glaciers. Think of them as extremely slow-moving rivers of ice that are constantly changing. Melting, ice chunks breaking off, new snowfalls, they all keep the landscape in flux.

Well, this is the one you’ve been waiting for…voila! This is the view from Glacier Vista Trail, and what a great one it is! Remember, all of the trails around Paradise are paved for “easy” hiking and to protect the mountain meadows. Every one of these pictures was taken from a designated trail. There’s really no need to break the rules and ever go through a meadow because the views from the trail are spectacular already!

The elevation at this point is just over 6300 feet, a 900 foot elevation gain from back down at the Paradise Inn. Remember to account for the altitude and thinner air as you plan your hiking. A two mile hike at home in the woods is way different than one going up higher and higher at 6000 feet! Lots of cool waterfalls up here…how many can you find in this picture?

Need a place to sit and rest? There are a few rough benches along the trails, but there are also plenty of good rocks that are still within the marked trail areas. Here’s one I found, complete with back support and an arm rest!

And check out the view (above) from my little rock seat…wow! I literally set the camera right on top of the “seat back,” and this is what you see…now that’s quite a rest spot! Incidentally, this was my favorite spot on the trail because of some time I spent here earlier in the morning…praying and worshiping.

Mount Rainier is absolutely gorgeous, as you no doubt will agree by now, but too many people worship the mountain instead of the One who created it. Mother Nature is a myth, and this gorgeous place didn’t just happen on its own over billions and billions of years. The Bible speaks of the One who is called Lord of Creation. All things were made by Him, for Him, and through Him. The One who made this stunning, amazing place we’ve been exploring is Jesus! Thank you, Lord for this great gift!

I’ll leave you with a closer look into the scene one photo above…another shot of this cool “little” waterfall. You could hear the rushing water sounds even from way across the valley, and I love how it looks between the evergreens. Well, there’s one more hike I’ll show you in the next post…Skyline Trail over toward Myrtle Falls. See you then!  Dave

P.S. Just found this post on a search? Check out my other entries on Mount Rainier…
Hiking the Mount Rainier Trails Around Paradise
Mt. Rainier and Paradise Inn Pictures
Mount Rainier National Park … Mt Rainier

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