MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK 



535 



Mountain that was God." Why he should have used the ing their age-old process of sculpturing the great stone 

 past tense is not clearly understood, for if ever a country mountain into shapes that will, in future generations, 

 and people were dominated and inspired by a God-like present puzzles to geologists. In fact, the Xisqually 

 spectacle, the people of the vicinity of Mount Rainier are Glacier is said to move about sixteen inches a day, cutting 

 held to-day in that dominion. That the Indians in past and scouring the bottom of its channel with the great 

 lavs worshipped at the shrine of this glorious spectacle boulders that are embedded in its bottom like diamonds 

 n their simple obvious manner is no indication that none in the face of a drill. All the great glaciers of Mount 



Rainier are flowing quite 

 rapidly. On the other hand, 

 the glaciers of Glacier 

 National Park are largely 

 dormant. The large pro- 

 portion of them are moving 

 to some extent but they are 

 not actively engaged in the 

 real work of glaciers. They 

 seem to be exhausted and 

 in the last stages of their 

 activities. Some of them 

 are just huge cakes of ice 

 which are, by comparison, 

 mere bits of frozen residue 

 from great glaciers that 

 were, hundreds of centuries 

 ago, perhaps a thousand 

 times greater in size. They 

 rest quietly in the cup of 

 their great beds that were 

 carved from the living rock 

 in the days of their youth. 

 It is difficult for those 

 uninitiated into the mys- 

 teries of glacial action and 

 geological formations to ap- 

 preciate how a cake of ice 

 can cut a canyon a thou- 

 sand feet deep. But it is 

 their huge weight and slow 

 movement which accom- 

 [jlish the end, and when it is 

 realized that the ice of the 

 Xisqually Glacier alone is 

 more than one thousand 

 feet thick in some [ilaces, 

 the tremendous pressure 

 that it exerts can be partially appreciated. 



The streams from active glaciers are colored with a 

 slightly milkv hue. The infinitesimally tine particles that 

 are the product of glacial scouring are held in suspension 



( 



i 



of us holds in his breast 



an et|ually reverential love 



of this mountain which 



once was and still is God of 



our peaks. 



There is a theory that 

 seems to be more or less 

 founded upon observation 

 and facts to the effect that 

 man's mental development 

 is largely influenced by 

 what he sees, that the con- 

 stant intrusion upon one's 

 sense of the tawdry will in 

 time bring down the stand- 

 ard of intellect and charac- 

 ter, and that repeated con- 

 templation of an inspiring 

 view will in time lift the 

 character to the levels above 

 normal. Whether or not 

 this is true to any great ex- 

 tent, there is little doubt 

 that constant, intimate as- 

 sociation with the beauti- 

 ful undoubtedly influences 

 character for the better. 

 In the light of this theory, 

 it is difficult for some of us 

 who do not thoroughly 

 understand the nature of 

 the Japanese to appreciate 

 the fact that Fujiyama, that 

 most glorious of peaks, 

 has largely influenced and 

 moulded the character of 

 the people of Japan. Never- 

 theless, it is my opinion, and 



A TOWERING PEAK 



Rugged scenery is one of the features of Mount Rainier National Parlt. and tliis 

 view is one of many which keep the observer interested for hours at a time. 



the belief of others, that a certain element of subliniit\- of 

 nature and sturdiness of character, which we know the 

 Japanese possess, may be traced to their intimate knowl- 

 edge of the beautiful scenery of their Island anrl their 

 relationship with the " holy mountain." This being the or solution within the waters so that, after becoming 

 case, the citizens in the vicinity of Mount Rainier familiar with the appearance of glacier water, one may 



should deem themselves most blessed, for thev may raise 

 their children at the very base of one of the most 

 beautiful, impressive and inspiring mountains that can 

 be seen on earth. 



The glaciers on Mount Rainier are quite dififerent from 

 those to be found in Glacier National Park. In the 



invariably recognize the flow from beneath an active 

 glacier. This does not in any way contaminate the water 

 or make it unfit for domestic use, as seems to be the 

 opinion of most tourists who see that for the first time. 



There is a fascination, which is not born only of 

 the danger involved, in climbing these great ice fields. 



former case they are actual active glaciers or ri\ers of As a result many people who are physically and other- 

 flowing ice, as all true exi)onents of literary phraseology wise not qualified to essay the exceedingly exhausting 

 love to call them. The glaciers on Rainier are perform- ascent to Blount Rainier do so with the tourist's usual 



