64 



YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE 



[Vol. II. 



summit is usually above the storm clouds which carry most of the rain 

 and snow and consequently the climate there is almost arid. These 

 winter snows farther down the mountain are often known to exceed 

 twenty feet in depth, and huge snow drifts last far into July at alti- 

 tudes between five and six thousand feet. Above seven thousand feet, 

 the snow is never entirely melted and at that elevation one is past the 



*<«. 



•*^ 



^ 



Fig. 36. — Tourists sliding on the slopes of Paradise 

 Glacier. 



limit of forest growth. It is, then, between eight and ten thousand feet 

 that one meets with the heaviest snowfall, and consequently the most 

 favorable conditions for the formation of glaciers. Below this level, 

 the heat of the summer offsets the increase from precipitation and con- 

 ditions are no longer suitable for the formation of large glaciers. 

 Glancing at the map of Mt. Rainier, it will be seen that this level of 



