#eagle peak

[mountrainiernps]

Are you enjoying Green Friday? Green is believed to be a healing color: the color of nature and balance. Green is also a color that Mount Rainier National Park has in abundance! Higher elevations may be covered in snow, but at lower elevations there is plenty of green to be found in the old-growth forests, from ferns to mossy logs to evergreen trees.

Can’t get to the park? No matter where you are, take a moment to appreciate plants in your neighborhood or yard, or even a houseplant. What other colors do you find calming or therapeutic? What about snowy white – Mount Rainier has plenty of that too!

NPS Photos of green plants along the Trail of the Shadows in Longmire with a view of snowy Eagle Peak on November 27, 2024.

[tetramodal]

Wulsten Baldy Acrylic on canvas 8x8". Charles Morgenstern, 2023. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains seen from Coaldale, Colorado.

[agelessphotography]

Trees and Cliff at Eagle Peak, Winter, Yosemite, Ansel Adams, circa 1935

[adventuresoffinder]

Eagle and Chutla Peaks, Rainier NP, 8/6/17 Photos: Craig Weiland

[mountrainiernps]

Longmire is open 7 days a week. On clear days, one of the best views of Mount Rainier from Longmire is across the Nisqually River from the main Longmire area. It is also where the Valor Memorial is located, which honors those individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice while saving the lives of others.

To reach the Valor Memorial, park behind the National Park Inn. Follow the paths past the Longmire Museum then walk the road past the administrative area and across the bridge over the Nisqually River. Vehicles under 3 tons (6000 pounds) can also drive over the bridge. Continue following the road until you reach a large wood building (approx. 0.5 miles from the parking area). The Valor Memorial is in the trees to the right of the building.

Look upriver to see the view of Mount Rainier on clear days, with Eagle Peak on the right. Take care; roads and paths can be icy in winter.

Find more weekday activities in the park at https://go.nps.gov/AltWinterRecreation.

NPS Photos of the Valor Memorial, Mount Rainier, and Eagle Peak taken 1/25/23.

[mountrainiernps]

Despite some late season snow last weekend, subalpine areas like Paradise are melting out fast. Large patches of snow remain, with snow-covered trails at higher elevations. Please stay on trail or on snow instead of skirting around snow patches! It may look like muddy ground, but many meadow plants are starting to emerge and stepping of trail tramples the wildflowers you may be coming to see.

Once snow melts away, wildflowers start blooming quickly. Look for numerous avalanche and glacier lilies in subalpine meadows. Common along roadsides, spreading phlox (Phlox diffusa) can also be found on talus slopes. This patch was photographed near the Eagle Peak Trail saddle. Phlox blooms are bluish-white at first, transitioning to pink as they age.

For updates on what’s blooming where visit https://go.nps.gov/RainierWildflower

Unfamiliar with Mount Rainier’s wildflower species? Check out the wildflower guide at https://go.nps.gov/RainierWildflowerGuide

NPS/A. Wotton Photo of spreading phlox along Eagle Peak Trail, 6/15/23. ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Serpentine (adj) – to wind like a serpent, meander

Mount Rainier’s glacier-fed rivers are often described as “braided”, but the Nisqually River is looking very serpentine in this photo! This curved shape is created through a process called aggradation. More rocky debris is entering the river system than it can carry away, so as the channels fill up, the river is forced to change direction, meandering back and forth across its riverbed.

NPS Photo of the Nisqually River near Longmire. ~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Landscape Language

Subalpine (adj) – an ecological zone between forest and alpine elevations

Under the hundreds of inches of snow (yes, hundreds! 185 inches at Paradise as of Monday April 19, 2021) still covering the subalpine regions of the park, are sleeping subalpine meadows. The subalpine zone extends from forest line to tree line, or about 5,000 feet to about 7,000 feet (approx. 1500-2100 meters) elevation on Mount Rainier. Vegetation in this zone is a mosaic of tree clumps and herbaceous meadows and is limited by the depth and duration of the snowpack. Once the snow finally melts out, plants have to make the most of the short growing season, resulting in spectacular displays of wildflowers. Subalpine meadows cover approximately 23 percent of the park. What is your favorite subalpine area?

NPS Photo of a subalpine meadow along the Eagle Peak Trail on August 1, 2020. ~kl