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UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Mount Rainier National Park


MOUNT RAINIER NATURE NOTES
Vol. VIII July 15th, 1930 No. 8

Issued monthly during the winter months, semi-monthly during the summer months by the Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park Nature Guide Service.
C. Frank Brockman,
Park Naturalist.
O. A. Tomlinson,
Superintendent.


Hanging Valleys

At this time of the year there are a great number of water falls and all are at their best. Sluiskin, Narada, and Comet are large as the snow fields above are melting very rapidly. Stopping at the stone bridge which crosses the Nisqually River and going up to the snout of the glacier one sees many waterfalls on that short and interesting trail. The reason for these is due to the difference in the speed of erosion of the rivers and the glaciers. The streams which drain the upper portion of the valley cannot cut down as rapidly as the huge mass of ice of the Nisqually glacier. As a result the stream valleys are left suspended hundreds of feet above the glacier valley and these are called "Hanging Valleys". As the water comes tumbling over the edge it usually falls in a pool below surrounded by flowers which grow abundantly in the spray of the falls.

HOWARD COOMBS.

sketch of Mount Rainier

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12-Jun-2001