Trail of the Shadows: Cast in Ice Exhibit Panel

This valley was once filled by glacier ice, channeling the lava flows that formed Rampart Ridge.

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Location:

Trail of the Shadows, Longmire

Amenities

1 listed

Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits

Title: Cast in Ice

Main Text

A large eruption occurred at Mount Rainier about 375,000 years ago, when its glaciers were much larger. Lava produced during the eruption flowed from the summit, advancing where the ice was thin- along the ridge separating the ancestral Nisqually and Kautz Glaciers. The ice and meltwater cooled the margins of the hot lava flow. 

The lava stopped flowing downhill when it reached an ice dam formed where the two glaciers joined together. The lava pooled behind the ice dam and thickened to the heights of the Nisqually and Kautz Glaciers. After the eruption ended, the lava flow cooled and solidified. In time, the glaciers retreated to their present locations and exposed the hardened lava (to your left) known as Rampart Ridge. 

Secondary Text

Imagine this... At different times during the ice ages, the Nisqually Glacier buried this meadow under 1,200 (365 meters) of ice, nearly the height of New York's Empire State Building (1,250 feet). 

Exhibit Panel Description
A graphic representation of Mount Rainier and its southwestern slopes fills the exhibit panel. Two large valleys descend the mountain at a diagonal angle from the summit, roughly in the center of the panel, towards the lower left corner of the panel. Kautz Creek flows through one valley, while the Nisqually River flows through a valley below it. A point midway down the Nisqually River Valley is labeled "You are here (Longmire Meadow)". Overlaying the two valleys is a white semi-transparent shape the follows the course of the valleys and merges downstream. The upper fork is labeled "Ancestral Kautz Glacier" while the lower fork is labeled "Ancestral Nisqually Glacier. In between the two glaciers, a narrow ridge is shaded by a semi-transparent red shape, labeled "Rampart Ridge Lava Flow". The main text is split, with the first paragraph above the graphic in the upper left corner of the panel and the second paragraph below the graphic in the lower right corner of the panel. The secondary text is set into a small grey oval in the bottom left corner of the panel. Above the text is a small graphic of a historic gas lantern lit with a soft yellow light. 

Visit This Exhibit Panel
This wayside is located in Longmire along the Trail of the Shadows, a short trail that starts across the street from the National Park Inn. Longmire is open year-round.