WA V: MOUNT RAINIER I

FIRST: A few photos from Chelan, prior to us starting down to Mount Rainier. Here is a view from near our Chelan house in the early morning, looking down at the interesting (very LONG) shadows cast by a row of poplar trees near the lake.

1 / 44

FIRST: A few photos from Chelan, prior to us starting down to Mount Rainier. Here is a view from near our Chelan house in the early morning, looking down at the interesting (very LONG) shadows cast by a row of poplar trees near the lake.

Chelan Lake Chelan Lake poplar shadow black and white

$A basalt column wall along White Pass. These formed when a lava flow met a barrier and cooled. As lava cools and solidifies, it shrinks. This shrinkage as it condenses from liquid to solid form causes fractures to form, very similar to the fractures which form as a large area of mud dries into solid, dry clay, except that in lava the fractures can extend the entire thickness of a very thick flow, and can create these very long palisades. (Yep, Zac: You were right).$