usand feet above me towered the
majestic dome of the second highest pinnacle in the United States,
reserving observation to the north until its summit should be reached,
while far toward the east and the south extended range upon range of
mountain peaks, like an army of giants gathered around their chief. Here
and there among them appeared the sub-chiefs, Adams and St. Helens in
Washington; and Hood, Jefferson, and the Three Sisters, far beyond, in
Oregon. Between their serrated ranks darker shadows marked the deep
canyons where grows some of the choicest timber in the state.

Near by crawled the huge glacial bodies gnawing their way down the
mountain side and splitting its surface into rugged ridges. Between them
and below were spread the meadowed alpine parks or abandoned
cirques--veritable fairylands--which had been carved out by these
superhuman agencies eons before. Barely distinguishable was the road by
which I had made the circuitous ascent, bending back and forth across
the face of an apparently perpendicular wall, while the glacial streams
glittering in the sunshine, resembled huge serpents lying in the
profound hollows formed by the extending hills.

The hours spent in reaching this favored point were of themselves worth
the effort. Either rail or automobile may be chosen to Ashford where
each train is met by an auto stage. Leaving Tacoma, the highway threads
a picturesque gravelly prairie for thirty miles, ascends the beautiful
canyon road, crosses the Ohop Valley, leads to the brink of the
Nisqually Canyon a thousand feet deep, plunges through dense virgin
forests, reaches Longmire, and zigzags to the snout of the Nisqually
Glacier, whence the ascent to the Camp of the Clouds may be continued
afoot, on horseback, or by horse stage.

This region was only recently set aside as a National Park. Perhaps no
other area in the world brings so many and such varied natural wonders
to the very doors of two great cities. It contains a total of 207,360
acres, or 324 square miles, of which 100 square miles is occupied by
Mount Rainier (or Mt. Tacoma), king of mountains, rising apparently
directly from sea level, and visible from almost every point in the
state.

No grander expression of Nature's sculptural art exists than this mighty
pinnacle, 14,408 feet in altitude, whose glacial area, no less than 45
square miles in extent, exceeds that of any other peak in the United
States. One of the most interesting glaciers i