2007-06-30 Mt. Ruth scramble pics

[eub]

This is the Mt. Ruth near Rainier, not the Shuksan one. We came in from the White River trailhead. The first mile or so of trail was washed out and is presently a boulder and log scramble. From Glacier Basin we headed up the S-shaped gully to the ridge, and then it was step-kicking all the way up, except for the last few hundred yards of crumbling rockfield.

From the top we looked down on the Emmons Glacier between us and the north wall of Little Tahoma, and
had a close view of Rainier, of climbers working over the lip of Steamboat Prow, and other specks on the face of the mountain.

We glissaded (fancy French word for "slid on our butts") down about 3100 feet to snowline in half an hour, tops.



Sorry about my camera; it seems to be half-blurry. I particularly regret not being able to get good pics of the crisscrossed crevassing on the Emmons.

Comments

[marzipan-pig.livejournal.com]

Watermelon snow, also called snow algae, is snow that is reddish or pink in color, with the slight scent of a fresh watermelon. This type of snow is common during the summer in alpine and coastal polar regions worldwide. Especially also in the Sierra Nevada of California. Here, at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet (3,000–3,600 m), the temperature is cold throughout the year, and so the snow has lingered from winter storms. Compressing the snow by stepping on it or making snowballs leaves it looking red. Walking on watermelon snow often results in getting bright red soles and pinkish pant cuffs.

Watermelon snow is caused by the presence mainly of Chlamydomonas nivalis, a species of green algae containing a secondary red carotenoid pigment (astaxanthin) in addition to chlorophyll. Unlike most species of fresh-water algae, it is cryophilic (cold-loving) and thrives in freezing water. Its specific epithet, nivalis, is from Latin and refers to snow.

History

The first accounts of watermelon snow are in the writings of Aristotle. Watermelon snow has puzzled mountain climbers, explorers, and naturalists for thousands of years, some speculating that it was caused by mineral deposits or oxidation products that were leached from rocks.


Does it really smell like watermelons, or sweet at all?

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

It always disturbs me that the English usage is to noun a verb that was verbed from a noun.

[bhudson.livejournal.com]

Uh, shoot, my parity is off: verb -> noun -> verb is what I meant.

[katybeth]

Did you manage to clean your lens/dry out your camera?