Legends of Mount Rainier and the Pacific Northwest

So we’ve heard of the legendary Bigfoot, a creature of Pacific NW fiction.  Recently the fictional vampires of Twilight have become well known beyond the Northwest.  Some have tried to figure out the non-fictional “Grunge Rockers”, who originally roamed the great lands around our beloved Puget Sound.

Well, another creature of legend calls the Northwest home.  They can only be found in the coldest of the coldest places around.  One of their favorite hangouts is on the top of a little hill we like to call Mount Rainier.

Try telling someone to go up to the snowfields and glaciers on Mt. Rainier and look for worms, and they may ask you if they should then use them for snipe hunting.  If you describe the worms in more detail, they may ignore you all together.

But here’s the difference between Bigfoot and Ice Worms, between vampires and Ice Worms… the Ice Worms are as real as grunge rockers!  And besides the crazy thought of little one inch worms burrowing through rock hard ice, there’s another reason people think Ice Worms are fake… when they get warm… they melt!

Want to see what they look like?

You can see a good picture from the Seattle Times at http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/zoom/html/2002818692.html, or check out one of the pictures below…

So how can you see on in real life?  Well, you’ll have to find a day when the sun isn’t so bright and when the air is cooler.  Then you get your gear together and head up to the snowfields and glaciers on the top of Mt. Rainier.  Wait for the sun to find the horizon, and then just look on the snow.  You may have to dig, but if it’s cold enough and you find some “Red Snow” then you’ll likely see millions of them wiggling about and searching food.

Make sure you pack the right gear!  It’s very cold up there even on a hot day.  And walking about on the snow and glaciers in good daylight can be dangerous enough… it’s worse when you have less light to see what’s going on.  Browse through Whittaker Mountaineering’s online store to see if you have everything you need.  You can also call them and tell them your plans, and they should be able to give you a good checklist of things to pack.

For more information on Ice Worms check out this site… http://www.nichols.edu/departments/glacier/iceworm.htm

The creativity of God is truly amazing!!!