Wildflowers, Watermelon Snow, and Volcanologists

Weathered tree on the mountainside.
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I stepped out of our rental car into the fresh air of Mount Rainier National Park and my first thought was: “This smells like the scent the air-freshener makers are trying for with those paper pine tree car air-fresheners!” The smell was so strong that memories of white Christmases and hot apple cider flashed through my mind. We hiked mountain trails above the tree-line and saw the magnificent views of Mount Rainier, the surrounding mountains and the river-lined valleys. Along the way we tramped over melting snow and through nearby fields of tiny wildflowers that were beginning to emerge in natural bouquets of purple, yellow, and magenta. We saw weathered tree branches and marveled at the fragile flowers thriving on the mountainsides.

Trailside view of Mount Rainier.
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As I was walking through the amazing landscape I noticed that much of the remaining snow on the mountains and on the trail looked as if it had been spray painted red. As I looked closer it seemed like this red graffiti was everywhere. It couldn’t have been done by rogue teens because the red streaks were huge and continued even to the completely snow capped peaks. My colleague and I had many theories about what caused the mountain tags. Could it be mineral deposits? A UFO? A team of really rebellious mountain climbers?

The snow on the mountains and on the trail looked as if it had been spray painted red.

Gorgeous mountain view.
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I went home with questions about the pinkish red snow rattling around in my brain. Later internet research uncovered that this red snow is actually alive! The red color is often described as Watermelon Snow because of its pink color and when you step on it, it smells a bit like a fresh summer watermelon. The reddish pink color is actually a dense colony of red algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. This snow algae exists at high altitudes where snow lasts through the summer. The Algae grows in the snow and thrives on excessive light in summer snowfields. Mount Rainier in the Cascade mountain range is known to be home to these summer algae colonies. Learn more about the snow’s natural graffiti with a scientific article: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/100/2/562 and see a few pictures of another person’s experience with watermelon snow in the Sierra Nevada mountain range: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/plaug98.htm

Wildflower on the mountain.
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Another fun fact about Mount Rainier is that Mt Rainier is an active volcano. It’s last major eruption is thought to be more than 2000 years ago and it’s most recent minor eruption was in the 1840’s. In Earth science time- that means that it could be due for another eruption any day now (really any day in the next few hundred years). There are scientists that monitor the activity level of the active volcanoes in the Cascades (Mount St. Helens also shares the range!) You can check out an up to date status check from the areas volcanologists and seismologists here: http://volcano.wr.usgs.gov/cvo/current_updates.php

Read more about volcanic activity in the Cascade Range here: http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Rainier/summary_mount_rainier.html

Although I was only able to spend a few hours in Mount Rainier National Park (we were on our way to central Washington for a business meeting and took a substantial detour to the mountain for the brief moments we had there) it is a place that will stay with me. This extreme and beautiful place held so many examples of the Amazing capacity of life to adapt and thrive in the harshest of landscapes. It is a place that reminds each of us how small we are and how great our combined impact can be. The microscopic red algae would be invisible alone but by building a colony together the plant creates stunning abstract art on the world’s most isolated edges.