ABC Wednesday--Z

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Well, we have made it to Z, and each time I have posted photos from Mt. Rainier National Park I have thought afterwards of something else I could have posted for the letter, or found something different on our next trip to the park.

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That will not happen with Z.

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Until Saturday afternoon I had been dreading Z, pondering Z, meaning to ask someone, anyone at the park for a Z that I could post. Then on the way home on Saturday afternoon, it came to me! The perfect Z. In fact, two of them.

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Z is for zigzag and Z is for zero.

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Okay, Katney, those start with Z so how are you going to connect them?

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First ZIGZAG

The White River (as well as the Nisqually, the Carbon and others which are glacier-fed.) zigzag through their beds, changing their course within their banks as tumbling boulders and logs are deposited, blocking one channel and leading the waters to find another. They are sometimes called braided rivers.

Climber/skiers sometimes zigzag down the mountain from one area to another, as in this pattern seen from Nisqually Vista.

(In a similar fashion, many roads and hiking trails in the mountains will zigzag in switchbacks to make the climb more doable.)

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Now, ZERO
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After the thunderstorm described here, we prepared for the next night. Moving the small tents--which had dried out during the warm morning, into a clutch and covering them over with an extra tarp roof to keep them dry the next night. More thunderstorms were predicted.

Of course, the next night we had ZERO precipitation.

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At a campfire program at White River Campground, Summer Intern Justin showed and demonstrated the gear he uses for climbing, which is designed to keep him warm on the upper mountain and other places where the temperatures may dip to well below ZEROºF.

(Our own gear is designed to keep us toasty when it dips below ZEROºC. And, especially in our tiny trailer, we can sometimes get too warm at night.)

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The next morning, we found a group well prepared for both Zigzagging and zeroes.

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When ABC Wednesday begins its third season next week, I will leave Mt. Rainier--at least for the ABCs. You will have to wait till next week to see what new theme I will pick up, but if you want to guess, it is one of my other main interests.