One of the many landscape features that I observed during our flight from Seattle to Denver last week was the delta of the Nisqually River, at the southernmost end of Puget Sound. This relatively untouched ecosystem of freshwater wetlands and tidal marshes is protected within the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. The River itself is named for the Nisqually Tribe that had settled near its mouth long before the arrival of European explorers.
The Nisqually River rises from the Nisqually Glacier on the south flank of Mt. Ranier, gathering numerous tributaries from that massive stratovolcano as it descends toward the Columbia River Valley. Before reaching that watershed, it curves westward and then northwestward, passing through Alder Lake en route to Puget Sound, east of Olympia.
Far from the longest or largest river in Washington, the Nisqually nevertheless connects the State's highest peak (14,410 feet) with one of its more pristine tidal wetlands; within a distance of 80 miles, the river passes through the varied life zones of the Pacific Northwest.
The Nisqually River rises from the Nisqually Glacier on the south flank of Mt. Ranier, gathering numerous tributaries from that massive stratovolcano as it descends toward the Columbia River Valley. Before reaching that watershed, it curves westward and then northwestward, passing through Alder Lake en route to Puget Sound, east of Olympia.
Far from the longest or largest river in Washington, the Nisqually nevertheless connects the State's highest peak (14,410 feet) with one of its more pristine tidal wetlands; within a distance of 80 miles, the river passes through the varied life zones of the Pacific Northwest.
