Rising to higher than 14,400 feet above its neighbor, the Pacific Ocean, Mt. Rainier presides over all the surrounding lands. In the next few seconds this crystal clear mountain stream will plummet 700 feet down into the canyon below. Its water will drop several thousand feet more over the next few hours, rushing through deep densely forested canyons where it will soon join other streams to create a large rushing river on its way home to the ocean. These headwaters begin at a small snow-fed alpine lake 600 feet behind this POV.