The Emmons Glacier has the largest surface area of any glacier in the lower states. It is the source of the White River and a trail on the north side of the valley it has scratched out of the earth is waiting for you to visit. The glacier's massive 2 mile vertical scale is difficult to comprehend, until you get close to it. luckily for all, this is a short, easily accessible trail without much elevation gain. No excuses not to visit this amazing location.
Moraine is the term for the debris left by a receding glacier. This could be as small as the glacier flour left in the aqua blue lake found alongside the trail, to massive boulders strewn about the valley.
Emmons Glacier was receding rapidly beginning in the 1930's. In 1963 a massive rock slide from Little Tahoma (the prominent peak north of Mt Rainier's summit) covered much of Emmons Glacier, insulating it from the sun and allowing it to advance. Only in the past decade has it once again started to recede.
The short trail begins at the Glacier Basin Trailhead at the White River Campground on the way up to Sunrise on Mt Rainier. At 1 mile, a spur trail forks to the left over the Inter Fork and gets a little sketchy right after the log bridge because of the storms of '06-'07 that washed away portions of it. You are now on the Emmons Moraine, follow the trail for .5 mile to a viewpoint overlooking the glacier where you will clearly see the origin of the White River.