Hiking: Kautz Creek

The creek is named for Army Lieutenant August V. Kautz who in 1857 made the first attempt to summit Mount Rainier. He was unsuccessful at reaching the summit, but the creek that bears his name has been pretty successful in a carrying out more than a few dramatic flooding episodes.
You may have noticed a fairly new bridge and the stretch of road just before the trailhead. Thank Kautz Creek for that as well as nearly one mile of rebuilt trail. The Glacier-fed creek wreaked some serious damage to the trail and road in 2006. It’s most famous flooding episode, however, was in October of 1947. It was then that heavy rainfall caused a jokalhaup (from the Icelandic, meaning a glacial outburst) on the Kautz Glacier causing a huge flood. This flood moved 1.4 billion cubic feet of rock, dirt and till for more than 6 miles burying the Nisqually-Longmire Road. The flood also created a canyon more than 300 feet deep. You can learn about this event and the creek in general at the short little nature trail at this trail’s start. --- Visit Rainier Website
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