National Parks Traveler Podcast | Shrinking Mount Rainier

National Parks Traveler Podcast | Shrinking Mount Rainier

Author: Kurt Repanshek November 16, 2025 Duration: 55:49

Gazing up at mountains from their valleys down below, it's hard, if not impossible, to detect any change on the top of the mountains. But change is ongoing, especially in recent history as the climate continues to warm.

From Tacoma or Seattle in Washington state, the snowy summit of Mount Rainier National Park appears unchanged from how it's always looked. Snowy. But is that truly the case? What would you think if someone told you the top of the summit no longer is 14,410 feet high, that the high point of the park has actually shrunk?

Our guests today are Eric Gilbertson, a mechanical engineer and mountaineer from Seattle University, and Scott Hotaling, a watershed sciences professor from Utah State University, who have measured the thickness of the ice cap on the summit of Mount Rainier. What they have to say may surprise you.


There's a world of stories waiting beyond the park entrance sign, and the National Parks Traveler Podcast is your audio guide to them. Led by Kurt Repanshek, this series goes deeper than trail maps and visitor statistics. It connects the natural wonder you experience firsthand with the crucial, often unseen work happening behind the scenes-the science informing conservation, the cultural histories embedded in the landscape, and the policy decisions that will shape these places for future generations. As the audio companion to the editorially independent nonprofit media organization, this podcast delivers a thoughtful blend of on-the-ground reports, interviews with researchers and park staff, and nuanced discussions about the challenges and triumphs in managing protected areas. You'll hear the sounds of the parks and the voices of the people dedicated to them. Each episode is an invitation to better understand the complex tapestry of ecology, history, and society that makes every national park far more than a scenic destination. Tune in for a regular dose of insight that will deepen your appreciation and perhaps even shape your next journey into America's most treasured public lands.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

National Parks Traveler Podcast
Podcast Episodes
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Wildlife Crossings [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:57
Across the United States, there are many thousands of collisions between vehicles and wildlife each year, killing people and animals and causing millions of dollars in property damages. Some solutions revolve around crea…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Polluting Parks With Light [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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You might not entirely appreciate the wonders and majesty of national parks unless you venture out after dark and gaze up at what often is referred to as the other half of the national park system. The view can be quite…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Florida's Ailing Reef [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:44
Warming oceans, pollution, more potent hurricanes, anchor drops, dredging and trawling. The Florida Reef struggles with a lot of impacts today. In fact, only about 2 percent of the reef that stretches some 350 miles from…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Managing Capitol Reef's Visitors [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:16
Capitol Reef National Park in Utah is one of the Mighty Five, as the state likes to say in its tourism promotions, and while it's somewhat off the beaten path, visitors are finding it. In 2024, visitation to the park was…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | 1,000 Western Wonders [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:53
What do you do, where do you go, when you pull into your favorite national park and can't find a place to park or a trail without crowds? Those are good questions probably going through many people's minds as the nationa…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Congaree's Big Trees [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:03
Congaree National Park is an often-overlooked unit of the National Park System. Indeed, only about 250,000 visitors set foot in Congaree each year. Those who do are awestruck by the size of the trees there, as the park c…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Bats in the Parks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:09
A growing majority of bat species are in serious trouble, largely because of white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal disease that resembles a white fuzz on infected bats. As the disease has spread across the country, it's d…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Big Bend's Big Wall [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:29
Big Bend National Park lately has drawn a lot of national attention, and not in a good way. Recently the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol announced that it wanted to build some sort of border wall along all or part of the…
National Parks Traveler Podcast | Revisiting the ESA [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:54
To put some perspective on the National Parks Travelers' monthslong coverage of threatened and endangered species, we're going to go back in time a bit today to replay a podcast in which we discussed the ESA — and possib…