Advertisement
Published: October 2nd 2008
View from Golden Gate Trail
Avalanche Lilies with Pinnacle Peak in the backgroundIt's been nearly one year to the day since we arrived in the Seattle area and we still hadn't made the time to go visit the mountain. The mountain I look at nearly every day, the mountain that symbolizes the northwest, the same mountain I used to reminisce about when I was away....yes, that mountain. At 14,410ft Mount Rainier dominates the Seattle sky-scape and when the weather is clear and the haze is low it appears suddenly on the horizon, so close you feel as though you can almost touch it. Still it has eluded out grasp, just beyond our reach, and on days when the mountain is out I look longingly to the south and think of the cool crisp air mountain air that would fill my lungs. And, believe it or not, we haven't been getting much rain out in Seattle this time of year so things are starting to look a little dry and brown. Andras was pointing out a median along a roadway just yesterday commenting on the lack of greenery in the city. We miss green. Clearly it's time we left this urban jungle to head for the hills.
As much as we would have
Nisqually River Valley
With Mt. Rainier in the background. loved to spend a week camping in the evergreen forests and hiking through alpine meadows and glacial streams, we're counting ourselves lucky to have found one single day together where neither of us have to work. We took off yesterday afternoon the moment I finished, dusted off the ol' camping gear (literally, brushed some cobwebs off there too....) and headed east. I've been to Rainier dozens of times, but for Andras this is the inaugural visit, so as much as I'm tempted to scout out a new, fresh experience for us both, there is no better way to see the mountain for the first time than from the trails of Paradise.
Things fell right back into place, just as they were last summer. It's so comforting and familiar--greeting the ranger at the entrance, scouting out the perfect last-minute campsite, counting out the money for the "iron-ranger" and in one, two, three setting up the tent, the bed, and chairs. It's like we never left the road, never settled down into Seattle, and with the pressures and obligations of the city being postponed for another day or two, we find ourselves relaxing, enjoying ourselves, no petty bickering or remarks. Just
two people, truly enjoying one anothers company in the great outdoors.
Surrounded by the greyish-green walls of polyester, realizing this same sight welcomed us many mornings but also knowing that anything new and wonderful could be right outside the tent flap, well it started to feel a bit like home--like visiting a old friend. It's a strange realization to make that these woods, this random patch of
trees feels more like home than your own apartment has in the past. We had intended to wake up early with the sun and drive up to Paradise before the weekend crowds arrived, but by the time my lazy bones opens her eyes it's already close to 8am. We broke camp in 10 minutes flat. Really! I had no idea how quick and efficient we had gotten.
When we finally do make it to Paradise we at first thought the parking was full. It wouldn't have surprised me given the favorable forecast for the weekend as this section of the mountain is the most easily accessible from the city, and therefore, the most crowded. We ended up being slightly mistaken but none-the-less parked about 1/2 mile away in the overflow picnic
Young Marmot
Sunning himself on a rock near Panorama Point parking, resulting in a nice warm-up hike prior to the real deal. We decided to do the Panorama Peak loop, taking most of the elevation gain in the first stretch along the Golden Gate trail and then connecting back along the western half of the Skyline loop. This way we'd get to explore the majority of the landscapes without having to pack in all the mountaineering gear needed to climb higher.
Even though the crowds were just beginning to trickle in, there was still plenty of people watching while Andras hunted around the visitor center and lodge trying to find a cup of coffee (we'd left the kettle at home and didn't want to fool with a fire this morning). Just when you think you've seen it all..... Akin to the man trying to hike down to the Grand Canyon with 20oz of water, today we saw a family attempting to hike up to Camp Muir (basecamp for the summit) in canvas sneakers and cotton t-shirts. And alongside them was an organized group outfitted in all the latest color-coordinated high-tech widgets and gear. I can only imagine that moment when both groups look at each other and realize "Oh
Myrtle Falls
In Paradise, with Mt. Rainier in the background. hey, we're going to the place. One of us is
totally under/over dressed." We fell somewhere in the middle with just the ten-essentials, some tasty
landjäger and fruit, fleece and thick socks.
It was a good hike to get us back in practice with only a few minor incidences, the major one being that up near the top the trail split and the sign marking the intersection was less than helpful. It read "Panorama Peak --> 0.3mi" So we headed off in that direction, by-passing the other option called High Skyline, along a trail clearly marked on my map with the caveat that it may be covered in snow. The first part was still snow-covered, but we easily traversed it and rejoined the trail. Then another snow-field...okay, but this one wasn't so clearly marked. We saw a path had been blazed going up and across a bit of a steep snowy slope so I kicked some steps and we made it to a little rock scramble, only to discover yet
another snow field leading off to nowhere.We debated turning around but looking back at our steps kicked precariously in the face of the slope we suddenly realized how steep
Reflection
Catching a glimpse of the mountain in a pool of water along the shores of the Nisqually River it was. At this point we saw another couple walking towards us and so assumed they were coming from the other end of the trail and walked towards them. They smiled and we exchanged pleasantries, "not too far!" they said...and when we finished we found their footsteps led not to the end of the trail, but to another scree field! I have no idea what those people were thinking because nothing about where we ended up indicated that you should just cut off the main trail and start heading onto the snow field (in fact there were several signs asking you not to) but we eventually found a path cutting perpendicular to us about 20 feet away from where we ended up.
The real kicker was that after we followed that trail back down to Panorama Point, we saw the "original" trail we were on with a big "CLOSED" sign next to it. Nice to know! Absolutely nothing on our end of the trail indicated it was closed, hence our bit treacherous of a detour through the middle of nowhere! It's a good thing we didn't slip because we didn't have anything to arrest ourselves with and the ledges
Avalance Lilies
Dotting the entire hillside near remaining patches of snow. were high enough to do some bodily harm! But regardless we had made it, now with a much more interesting story to tell. By this time the clouds had really begun to form over the mountain and the winds started picking up. It wasn't too bad from where we were, but it made photography of the summit impossible. Yesterday while we were hiking around the Nisqually River basin we were able to see the top, but how quickly things change up at this altitude. Still, the sky above the Tatoosh range was clear and so we had a nice view facing south (see panorama above). Supposedly you can see Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood from here but not today.
We took the Skyline Trail back down to the Paradise. The smell of the wildflowers perfumes the air with something evocative of honeysuckle as we walk through patches of snow and ice and then, ahh.....the sweet scent of lupines waft our way promising something wonderful right around the next bend. Red paintbrushes, purple lupines, pink heather and shooting stars, the white of lilies and lavender of daisies, the blue of even more flowers I can't identify, yellows
and greens all blanketing the upper meadows above the tree line. Marmots scurrying across the meadows as we make an appearance around the bend, munching on the blossoms in-between high-pitch squeals of alert. August is the perfect time to visit Rainier. The snows are melting back, the flowers are in bloom, the sun shines warmly during the day and the cool evenings are just the right temperature for a campfire.
A few days following we headed out to our first ever white-water rafting adventure further north in the Cascades outside Darrington. It reminded me again why I tend to dislike group excursions. Almost three hours after we've all arrived (all 50 of us!) we're finally on the water. The bus taking us up to the drop off wouldn't have been out of place along some rickety road in South America. It looked it's age, with rusty rims and torn seats and ropes tied randomly along the aisle-ways to serve as handrails for the twenty something people we had over capacity. Just when I was about to comment about chickens wandering up the aisle, here comes the company owners two dogs shoving their way through the cramped space.
The
Old Growth and New
Maples along the Wonderland Trail rafting itself was enjoyable but a bit of work at times. We drifted down the Sauk river, gazing at the aquamarine blue of the glacial river and scanning the tree-tops for eagles and signs of wildlife. As the last raft going down the river our responsibility was to assist any rafts ahead of us that ran into difficulty and for the most part this entailed bumping into those that had gotten stuck on a rock or making fun of the rafters up ahead that skidded to a halt on the sand bars. But half way through the trip the raft in front of us hit a log and capsized, sending eight inexperienced individuals into the icy cold water before being sucked under by the sweeper current. Suddenly our relaxing outing turned into search and rescue. It didn't take much for the reality of the situation to hit as we're pulling people out of the water and trying to get an accurate headcount to see if anyone is still trapped below, whistling blaring and panic setting in. We were lucky that the sweeper was fairly new and hadn't built up an accumulation of sticks and twigs heavy enough to trap someone
underwater, the worst injury being a small abrasion to one man's forehead, but after that the trip wasn't quite the same. When you sign a liability waiver for a recreational activity you never really think about the dangers that potentially exist.
And I don't know how best to segue into this next comment so I'll just say it -- on the drive back we saw a bear! I know it's not all that exciting but after spending weeks in the parks and forests known for their bear populations and not seeing signs of any, seeing this black bear cub on the side of the road outside of town was just was the thing to bring the trip to a close.
It's good to remind ourselves why we're working as hard as we do -- so that we can one day once again afford to pack it all up and live unadorned in the great world of nature that beckons us.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.343s; Tpl: 0.018s; cc: 20; qc: 125; dbt: 0.2191s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Where We've Lived 
Where We've Been 
Barb
non-member comment
Beautiful
The writeup is very poetic and the photos are fantastic.