Blogs from Mt Rainier, Washington, United States, North America

Today was an interesting day. I was awake pretty early in the morning, and I prepared myself with a thermal jumper, assuming it would be cold up the mountain, as it wasn't that warm here in the city. I made my way to the pickup point - which was the Sheraton Hotel. The tour bus was out the front. I hopped on bored and the day trip had begun. I was introduced to a group of 22 other people. We set off and were given a brief overview of Seattle before getting onto the freeway and making our way towards Mount Rainier National Park. The tour guide was very funny. An uplifting and happy person - he said he had been doing the job for 14 years. I think we all learnt a lot from him. ... read more

There is a reason why Seattle-ites fall in love with their Mt Rainier. 25 out of 30 days in a month, it manages to hide behind a layer of clouds; and when the clouds drift away the snow capped wonderful scenery we behold, looming above the concrete highrises,just makes the day. Mount Rainier is a dormant volcano which had last erupted about 150 years ago. That is a little scary fact , but no one can absolutely ignore the charm. Once a traveller has set his foot in the mountain's vicinity, the glaciers, the meadows and the constant sound of flowing springs will keep beckoning him back again and again. We recently planned to go camping in the Mount Rainier National Park. First fact I had missed while planning the trip is that there is no ... read more

Today was another day for exploring Mount Rainier National Park. First, I headed for the hot springs. Ohanapecosh Campground is very close to a set of hot springs, which were used as a health resort a hundred years ago. The short trail reaches an open grassy area with hot water running through it. The sides of the little stream were covered in colored heat loving bacteria, familiar from Yellowstone (see July 10th). The springs are far too small to bathe in. Next up was Silver Falls on the Ohanapecosh River. This one was tricky to find. The marked trail head is in the campground, requiring a hike of over an hour. Those with a good guidebook know that there is an alternative trail which is much shorter and steep... read more

I started today at one of Tacoma’s most important museums, the Museum of Glass. Tacoma is one of the centers of the art glass movement, thanks to local resident David Chihuly. The museum exists to expand the art form. Its centerpiece is a state of the art glass foundry. Guest artists spend one week each in this foundry, creating works they otherwise would not have the resources to do. The foundry is located in an amphitheater, so museum visitors can watch people work. When I was there, the activity was pretty familiar to anyone who has been in a glass shop. A group of assistants rolled a hot glass glob on a table as someone blew into the tube to create a vase-like s... read more

August 17-18th, 2010: Mount Rainier, Ever-Looming Camping outside/visiting Mt. Rainier National Park in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Mt. Rainier, the 5th highest peak in North America and the tallest point in Washington State looms large, easily seen on clear days, even from Seattle. At 14,400 feet, it dwarfs all other peaks. It’s on the bucket list for many climbers, and 1000s of people have summated the peak, usually leaving from Camp Muir at 3 a.m. It’s serious stuff, and each year, the mountain claims some lives (at least 1000 deaths have stemmed from mountaineering accidents/Hype-related (altitude conditions) incidents. There’s no doubt that this hunka’ rock is very alluring (but, of course, unattainable to me…). I chose the least-visited (even though it’s the closest to Seattle) corner of the park, the Northwest. I wanted t... read more

Today we took the perfect hike (suggested by one of the long-time employees at Alta Crystal), through a variety of terrains (forest, meadow, tundra, barren rock) in perfect weather, with perfect views of Mt. Rainier and the incredible Emmons glacier on the east side of the mountain. So much gorgeousness, it’s hard to describe! The only downsides were a very narrow section of the trail with a sheer drop-off and shale like rock surface—Dave’s height issues kicked in; heck, even I had a few “issues”! And then we passed through so many meadow areas of dried out, dead wildflowers, which would have been spectacular a couple of months earlier. Oh well—gives us an excuse to make a return visit during wildflower season! We finished off the day, relaxing by the pool and enjoying a cioppino dinner, ... read more