Mount Rainier National Park

Slumbering in graceful repose, Mount Rainier quietly observes us, its shoulders cloaked in a mantle of ice. We are held under the influence of the Mountain, deep within a profound stupor. It only serves us to continue ever higher up its edges, so close we can nearly touch its face. We are merely children on the mountain.

Our favorite park (Redwood) dethroned so quickly -- Mount Rainier National Park now holds the honor. How exciting could one mountain be? Perhaps the fascination lies with knowing the mountain is there now, watching us as we visit, knowing that tomorrow it could erupt and be torn asunder. Perhaps it is the ever changing moods of the mountain -- the promise and warmth of first light; the ephemeral mantle of vapor that collects, envelops, and retreats; the harshness of its slopes in microcosm, filled with serrated ridges, creaking glaciers, and treacherous snowmelt.

What a mountain! Unforgettable, and one we will return to, time and time again.

We arrived at Cougar Rock Campground later in the day and were very happy to see that our campsite was excellent. It was raised on a small platform, not close to neighbors at all, and near (but not too close!) to a bathroom.

On the morning of our first full day we woke up at 5:30AM and headed up to Paradise. What a name! It truly was paradise. It was the Saturday of the 4th of July weekend. We figured people were still arriving on Saturday so best hit the most popular parts of the park while visitation was lowest.

We stopped at Narada Falls on the way, which were misting heavily. We were impressed! This park had amazing waterfalls as well!

We decided to do a grand tour of the Paradise area by linking up several shorter trails, including Skyline, and High Skyline.

We parked Numa, approached the trailhead, and saw that there were massive piles of snow everywhere.... what hiking experience did this portend? The NPS says that this is the snowiest place on Earth where snow is measured regularly.

We continued up the asphalt trail and came across another snowfield. Undeterred, we started up it -- and it was steep. Slip and sliding we went maybe an 1/8th of a mile and then we encountered black ice. Wonderful! I asked Vitali to run back to Numa to get my trekking poles.

It was at this point we turned around for the first time and saw the beautiful Tatoosh range being warmed by the sunrise. The fog had settled in the valley below, making it appear as if the mountains were floating in an ocean. We continued upwards, and before long the majesty of the Mountain was revealed to us.

So large it was unreal; so beautifully bedecked in ice and snow. We couldn't believe we were hiking on the steps of something so spectacular. It's beauty was otherworldly.

We continued onwards, and ever upwards. We passed multiple groups, including those making their way towards the summit, outfitted in mountaineering boots and ice axes. We would like to learn the skills to summit this and then do it someday.

Every new high point brought even more stunning vistas. We felt like we were in the North, beyond the Wall.

We passed one older couple several times as I would stop to take photographs and then catch up again. After a time we were all alone on the trail. At around 3 miles in the trail went from about 50% snow covered, to 95% snow covered. I was glad to have my trekking poles. We continued on to Paradise Glacier, and then briefly lost the trail and re-found it, on the way back towards Myrtle Falls. We traversed a fairly sketchy section of snowfield to get back on the trail and later ran into the older couple on another trail -- the gentleman had also gotten lost, slipped, fallen, and dislocated a finger!

We overheard a Ranger saying that two weeks ago snowshoes were required for any of these trails. I also read later that the heat dome melted 30% of the snowpack on Rainier -- and Paradise went from 110 inches of snow to zero during the month of June. These are depressing facts. The early melt though did mean that the wildflowers were starting to bloom, and they were very beautiful.

It was starting to get crowded as we completed the loop near Myrtle Falls. We were kind of in disbelief of the hike we had just completed. Every ounce of effort was returned ten-fold in reward. It was the most incredible hike we've ever done, and one I would do often, if I could.

The next day we decided to visit the Sunrise area, on the East side of the park. Wanting to hike again in the early morning, we set our alarms to 4:30AM. We passed by Reflection Lake around 5:20AM and by chance, there were a few wispy clouds around the mountain, and a pink sunrise. I decided that the next day we should endeavor to be here before sunrise to watch the light change.

There were so many trails in the Sunrise area that I was having a hard time deciding which one we should do. We decided to do as many as possible, and we could make a loop out of it.

We started out by visiting Berkeley Park, a glacial valley filled with meadows and graceful snowfields. We also watched two marmots tussle, make a run at me, and then tussle with each other again.

We backtracked a bit, and then decided to climb the pair of Burroughs Mountains, each one bringing us closer to the summit of Rainier. It was windy, alpine, and had multiple sketchy snow crossings. The picture below was the least exposed!

We decided not to continue down into a deep valley and instead backtracked again, and then took the Sunrise Rim trail back to the trailhead, which hugged the side of a steep mountain, and followed the White River. The White River (and many others borne of glaciers) is filled with 'glacial flour', sediment, which colors the water and makes it opaque.

We had just passed Sunrise Camp and then we saw it -- a little cub and mama bear! Another couple was there too, and the bear DGAF. She was inhaling the grass and flowers as fast as she could, the little bear crossing the trail and scampering up and away. It was very adorable.

We were moderately alarmed by the prospect of continuing on the trail with the bear so close... but we watched the other couple make their way and the bear ignored them, so we very cautiously continued. I hope the bear doesn't meet the fate of other bears who become too accustomed to humans...

By the time we were back at the trailhead the parking lot was full and the place was a zoo. But, I did get a good look at the Visitor Center, which was of a very frontier-esque log construction.

We headed back to camp and went to bed early -- our alarms were set for 4:00AM. Being so far north the sunrise was something like 5:21AM, which meant we had to get up very early to be ready to catch it. It also meant going to sleep in broad daylight, as last light was around 9:45PM.

We started the next morning at Reflection Lake. The fog was dense, and moving swiftly. We watched and waited, but Rainier did not reveal itself to us. Go on... keep your secrets.

Slightly disappointed, we continued on to the rest of our day. We drove through Stevens Canyon, which had some spectacular light shows happening.

We visited the Grove of the Patriarchs, which contained 1,000 year old Douglas-Firs, Hemlocks, and Cedars. They were Substantial. In addition to waterfalls, and a spectacular mountain, this park had big trees too!

The Ohanaceposh River, which we crossed to get to the grove was a beautiful muddled blue color, and hauling ass. It was extremely quiet but was flowing fast. If you fell in, you'd be out of sight in ten seconds. The grove was on an island in between waterways, which is how it has escaped wildfire for so long.

The giant maple leaves below belong to the Vine Maple.

After that we headed over to another waterfall, Silver Falls, which was a series of cascades, some portions extremely unique.

We also stopped by Box Canyon, which was an extraordinarily narrow and deep creek that had eroded the rock (180 plus feet!)

Back at camp, we had some lunch and then walked over to a trail adjacent to our campground -- Carter Falls. We got a little ways in though and saw the washed out bridge laying sideways in the creek. Nevermind!

On our last day, we woke up at 4:00AM again to try and catch the sunrise. We planned to hike the Pinnacle Peak Trail and be above the clouds by sunrise, but we arrived at the trailhead and saw it was covered in snow so we elected to watch the sunrise over the lake instead.

What a show we had. I wished there were clouds but the absence of them did not detract.

On the way out of the park, we stopped by Christine Falls, a two-fer along the road. Numa is hiding in the middle photo.

We would have loved to do the Wonderland Trail, which circumnavigates the mountain over 93 miles. We didn't get to see much at all of the West or North sides of the mountain though. There was an access road to the northwest corner but it was so far out of the way that we missed it.

This park was beyond special -- it contains the finest example of a stratovolcano I've ever seen (and an active one at that!), stunning waterfalls and rivers, ancient trees, and some of the best hiking we have ever experienced.

We were headed to North Cascades National Park next, but we were very sorry to leave this one behind.