Mt. Rainier

Today we went to the mountain—Mount Rainier. It was cloudy and chilly when we left the house, and there was only a 50-50 chance that the clouds would break, but we figured it was a chance worth taking.

First, we drove through a beautiful state park which featured an old-growth forest. How marvelous were the tall fir and pine and spruce trees.  The phrase from Robert Frost came to mind: "The woods are lovely, dark, and deep…" I tried to photograph this old forest, but it was more than the camera could take in. It filled our eyes and hearts. 

The park had an excellent Visitor Center, complete with some taxidermy exhibits. This was my first glimpse of a Cougar. She was quite beautiful—tawny fur, long lovely tail, and green eyes that would surely have been flashing had she been alive. I estimate that she was about the size of a large Labrador. Of course, being the animal nut that I am, I thought how wonderful to be able to snuggle up with this great cat! If she were tame, I'm sure she would enjoy a good ear rub, just like Grady. Those daydreams pale in the story of the Cougar that actually stalked Charlie., He was on a hike with a group and went back for something. As he was re-approaching the group, they began shouting at him.  they could see the Cougar stalking him—down in the stalking position.  He finally turned around and shouted and ran at the beast, and it turned and ran away. (Note: this is not what the park brochures advise!) Charlie observed that it was like any other cat—didn't want a hassle—just an easy snack! (Charlie, forgive me for telling your story, but my readership is not large, so you will still have it to tell!)

On to Sunrise Ranger Station, which sits at an altitude of about 6000 feet. When we arrived, on went the coats (cold and windy) and we piled out of the car to check out the surroundings. this is a prime place for viewing Mt. Rainier, but the mountain was totally socked in. 

Wow! In every direction—like a 360-degree IMAX—absolute beauty. In one direction was a set of very jagged black mountains, looking to my untrained eyes impossible to climb. In another direction was a very tall hill, or short mountain, that was entirely an alpine meadow. There were lovely clumps of wildflowers—yellow, white, lavender, red, magenta—and lots of little fir trees from a foot or so in height all the way up to 6 or 7 feet.  High on the mountain sat a magnificent Mountain Goat. (As soon as the ranger spotted it, he set up a telescope so all the visitors could have a better view.) The goat was lying down, probably chewing his cud, gazing out over the valley.

This was the finest ranger station, in terms of visitor interaction, that I have visited. It was full of plant and animal exhibits. Some of the little alpine flowers have roots that go down 5 or 6 feet to provide both water and support from the winds. Taxidermy exhibits included several small animals, a Golden Eagle, and 3 Cougars.  They also had a number of touchable pelts, bones, etc. on display and were interacting a lot with both children and adults.  Hooray for volunteers in the National Park Service who keep things going even though Bush has dramatically slashed park budgets!

It was cold, dropping down to 33 degrees at one point, and then it started blowing cold, peppery snow. Even on August 30 you may need coats in these mountains.

Then came the main event of the day, and it was a Superlative Event! The clouds started breaking up, and Mt. Rainier began to appear.  Gigantic, magnificent, 8000 feet higher above us. It was truly a spectacular sight. As the clouds retreated, Charlie pointed out the various routes he and Robin and Meredith had used when summiting the mountain.  It was truly awesome.

I had seen Mt. Rainier from the air once. As my plane flew over Washington I had observed a lot of snow-covered mountains and wondered which one was Rainier. But then, a huge mountain, seemingly right beside me, appeared, and there was no doubt that this was THE MOUNTAIN—Mt. Rainier.

From the ground, it is not only huge and beautiful, but you can see the glaciers and cliffs, and you realize that climbing this giant is no easy task. May try, fewer make the summit. Truly spectacular in every way.

As we drove home, we all agreed that the day would have been well spent even if the mountain had remained hidden, but how thrilling to actually get to see it.

We came home tired and happy.  Then Robin fired up the grill and we had a feast.  Visiting Robin and Charlie is just the best!