National Park #5

After another sunny day in eastern Washington, I'm ready to reminisce about our 1st big experience west of this high altitude desert.  So sit back and relax...here we go!

We wanted to take advantage of a 3 day weekend we built into our contract knowing that it would take us longer to drive to weekend destinations then it did in the Midwest.  With so many outdoor wonders in these parts it was hard to know where to start, but we made the decision to head west (& slightly north) toward the 5th National Park on our American adventure - Mount Rainier.  As it turns out, our 5th National Park was also the United States of America's 5th National Park, established in 1899.

Mount Rainier's peak stands at 14,410 ft.
10,643 people attempted to climb to the peak in 2010,
4,920 people actually made it to the summit.

Mount Rainier is considered an active volcano approximately 50,000 years old, young compared to the surrounding Cascade Mountains that are estimated to be at least 12 million years old.  It last erupted in the early to mid 1800's, thus it poses risks that are associated with the volcano as well as its glaciers, i.e. mud flows (lahars) & glacial outburst floods. 

With it still being summer, the park campgrounds fill up quickly so we did some research and decided to try a "rustic" campsite just southeast of the park boundaries.  A patient of mine recommended this site as well, so we felt good about it, but hoped it wasn't too much of a hot spot as we deviated from the paved road in the direction of Summit Creek campground.

Much to our (my) surprise 5 out of 6 campsites were open!  I say that I was surprised, not Charlie and myself, because Charlie seems to think I'm a pessimist, I think I'm a realist.  Anyway...it was a relief to get our site set up and then take our time to explore the area a bit and eat our lunch by the flowing stream just below the campsite before heading to Mount Rainier.

Charlie, one with nature.

By early afternoon we were entering the park via the southeast entrance and quickly learned that Mount Rainier National Park has a lot more to offer than just the giant mountain in the middle of it. We spent our first afternoon in the Ohanapecosh area, which is not accessible during the winter months due to road closures. Ohanapecosh (please don't ask me to say that out loud!) is teeming with green forest and the refreshing smell of pine. We learned this area is an old-growth forest made up of multi-layered canopies with Douglas firs, western red cedars, and western hemlocks.  With the guidance of a park ranger we found ourselves on a 5 mile hike that followed the Ohanapecosh River.  The river originates from a glacier on Mount Rainer and has stunning clear water appearing turquoise in color. 

Look at that water!
(Don't mind the awkward girl in the picture.)

We passed a variety of water falls and then found ourselves crossing a very precarious suspension bridge with a sign that suggests only one person at a time walk on it.  This took us to Grove of the Patriarchs, a small island that is home to thousand year old trees and feels somewhat magical, like stepping back in time.  Trees this old are big, very big.

I told you they are big.

Evening was approaching so we headed back to our wonderful campsite, cooked dinner over our open fire (easily started thanks to Aunt Betty's fire starters!) and hit the sack excited for what our second day in Mount Rainier National Park had to offer.

We headed back into the park nice and early on Saturday with Paradise being our destination.  Paradise is centrally located at the base of Mount Rainier, has the park's main visitor center, and is the hub of winter activities in the park as it averages 53 ft of snow per year.  We were unsure of exactly where we'd be hiking because we're finding the best place to get a detailed map of National Park trails is from a visitor center in the area you'll be exploring.  Another ranger led us in the right direction as we set off on Skyline trail, a 5.4 mile loop to 7,100 ft (not even half way up the 14,410 ft mountain).  We were once again in awe of nature's beauty as we were surrounded by subalpine meadows and forests, interspersed with creeks running down the mountain from the many glaciers above.  Parts of the trail were covered with large amounts of snow from the precipitous winters.  We were glad to be wearing hiking boots!



We decided to veer from the Skyline trail to ascend a bit further and and make contact with a portion of the Muir Glacier, a snowfield where avid skier & snowboarders will hike to get a summer ride in.  This type of skiing takes a bit too much effort in my opinion.  Charlie went a little further than I did, hiking a bit up the snowfield and loving it.  It was a strenuous but gratifying hike and truly put perspective on how mighty this mountain is. 

We hope to return to Mount Rainier National Park this winter and experience it from a whole new perspective wearing snow shoes or cross country skis.

We've had additional adventures since visiting Mount Rainier, which Charlie is very eager to blog about, so keep an eye out for another post in the near future.

Summertime at Mount Rainier