Mt Rainier National Park

Before moving to the Pacific Northwest, I assumed I knew just how stunning the mountains could be. Afterall, I was lucky enough to go to Middlebury VT, nestled in the green mountains.  I traveled frequently to the Austrian Alps for business. I have visited Colorado & Montana.

But nothing properly prepared me for how seeing Mt Rainier would make me feel.   I saw Mount Rainier for the first time, standing tall and ethereal in the background of Seattle, peeking through the clouds for the first time in a week.  In the winter, the mountain hides in a cloak of greyness. When he finally pokes through the clouds though, one quick glimpse is enough to take your breath away. Takhoma, as the mountain is called by the Natives, stands tall 90 miles from the city, to the Southeast.  90 miles...that's the equivalent of seeing Providence from Boston.  

Mt Rainier National Park was created in 1899 by President McKinley to become the nation's 5th National Park.  The 370 mile area surrounding the glacially-encased active volcano has become a wonderland for hikers, campers and outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds, including famed Scottish American conservationist, John Muir, who once said : "Of all the fire-mountains which, like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest".  I couldn't agree more.

The steps at the top of Paradise Road in the Park.  In the Winter, the Paradise area of the mountain is known for breaking national snowfall records. 

After many weeks of nearly driving off I-90 trying to catch a small glimpses of Rainier through the valleys of the foothills, Ty finally brought me for my first visit to the park in June.  Since then I have returned three times. Each time, I fall more in love with the enchanting forest and majestic mountain.  I am very much looking forward to exploring for many years to come. 

Below are some photos from our time at the park, though none of them do the mountain's majesty any justice. 

Sunrise Hike 

We hiked to only about 8k feet elevation.  The Summit stands at an amazing 14,409 feet.

Driving up the road to Paradise

My handsome trail guide pointing out other significant peaks in the distance.

Lenticular cloud swirling over the summit

More from John Muir on Mt Rainier: "The view we enjoyed from the summit {of Mt Rainier} could hardly be surpassed in sublimity and grandeur; but one feels far from home so high in the sky, so much so that one is inclined to guess that, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and the exhiliration of climbing, more pleasure is to be found at the foot of the mountains than on their tops.  Doubly happy, however is the man to whom lofty mountain tops are within reach, for the lights that shine there illuminate all that lies below"

Happy Hiking!
xoxo,
Bee