Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
On The Road With The Adventurers
Mount Rainier is an active volcano. It’s the tallest peak in the Cascade Range and one of many volcanoes throughout the Pacific Northwest that form a chain known as the Ring of Fire. To the local American Indians, it is known as Tahoma. Its powerful presence is felt for miles and miles. This is where we found ourselves the past couple of days.
Since driving through wildfires, camping with grizzly bears, and surviving three days with no wifi wasn’t enough — today, we added hiking up an active volcano. I guess if we are going to be The Adventurers, this is what we do for fun.
This stop wasn’t on our original itinerary. We were supposed to be in North Cascades National Park right now, but the road we needed to get there was closed due to wildfire activity. So here we are at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, just a couple hours from Seattle.
Things don’t always go as you planned, and sometimes that is okay. Sometimes surprises fall in your lap, and that’s what happened to us here; we ended up in Paradise.
The whole way up the mountain (volcano?!) on the Skyline Trail, my husband kept saying, “I think this is the best trail we’ve ever been on.” It was the combination of rugged terrain, snow-capped peaks, glacier-clad slopes, fields of wildflowers, waterfalls, wild marmots darting around, and, of course, the fantastic views. The trail was a steep, 5.5 mile trek, but as usual, the views along the way made it more than worth the effort it took to get to the top. This is a hike and destination I would highly recommend.
If for nothing else, just come see these sub-alpine fir trees whose pine cones glisten like Christmas in July. The wildflowers were equally as stunning.
If you look carefully, you can see Mount St. Helens, which last erupted in 1980, off in the background.
We also stopped at the Grove of Patriarchs, a nature trail that took us through a forest, over a suspension bridge, to an island of 1,000-year-old old-growth trees surrounded by the Ohanapecosh River. They looked like giants!
I can only imagine the stories they have to tell! Tall and robust, these Douglas-fir and western red cedar trees are survivors that reach almost 200 feet into the air. Think of the changes they have lived through in the past 1,000 years!
I couldn’t get enough pictures of the intriguing bark on one of them. Some things do get more beautiful with age.
Mount Rainier, with its diverse landscape, was a wonderful surprise on our adventure.
Next, we are on to Seattle. A city! Coffee shops! Wifi!!
Plus, we all need a little time away from our tent. The stream lulling us to sleep while we camped at La Wis Wis Campground in Packwood, WA was lovely, but a couple of nights in a bed sound like heaven.
More soon as the road trip continues!
