View of Mt. Rainier from the airplane
By Coach Gina
Recently I had the opportunity to travel to Seattle. While I do enjoy exploring a big city, I was also determined to see Mount Rainier. The mountain towers 14,410 feet above sea level making it the tallest mountain in Washington State and the Cascade Range. For scale Mount Mitchell, the highest peak on the eastern seaboard, is 6,684 feet. So, you would need to scale Mount Mitchell twice and then add another 1000 feet, just for good measure! With 26 glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. Adding to the excitement, Mount Rainier is an active volcano which is due for an eruption. According to Wikipedia "Due to its high probability of eruption in the near future, Mount Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list."
Because we didn't have access to a car, we scheduled a day trip to the mountain using Evergreen Escapes. They offer single and multi-day small group tours of the mountain that include hiking, snow-shoeing, waterfalls and meals al fresco. The day started with a pickup from our hotel where we started the 2-hour drive to Mount Rainier. Although the mountain looms large on the horizon, it's 59 miles from Seattle. While some of the drive is on vast 6 lane highways, the majority of time was spent on driving on small 2 lane roads that wind thru old logging towns turned into visitor and tourist stops.
We entered the park at the Nisqually Entrance, which is south of the mountain. At 2000 feet, the entrance was lush with green firs and ferns dotted with Viney Maple trees just starting to turn yellow. At the entrance, we stopped to take pictures and the rangers made sure we had snow chains in the vehicle. This was the first sign of the cold and snow that was to come. We slowly started to climb and the green started to disappear first into white blobs of snow and then under a pure white blanket of snow. When we reached our destination of Paradise at 5,400 feet, light snow was starting to fall on the already foot of snow that was there. Also, the wind had picked up making the new snowfall feel like little daggers hitting your face. We strapped on our snowshoes and started hiking up Skyline trail. This was my first time on snow shoes and I hope it's not my last. It was a ton of fun and the urge to run was high, but the coordination was low.
A couple things I learned:
1) Don't try to walk backwards, it's not going to work.
2) Getting up from the snow with what feels like clown shoes on is not easy.
3) There's deep snow hiding where you least expect it and it will take you down.
We eventually reached Myrtle Falls which was beautiful wrapped in its icy winter shell.
Myrtle Falls
After trekking back to the van, we drove down to Longmire Meadow (2,700 feet) as the weather was continuing to deteriorate at the higher elevations. Here we ate a lovely lunch provided by the Evergreen Escapes outside at the community center. The food was amazing and all organic from a Seattle Food Co-op. There were plenty of vegetarian and omnivore options including a lovely soup that warmed my bones. From Longmire we hiked two other trails, Wonderland and Twin Firs. These trails typified my image of the Pacific Northwest. Soft trails covered with pine needles, ferns and fallen trees with towering fir, cedar and hemlock trees overhead. Again, the urge to run was high, but the scattered patches of ice and me taking a small tumble on one, stopped me from trying anymore. I slowed down and just enjoyed the sheer scale of these ancient trees, some as old as 800 years. The thought of these trees existing in the year 1200 still leaves me in awe.
Twin Firs Trail
After our 2 hikes it was time to start heading back to Seattle. The van was quite on the way home as we were all tired and enjoying the warmth of the car. If you ever have the chance to see Mount Rainier, I encourage you to take the time and go. It's an amazing piece of our country and landscape and should not be missed!