Mount Rainier National Park is the only park in the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest with a large active stratovolcano. That it’s on the “Decade Volcano List” because of the high probability of an eruption soon makes it an especially exciting park to visit.
One of my favorite things about national parks is the area around them. The drive to Mount Rainier took me mainly through small towns and two-lane highways. I passed through industrial seaport areas and many miles of beautiful and sparsely populated land.
I took my time enjoying the views and stopped at a roadside stand to buy Rainier Cherries. Many of the towns I passed through are so small you don’t realize you’re passing through until it’s behind you. This one caught my attention because of the Rainier cherry signs that lined the side of the road for a mile.
It also had an old train and depot with a big black engine like you’d see in a children’s picture book. Further down the road, the caboose had been converted into a pizza parlor. There was also a small white, one-room church with a big steeple that reminded me of the type you see in ceramic Christmas villages.
Entering Mount Rainier National Park
Close to the park, the trees became denser, and there were glacial lakes along the roadway, so much bluer than other lakes, but the morning fog and smoke from California wildfires were still too thick to see the mountain.
At the Mount Rainier entrance, I had to wait about 20 minutes in a line of cars. I drove into the park and made my way first to the closest section – Longmire. The groves of tall pine and cedar trees along the roadside crowded so close they seemed ready to cross the street.
The Importance of Planning
At Longmire, I looked at my gas gauge and realized I had less than a quarter tank. The park is a 369-sq.-mile reserve, so that amount of gas wasn’t going to get me far. What, I wondered, had I been thinking? My oversight is a testament to the beauty around me. I was so absorbed in it; that I forgot a basic necessity.
There are no gas stations in the park, so I had to return to the small town where I’d stopped for the cherries. I did the math: 20 minutes there, 20 back and another 20 in line.
“AAAARRGGGGHHH,” I shouted inside my van.
As a solo traveler, I must do all the thinking for all things all the time. But sometimes, it would be nice to have someone else do some of the thinking, or in this case, any at all.
Places to Go in the Park
The park has five areas, three visitor centers, a museum, and several wilderness and climbing centers.
Mowich
Mowich has temperate rain forests and the park’s largest lake, Carbon River.
Ohanapecosh
Ohanapecosh has waterfalls and massive trees in it’s old-growth forests.
Paradise
Paradise is filled with colorful sub-alpine meadows.
Longmire
Longmire has historic buildings and low-elevation, easy hikes.
Sunrise
Sunrise, closest to Mount Rainier, has the best views in the park.
Entering Ohanapecosh
It was noon before I went into the park again and headed for the old-growth forests in Ohanapecosh. As I drove through the park this time, the snowy peak of Mount Rainier was visible in the distance. Around me were big old trees and glacial lakes and glorious views. I left the van many times to slowly breathe the mountain air, take pictures and sit still.
In Ohanapecosh, I wanted to find the Grove of the Patriarchs, where the biggest and oldest trees were clustered.
Grove of the Patriarchs
I joined groups of other people on the trail to see the big old trees. Despite the crowds of people, I was able to find brief pockets of time where I was alone with the trees in the woods. Stopping to read the signs – I’m often the only one who stops to read the signs on trails – I saw massive Douglas Firs, Western Red Cedars, and Western Hemlocks. Some were 12-feet around and 300 feet high. They’d lived in this forest for 1,000 years.
I crossed a narrow but long, metal suspension bridge over a river where families played in the chilly water. As I walked, I craned my neck back to look up at these old giants. I’m amazed that they’re still here. Somehow, despite people, a few of these glorious creatures have survived. Standing next to these giants, I am small and insignificant.
Somehow, it seems there is a lifeforce here—a quiet listening. I know that they do not notice me here below them, small as I am. I am blissfully alone with a big old Cedar at the end of the trail for a few moments. I stand there in silent gratitude.
As I stood there, recalling how upset I was over the gas, I imagined telling my problems to these trees and realized how stupid they were. When I am dead and gone and these trees will still be here.
Mount Rainier
As I headed to the Paradise section of the park to hike underneath the icy caps of Mount Rainier, I stopped at an overlook. In the distance, the mountain stood tall and grand as it always has.
Due to the high likelihood of an eruption in this century, Mount Rainier is one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. It also has the largest glaciers in the U.S. outside of Alaska. According to a U.S. Geological Survey, “about 80,000 people and their homes are at risk” when Mount Rainier erupts.
Still, it’s a popular climbing location. It seems crazy but fun, right?
Most climbers need two to three days to summit the 14,411 ft mountain, and only about half make it to the top. Up to 13,000 people a year try to climb it, and since 1947, about 85 have died trying.
I didn’t try to climb it, or the death rate would be one higher. But it sure was nice to hike around its base. There are several easy trails so that even the most unskilled can still enjoy the view of the mountain without scaling it.
I spent the rest of my day in the other sections of the park, taking short hikes and admiring how one place can have so many facets: glaciers, volcanos, old-growth forests, wild prairies and historical sites.
At the end of the day, as I looked out over a long vista back toward Mount Rainier, I saw a glint to the right. Someone had hung a dream catcher in a pine tree. I took a long, slow deep breath and exhaled gratitude. Getting where you need to be isn’t always easy, but it’s the small moments of the journey that matter.
Read more stories about Washington here.
