Mount Rainier

On Monday, June 30th we rode southeast to tour the Mount Rainier area.  This had to be the most spectacular ride of our trip so far.  The weather was perfect; deep blue skies and temps in the middle 70's.

Mount Rainier is an active volcano.  At over 14,000 feet, it is easily visible from 60 miles away in Tacoma.  You can clearly make out the snow-filled caldera.  Mountain climbers often take cover in crevices and
caves that are warmed by the steam coming out of cracks in volcano.  In the event of an eruption, Tacoma, parts of Seattle, and all the towns in between would be wiped out. Mt St. Helens is located about 50 miles southwest of Rainier, which erupted in 1980.  Mt. Rainier last erupted in the mid-1800's.

At one of the pull-out places

Mt Rainier from the Southwest

We entered the national park from the southwest corner, winding through a forest of tall pines, the branches covered with moss. This area is considered a temperate rain forest because it gets 10-12 feet of rain per year.

As we wound up the mountainside into the park we started to see less moss and ferns and things were generally drier.   With the exception of some small areas of road work, it was a fun ride with lots of twists and turns through beautiful pine forests and the occasional pull out to see the view.

One of the many waterfalls

If you click on the picture at the right and enlarge it, you will see lots of people climbing around in the snow.  This is the highest point on the road around Mt Rainier, called the Paradise Visitor Center.  Kids had their sleds and were playing in the snow in shorts and sneakers.  This is also the place where most of the hikers attempt the summit.  About 8,000 people attempt the climb each year, with about 4,000 actually making it to the top.  There are mountaineering guides that will assist you for a fee.  We declined to take that option and just watched the hikers departing with their loaded backpacks.  I was surprised at the number of hikers that looked much older than us.  Some of them had to be close to 70 years old and looked like they did a lot of this type of hiking.  The glaciers that need to be crossed have lots of deep crevices and people often fall into these and need to be rescued.  Two weeks ago a very experienced hiker (at age 72!) died on the way to the summit.  She was hiking alone and word is she fell into a crevice. There is an ambulance sitting here 24/7 and I am sure the local helicopter rescue is very busy this time of year.
The weather is not usually this beautiful.  It was clear and warm, with temps around 70 degrees here.  Usually it is cloudy and much colder.  We got lucky and had a beautiful day to see this area.

Walk to Grove of the Patriarchs

On the way back down, we continued to the southeast corner, where there is another temperate rain forest and we took a short walk, about 0.5 mile, to the 'Grove of the Patriarchs', a place with lots of very large and very old conifers.  These trees were red cedar and spruce and are 500-1000 years old, surviving several eruptions of the volcano.

suspension bridge on the way to the grove

grove of patriarchs; me down in front

Grove of Patriarchs

We finished out a very long day by stopping at a restaurant in Bonny Lake outside of Tacoma called HopJacks.  They have their own craft beers and great menu.  They also put cocktails in these nifty cup-shaped ices.

A cocktail at HopJacks