This is it … the location we planned on and centered around all others for the trip … Mount Rainer. Iconic. Majestic. Worth the Journey.
First – today’s question …
What place is near the top of your bucket list? Where is someplace you would really want to visit? A particular country? An historic site? A national park? Where?
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Day Six … we arrived to Mount Rainer. As focused as the mountain is to the whole park, it is so much more. Zones around the 235,000 plus acres. 97% Wilderness. And even it’s you come to see the 14,410 foot volcano, there are waterfalls, over 260 miles of trails, glaciers, lodges, and more. There are color plants – both spring and summer and fall.
We got there as peak fall colors were hitting. What we really didn’t get to see was the animal life. We saw pics of wolverines, deer, marmot, and bears. But they seem to be hiding when we got out. We saw chipmunks and a few deer, but we see those here in Virginia. Lisa wanted to see a bear. I think she want to feed me to it.
We got to do some of the Naches Loop Trail and even walked along the Pacific Cost Trail (PCT). While on the adjacent trail, we saw a guy hook up his guitar and camera … playing online while at the park.
We could not get up to Sunrise area, the effects of the fire were still evident. In some areas, the smell was quit dominate.
We then got to the White River campground (where a bear was sighted 20 minutes after we left it) and then moved on circling counter clockwise to Paradise area. But about 15 minutes before we got to the lodge, a cloud descended and the entire area was shrouded.
Shrouded … We came all this way to see the mountain … and it was shrouded. This is a pic of our view of the mountain.
So, we got to our room, and got ready for the night. Staying at the historic Paradise lodge was … a sense of connection to a century of people from all over the world coming to view the exact same vista I was there to see (hopefully see). I sat in the lobby where presidents sat, where soldiers were housed in WWII to train for mountain conditions. This place was a connection to history and was a place that is humbling.
From here, we slept and waited for the morning. We arose early … I Was up around 4:30 (to be fair, that’s 7:30 according to my east coast body) and we walked out into he dark.
But that’s for tomorrow. What was this sunrise hike like? Could we see the mountain? Would a bear show up?
Succinctly … worth it. (Read the next one when I finish it.)
Back to the question …
What place is near the top of your bucket list? Where is someplace you would really want to visit? A particular country? An historic site? A national park? Where?
Let me know in the comments.
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