Question for the Day – what would get you out of bed at 4:30am? What is worth the effort to you?
I was awake by 3:30. I started stirring around 4:30 – and the day had begun. We heard no other stirrings in the lodge. The cafeteria was dark and empty. The lobby was quiet, just a little mountain musak in the background. The fireplaces were cold with ashes from the night before. And the solo night auditor was striving to stay awake behind the counter.
Outside – dark. But, and this is a big ‘but’ … no shroud, no fog, no cloud descended on the mountain. Only the lights of the parking lot filled the area. It would end up being a perfect day for the trails.
As the sun slowly got closer to revealing her splendor, more of the mountain side would come into our visual range. But first, we put on our head lamps, got our bearings, and joined the dozen or so other hikers who were exiting their cars to climb the #1 trail of Mount Rainer National Park … Skyline Trail. It is a 5.5 mile loop rated hard/extreme. It has 1700 feet elevation gain. It traverses meadows, rocks, steps and more. It goes to the specific Panorama Point which is a wonderful overview of the glaciers on the mountain.
We saw subalpine wildflower meadows. Had a great view of the glaciers from Glacier Point. And almost even got pretty blown away by some high wind gusts blowing down the slopes.
The event – iconic … majestic … spellbinding … and very, very God-glorifying.
We didn’t do the entire loop. My partner in hiking is a novice and this was her first hard trail, so we made it to Glacier Point and then traveled back.
The sunrise was … just wow!
This pretty much blew our pic memory out … but worth it.
We returned to the lodge and ate breakfast and then headed back to the trails. It wasn’t long before we left Paradise area and got to see the rest of MRNP. Christine Falls, Longmire, Trail of the Shadows, and more.
Some of the things I noticed at MRNP …
- The many countries represented. This is an international destination for sure.
- The many senior adult that were here. Yes, school is in session. Yes, it is a weekday. But there were plenty of older visitors to the park.
- The crowds were manageable. Except for parking at the Jackson Visitor Center, I always found a spot and the trails were not overwhelmed with people.
- There were more influencers than I expected. Photo ops. Music recordings. Making sure the lighting was right. And more.
- People were extremely polite … they helped each other … they volunteered to take others photos … they gave right of way easily.
- Lastly, photos don’t do the majesty justice.
Here are some shots of MRNP, after we left the actual Mount Rainer …
The rest of the day, we relaxed at the lodge and prepared for the next day … an early morning drive to Olympic NP.
So I return to the question …
– What would get you out of bed at 4:30am? What is worth the effort to you?
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