A Walk in the Clouds

[saavedra77]

After five years of living in Seattle, I finally made it to Mt. Rainier, this past weekend. I guess that I was waiting for an engraved invitation: well, it wasn't engraved, but I got an email from a coworker a ways back asking me whether I wanted to go on a Rainier camping trip with some friends from her church. I thought "What the hell?" This was one of those Northwest things that I've always meant to do, but had never gotten around to.

They scooped me up, early Saturday morning. Then, after two hours in the car talking about wire-fu movies (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Hero, etc) and how great pre-Hollywood Jackie Chan was, we finally got to the park and were pleasantly surprised to discover that admission was free for the day. (Apparently it was National Public Lands Day! Ask schmallturm about it; he was apparently there that day, too ...) Maybe a half-hour after that, we set out from the Rainier Visitor's Center along the Glacier View Trail, heading toward Camp Muir. The ascent was easy, gradual, the scenery strikingly reminiscent of that scene in The Sound of Music when Julie Andrews is spinning around singing about the hills being alive, alive, etc. (Actually, the only part of the movie that I've ever seen ...) In no particular hurry, we just kind of loped along, chatting, gawking, taking pictures. After about two hours, the vegetation started getting sparser, we began to see patches of snow and ice, and before long, we were at more or less the same altitude as the clouds scudding around the mountain's upper reaches. We stopped for lunch when we could see Mt. Adams and Mt. St. Helens off in the distance.

Now, mind you, the last time that I went hiking was this horrific climb up Tiger Mountain in Issaquah, struggling to keep up with my friend Jen, who is, I freely admit, ten times the athlete I am. (Also, much taller--longer legs providing an extremely unfair advantage!) Tiger is a pretty steep slope, but it isn't all that high: it's more like what people in Massachusetts mean by a "mountain." So I figured that snow-capped, cloud-penetrating Rainier would make for a much more strenuous climb. It wasn't--at least not on this trail: it was like walking up a staircase.

After climbing down to the Visitor's Center again, we drove to Cougar Rock to camp out for the night. As with the hike, I had to hope that camping went better than previously: the last time that I slept outdoors was during my pre-college trip, which basically involved being out in the rain for a week. Thankfully, there was no rain in the forecast for Saturday night. So we set up our tents, started a campfire (God, I loved being able to start a fire ...!), and made vegetable curry on the gas stove. Then we toasted marshmallows and nattered away until it got too cold out, finally retreating to our mummy bags at around 10:00. (That night was pretty cold--not freezing, but down into the '30s).

The next day, after a breakfast of "Spam-Fried Rice," we climbed up Pinnacle Peak, which was much steeper, but I still didn't find it all that demanding. It was also the most beautiful part of the whole weekend: Pinnacle's slopes are a jumble of mountain meadows, pine groves, rocky debris fields, and dramatic cliffs. Really, my words can't do justice to how lovey this climb was--take a look at the whole photo album:

http://adiaz7.shutterfly.com/action/

(It's the most recent album on the page.)

Of course, after the weekend's many excitements, I ended up just collapsing when I got home. The next thing I knew, it was Monday and time to go to work, again ...

Comments

[waysofseeing.livejournal.com]

Rainier is spectactuarly beautiful. When I first moved here I made a point of going up to hike around at least once or twice a year. I haven't done that in many a moon. I should go back.

If you do...

[ronelyn.livejournal.com]

...drag me by the hair. I WILL go up Rainier before I die.

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

Given a free weekend, decent weather, & a ride, I'd go back in a New York minute.

Hmm ... Now that I think about it, I can see why you haven't been back, lately ...

[ladyavalon42.livejournal.com]

Great pic! Congratulations. And because I have to ask...

Why did Saavedra climb the mountain? *snicker*

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

I'm rooting around for a Cervantes/Don Quixote joke, but I'm guessing that this is a pun ....?

[ladyavalon42.livejournal.com]

You're supposed to say, "Because it was there!"

:)

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

Oh, of course: I was over-analyzing, as usual!

[ladyavalon42.livejournal.com]

Heh. You're in good company. :)

[verbicide.livejournal.com]

Wow, those are some gorgeous pictures! I love the one of you 'chillin'!

I've got to get up to Rainier one of these days, it really looks amazing. And I'm glad to hear it's not a grueling hike.

[saavedra77.livejournal.com]

Thanks, V!

[rpeate.livejournal.com]

I've just looked at all 47 pictures. A great collection, with some lovely shots!