2014 Exploring The Northwest – DAY 26 – Mt. Rainier Paradise and Rising Sun
Having recovered from the stressful day yesterday, we took the road that we had originally wanted to take across the park, but without our trailer. It was the most difficult, narrow, and at times scary road that I’ve driven. The road was chiseled out of the sides of rock cliffs and thru rock via tunnels in other places. Many areas had no side rail or guard – just a several thousand-foot drop off. It took us five hours of driving to get back to our campsite.
Valley cut by Lahare
Mt. Rainier from the West
On this ‘little’ drive, we went to Paradise [so named by Longmire’s wife] and then on to the Rising Sun viewpoint. Lets just say that Mt. Rainier National Park has become our most favorite park. The mountain and its presence is beyond description – awesome might work. As you can see from some of the photos below, it is absolutely breathtaking.
Mt. Rainier
Reflection Lake
The four square mile glacier is prominently visible from Rising Sun. We were there mid-afternoon, so we didn’t see the glacier with the sun shinning on it. The weather near the top changed constantly. At one time, there was a halo cloud about a thousand feet below the peak.
Picnic at Rising Sun
Old Indian tale about Mt. Rainier and Mt. Helena
On our way on a hike.
Roselie’s new favorite National Park
Back from one of our walks.
Mt. Rainier viewed from the East
The volcano is very much active. The last eruption occurred several million years ago. The heat from the lava melted large amounts of glacier, which in turn created a lahare [Indonesian term for mud river] that devastated thousands of square miles. The ranger station had a map that showed the areas effected. Almost all the effective area is now populated. A similar event would result in tens of thousands of casualties.
Just like the Cascades, it is a temperate rain forest, which makes it lush with vegetation. As a bonus, fall colors are coming in…..each day reveals more color. We took several walks and had a picnic lunch at 6,500 ft. altitude with Mt. Rainier as our backdrop.
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