Orientation to Mt. Rainier

Christine Falls

When you live in the Pacific Northwest, rain is not an issue, and for us yesterday - it wasn't.  We decided to get the scoop on Mt. Rainier by driving into the park from the south west side.  Traveled through a national forest that looked like something out of the dinosaur age - trees branches hanging low over the road to form a canopy, moss dripping down to the ground, everything and anything covered with moss, and a swift flowing river racing by.  Saw many campers tucked into the small spaces between the road and river, I would not want to be camping like that - in rain, in a tent, and no facilities.

Roadside waterfall

Once we passed into the gate of the national park the scenery opened up with wide vista views of rivers and creeks rushing by, huge trees - some you can tell have been hit by cars with deep gouges in them, just a pretty scene even though it was raining and we were looking through the wipers of the car.  We are excited as to what we will see again - while the sun is shining - when we come back on a clear day.

Stopped at the Longmire Visitor's Center and talked with a park ranger and got more information on the lay of the park.  It is one thing to look at information on-line and try to imagine what you will see but it is totally different when you actually drive the roads.

Lush Greenery - snow at 5,000 feet.

Drove farther eastbound on the park road (you can drive around Mt. Rainier from the south and east but there are no roads on the west and the north road does not travel deep into the park) and came to Paradise - Jackson Visitors Center.  Viewed the orientation movie, collected more information, and viewed their displays.  This area is under at least 6 feet of snow and has only be open since the 19th of June and therefore whatever hiking we will do will be on the east side where snow has melted.  This morning when I looked on-line to the live webcams of the park, I saw where Paradise is having a snow storm.  Predicted, but not what we want to experience or drive in.  The north visitors center is not open - they are still under a deep snow cover and predict it will be open on July 3rd, hopefully.  Rainier stays snow covered from 7,000 feet and above  all year (14,492 is peak) due to the glaciers found there.

Snow at Jackson Visitor Center - notice hikers?  Elev. 5400 ft

One thing we noticed - there were many places where we could pull off the road and get out to take pictures - very friendly to the photographers and scene gawkers.  This was not so in Glacier National Park.  Rainier is the 5th oldest national park and the engineers who designed the roads and services here kept the visitor in mind when they planned where and how they would be able to get to see the most.  Every turn is so different in views.  Great planning!

We saw some magnificent waterfalls up close and from a distance, lots of flowers blooming, mist hanging along the valley and rising up over the mountain peak, just gorgeous.  The weather prediction is snow on the mountain today through Wednesday afternoon, cleaning later that day.  Will sit tight, get caught up, plan where and what hikes we will do, and fortunately have time on our side waiting for the sun to show.  Some people visit the park and never get to see the mountain top.  At least we saw the peak when we came in on Saturday and hopefully will get to see the sun again before we go.