An Impression of Mount Rainier National Park (August 10-11, 1996)

Sometimes one needs an excuse to travel to wonderful places close to home. A wedding reception in the resort area near Mount Rainier National Park prompted us to make the 3 hour drive into the mountains from the dry side of Washington state where we live.

I enjoy driving in the Cascades, coming up from the eastern desert into the pseudo-rain forests of the west side of Washington. However, I continually grimace on these drives, as the mountains are marred with huge patchwork squares of clearcuts. The area outside the town of Packwood is no exception--in fact we drove past its working lumber mill. The land on the way to Mount Rainier is still mostly forested, although I suspect some trees along the highway serve as buffers to hide stripped earth from the tourists and most of the area was decidedly second growth. I have no idea how many of the folks in the RVs that we trundled along behind noticed, but I had to avert my eyes more than once from the destruction.

Like many national parks, Mount Rainier has a tourist/resort element outside its gates. Unlike many national parks, Mount Rainier's suburbs are not tourist slums, but rather have a pleasant, if new-age, feel to them. The several mile long strip of lodges leading to the Nisqually entrance (southwest corner of the park) is perfect for those who seek bed & breakfasts, restaurants in historic houses, and massage therapy along with their wilderness. We stayed at the Nisqually Lodge, which was one of the less expensive places (around $70/ night). The Lodge was clean, well kept, and fairly new, but a bit too much like a hotel than I prefer. Still, the price was right, it did not have a 2+ night minimum like many places I had called, and we weren't spending much time there anyway.

We headed out to Alexander's Inn for the reception, and were treated to a lovely meal of smoked salmon pasta, fresh bread, and Columbia Crest wine.
Others had the grilled chicken with raspberry sauce, which also looked very good. Alexander's is an old boarding house from the late 1800s and radiates the Victorian charm so popular in baby boomer tourist towns. Still, the meal was excellent and I would recommend it highly. We even made friends with the tame deer who eats corn in the yard. OK, acquaintances.

The remainder of the evening was spent at Wellspring, a lodge consisting of small cottages, a massage house, and a hot tub surrounded by big trees. While not inexpensive (rooms start at about $100), Wellspring is certainly a beautiful and romantic place. Friendly dogs and cats roam the driveway and the wooded surroundings, and the stars at night are something to see.

The next day we drove through Mount Rainier National Park ($5 per car entry fee) on the way home. Mount Rainier sits at the center of the park as its central feature, and I was surprised to learn that it is over 14,400 feet at its peak. The top of the mountain is called Columbia Crest, which nicely paralleled all the wine we had consumed by the hot tub the night before. Summitting the volcano is a 2 day affair with about a 50% success rate for the 10,000 people who attempt the trip annually. A few people die on the mountain every year doing this and I thought often of the potential for eruption, which scientists predict for Mount Rainier within the next century. Our friends who threw the reception were taking the low, but not less adventurous, route, by hiking the Wonderland Trail, a 93 mile hike around the mountain. They reported that permits and reservations at the campsites on the trail are required, and can only be received in person the day before you depart. Camping is only allowed at the designated sites.

For daytrippers like us, Mount Rainier had plenty of short hikes to waterfalls, wildflowers, and alpine meadows. 1610 AM radio told us the best news: "The road to Paradise is open 24 hours, except for inclement weather. The weather in Paradise is partly cloudy with highs in the 70s." Indeed, we saw Paradise go by our window, a huge mountain meadow filled with wildflowers, streams, and beautiful grasses. The visitors center had explained that they were restoring Paradise, which had been damaged by tourists from the 1800s to the present. Even John Muir had probably stomped a few wildflowers when he visited Paradise, but it was the hoards that followed with horses, cows, wagons, and tents that did the most damage. Evening entertainment consisted of lighting a sub-alpine spruce to watch the 'fireworks' as the sap exploded. I could lament the days when permits and fees and board walkways over alpine meadows were not needed, but even the wilderness lovers of 100 years ago could not keep from their destructive nature. Now the park's keepers walk that narrow line between wilderness preservation and visitor use. We drove past the meadow into the dense trees, on towards home.

Over all, we enjoyed our short time at Mount Rainier and surroundings. At least in Paradise, there are no clearcuts.