June 26 – 11:30 a.m.
After driving east from Olympic National Park for 2.5 hours and bouncing along a dirt road for the final 25 miles, we were nearing our destination that day – Mt. Rainier. Approaching the final 3 miles, we see the road is blocked by a park ranger sitting in his truck, eating his lunch and guarding a barricade. Not what we wanted to see. I walked up to ask him about the road ahead, and he paused for a minute and said, “Nope, the road’s not open yet. Maybe tomorrow or the next day. There’s still a couple feet of snow they’re trying to clear,” and with that, I thanked him and walked back to the car. New plan. We’ll have to drive another two hours and enter Mt. Rainier National Park from the south.
3 p.m.
Lots of people visiting Mt. Rainier today – it’s packed! After several minutes of cruising the crowded Paradise Visitor Center parking lot like a hungry shark looking for its next meal, we finally caught a break when a nice lady from Minnesota “reserved” her space for us as her husband backed their big pickup truck out. The mountain awaited our arrival.
3:30 p.m.
We gathered our gear and headed out. The Skyline Trail started directly behind the visitor center – lots and lots of people were trying to squeeze on to the 6-foot paved trail that led up to our goal 4.5 miles away, called Panaroma Point, elevation 6,800 feet. At 14,410 feet above sea level, Mt. Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mt. Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 states and is the headwaters for six major rivers.
3:35 p.m.
We begin our hike. I understood why so many people are stopped along the trail only a few hundred yards from the trailhead. It’s very steep – about a 20 percent grade for the first half-mile. Wow! I know I’m not in great shape, but I was not ready for the immediate rise of this trail. This trail “slaps you in the face” right from the first step. For me, it tested my physical fitness level before my mental fitness level ever knew what was happening! Fifteen minutes into our walk, my calves were burning and I could barely catch my breath. Maybe it was the thin air, or maybe it was just that last handful of Doritos I gobbled down with my turkey sandwich at lunch! But whatever the reason, I knew this “nice little hike” was going to be a real challenge for me.
3:55 p.m.
My enthusiastic pace has slowed considerably. I feel more like a sloth, than a bighorn sheep. Twenty minutes in and my legs feel like lead weights. I did manage to pass several people wearing flip-flops and four baby strollers. My wife is just ahead of me, but my son and daughter are at least quarter-mile out in front.
4:15 p.m.
In full view now, Mt. Rainier is getting larger and more majestic with each step. After what seemed like 57 stops to catch my breath and nearly drinking all my water in less than a mile, the marked, paved trail is gone. We were now hiking through a snow field. It’s pretty cool to be hiking through snow, in shorts and T-shirts in June. Most of the crowd decided to turn back when the pavement ended, or they simply couldn’t breathe, whatever the reason, only a few dozen adventurers continue on now.
4:45 p.m.
The soft, melting snow makes for some tough walking. It’s similar to trudging through deep, dry sand at the beach, except colder. There’s no trail to follow now, so, like Caribou migrating across the tundra, we follow each other, and the footprints of others who have gone before us. We have to move to the side as several climbers who have successfully reached the summit a few hours before are now skiing their way back down the mountain as far as the snow stretches.
5:20 p.m.
We’ve managed to reach a small viewing area called Avalanche Point. This is as far as we can realistically go without proper snow climbing gear. Panaroma Point is still another 1.5 miles above us. Nope, this is as close to Mt. Rainier as we’re going to get today. But, it’s still an awesome vista. As we turn around, looking back down the mountain, we can clearly see Mt. St Helens and Mt. Hood in the distance.
5:50 p.m.
As we begin our descent back down the mountain, we think we found what is supposed to be the marked trail, so we dance our way down through the soft, melting snow. It’s actually kinda fun as we slip, slide and take a tumble or two. As I try to show off my slick mountaineering skills, I suddenly lose my footing and come crashing down in a heap. A little embarrassed and with 2 pounds of snow now down my pants, I pick myself up and continue walking, trying to act like nothing happened! We stop for a brief rest and hear whistles echoing from the bare patches of alpine meadow-Marmots. These high elevation rodents communicate to each other through a series of whistles, like someone whistling to their dog.
6:30 p.m.
We finally exit the snow fields and make our way back down to the paved trail, eventually reaching the visitor center. It’s been a great hike through the snow to the base of one the largest mountains in the U.S. My knees are aching, I’m hungry and thirsty, but will always remember this “nice little walk” we took one day in late June to see Mt. Rainier!
