Mount Rainier is the national park that I have lived closest to. I lived in Washington for a decade, and for a few months I lived less than a mile from the main entrance. Naturally, I was a frequent visitor. Being so close, I only ever camped there once. It's always been day trips, and that was fine. It's a huge area with a lot to see, but I could basically go where I wanted, when I wanted.
This park holds a lot of memories for me, from my first visit with my future wife, to our last visit together, to new adventures with a rotating cast of characters. It was always a special treat for me to take visiting friends and relatives from other parts of the country.
One of the best days I ever spent at Mount Rainier was the time I hiked up to Indian Henry's Hunting Ground. It was a hike of nearly 6 miles to get there, and after a level first mile, it was mostly uphill. Mosquitoes and flies were so bad once I got there that I ate my lunch in the outhouse to avoid them. But the trouble was worth the reward. Indian Henry's is a wonderful wildflower meadow. The meadows at Paradise get all the publicity (and visitors) because you can drive right up to them. Indian Henry makes you work.
I only saw a handful of other hikers while I was there. I knew it would be a long day, so I started early. It was chilly at first, but once I started the climb I worked off the chill. Going up and up, occasionally there was a break in the trees. The view of the Cascades to the south was magnificent. I could see Mount Adams, Rainier's shorter twin. To the right was Mount St. Helens with her flat top after losing her head (and 2000 feet) in 1980. Behind them both, and barely visible in the summer haze was Oregon's pointy Mount Hood.
Other clearings along the trail offered a sampling of what I'd find ahead. Cascade tiger lilies, pearly everlasting, and Indian paintbrush grew in clumps where the sunlight made it to the ground. Buzzing bees and fluttering butterflies filled the sweetly scented air. It was my first time in the park smelling something other than the trees.
As I went down one ridge and up another, I could hear pikas squeaking at me from the rocky slopes. I didn't see them, but I wanted to. Related to rabbits, they are small mousy little things that spend the summer collecting grasses to stash for the winter. While some animals hibernate for the winter, pikas just hunker down in their burrows, buried in the snow with piles of grass to munch on.
After climbing that last ridge, the trail descends into the meadow. By now, you're at about 6000 feet above sea level. The trees have changed from cedars and Douglas firs to subalpine firs. Subalpines are short for their age, because of the short growing season. They are skinny trees, designed to keep the snow off. They don't dominate the meadows, but there are several stands of them up there.
Once I got to Indian Henry's the floral scent returned. The fields were full of purple lupines and asters. In addition of the buzzing bees, rushing streams joined in the chorus. Melting snow from higher up was the source. Penstemons and monkeyflowers grew along the sides of the streams. After lunch I decided to hike a little farther up, to Mirror Pond. Mount Rainier was reflected in the clear, shallow water. A Cascades frog basked in the sun. Dragonflies joined the replaced the bees and butterflies and joined the flies and mosquitoes.
After soaking in the scenery and solitude, I turned around and started the long hike back to the car. Somehow those ridges I climbed earlier seemed to grow. Coming back down was harder than going up. Even though I was hours from sunset, it was already getting dark in the woods. After I got to the bottom of the ridge, I crossed the moonscape of Kautz Creek. The car was only a mile away. About half a mile out, the strap on my backpack broke. Perfect timing, because having to deal with that for miles would've been worse than the bugs. Finally, I made it to the car and fell into the driver's seat.
After resting for a few minutes I made my way home, about two hours later than I thought I would be. Going up the steps to my third floor apartment was a painful experience, but I earned that pain and the sights I bought with the pain was well worth it.
Check out the Mount Rainier page for pictures.
