Playing Hide n Seek with Mount Rainier

Joanie Foley
Sep 21, 2021
3 min read

We went to Mount Rainier National Park with one short and sweet goal - to see the snowy, glaciated active volcano up close and personal during our 3 day visit. We were caught off guard that the big bugger could hide in plain sight by using a veil of clouds! Our first 2 days were rainy and cloudy - so we turned our volcano sighting fails into opportunities to play in the rain while we learned about and saw unanticipated thrills to be had at the park!

Things that make you go hmmm....

As we were scooting around the park- we noticed these lovely signs about the roadway....leading us to research a little more. We learned that Mount Rainier is an active stratovolcano and is on the list of 16 Dangerous Decade Volcanoes!

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-16-dangerous-decade-volcanoes.html

We guess we should have researched before packing our bags but what does one wear to a volcanic eruption anyway? ( I am sure there is a Pinterest checklist out there somewhere!)

Things that make you go mmm mmm good....

We tried UKRAINIAN GALUSHKI and Pierogies from the Ukranian Restaurant in the Paradise Village Lodge. Very delicious

https://paradisevillagelodge.com/amenities/restaurant/

We also enjoyed trying out Sherpa-Himalayan food from Tibet & Nepal from the Wild Berry Restaurant. http://www.rainierwildberry.com/html/wildberryaboutus.html

We had Pappadum and Sherpa Stew= the flavors were so different and so very tasty!

Grove of Patriachs

Grove of Patriarchs - ~1.1 miles round trip trail with old growth trees- unbelievable large and insanely old trees ( Red Cedars, Hemlocks, Douglas Firs, etc.) The path was easy even when wet and the trees provided some shelter from the rain. The air was crisp and I wish I could capture the fresh smell of the pine trees- just wonderful!

There was a cool "one person at a time" suspension bridge that crosses the Ohanapecosh River.

The trees were gigantic and we loved the grains and textures in some of the felled trees.

These Douglas Firs are over 1,000 years old!

Chasing Waterfalls - Mount Rainier still a " No-Show"!

Day 2 of rainy cloudy weather led us to a gorgeous peaceful hike and some beautiful waterfalls.

Christine Falls

We first went to the viewpoint from the road and then to the base of the falls.

Next we went to the trailhead for Comet Falls and took that to the bridge ~.5 miles in and at the bridge saw the most pretty view of Christine Falls. We had the trail to ourselves and it was so peaceful, again the smell of pine in the crisp air was the stuff dreams are made of!

Narada Falls

We hiked the short trail ~.2 miles ( but a little steep ) to the base of Narada Falls. These Falls were some of the prettiest we have seen!

Mountain Peek a Boo

Our last day started hazy but with sunshine burning through the clouds. Rusty and I treated seeing Mount Rainier like a stake out...and in our last few hours in the park- we got the goods. Mount Rainier was real and situated right where it was supposed to be and we could now verify that with our own eyes when the cloud cover dropped!