Mount Rainier's prominence is gravitational. Visible for hundreds of miles, it tugs you in from first sight. While the mountains of Colorado, like Rainier, rise over 14,000 feet, they have a head start with a base elevation of about 5,000 feet. Rainier starts barely 1,000 feet above sea level. I made it to the mountain five days into my Pacific Northwest road trip although less than halfway to the top.
Rainier dwarfs all other mountains in its vicinity. I saw it up close on the Skyline Trail, originating from the Paradise Visitor Center. As I passed fields of rainbow wildflowers, I could hear massive booms echoing from the mountain--sheets of ice, melting and cracking in the hot summer sun.
The scale is on an immensity that is difficult to process. Hundreds of feet high waterfalls look miniature set against the titanic lava pillar. Both Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens are visible in the distance from Rainier's intermittently snowy slopes, volcanic cousins equally alone though not as tall.
After the hike, I made my way to the park's southeastern exit, stopping to visit the narrowly carved Box Canyon of the Cowlitz and thousand year old trees in the Grove of the Patriarchs. Rainier is one of the national park system's more epic destinations, right up there with Yosemite, Yellowstone, Zion, and the rest of the top tier.
No comments:
Post a Comment