Around The Mountain

 I rose early. It was going to be a tall day; a day of renewed friendship, a day of exploration, a day away from the home building job site, a day to celebrate life in the Pacific Northwest. My dried fruit, water bottles and peanut m&m's for the trail were packed in my pack the night before.

I was grateful for the invitation from my longtime friend Ruth and her husband Garry to join them for a day in Mount Rainier National Park. I met Ruth in the summer of 1975 at a National Science Foundation course involving marine biology, oceanography and mathematics held on the Humbolt State campus in Arcadia, California. Ruth and I corresponded over the last 47 years, now mainly on birthdays, but made efforts to visit one another now and again in the course of our lives.

Three adventurers on Mt Rainier for a day

 

Knowing that Ruth and Garry have a daughter living in Seattle, I invited them  earlier in the summer to consider coming to visit me when they are in the Seattle area, once my house 50 miles north of Seattle is finished. Ruth replied that they were going to be in Washington and offered to meet me at the National Park Inn inside the Mt. Rainier National Park. I checked my schedule, no contractors to meet that weekend, so it was a go for me. I checked their location and planned a route the day before. It was a good route.

When I was locking the gate behind me, I audibled into my phone; "Driving directions to National Park Inn, Mount Rainier, Washington." Against my better knowledge and judgement, I followed the directions given to me by my dull-normal phone. If my phone was truly a smart phone, it would have distinguished 'inn' for 'in'. It didn't - my mistake. Result, I came into the Park in the northeast corner and I wanted to be meeting Ruth and Garry in the southwest corner of the park. It is long distance on two-lane mountain roads, one of which was washed out, meaning my navigational no-no was going to take hours from which to recover.

There is limited cell signal around Mt Rainier, but I managed to communicate that I'd made a navigational mistake and it would be a long time before I got to my intended destination to join them. I felt bad about wasting hours of their day waiting for me, I almost just turned around in shame and planned to text them my regrets for getting lost and wish them an enjoyable day to themselves once I got back into civilization with a cell tower. Instead, I tucked my tail between my legs, lowered my head and pressed on in my guilt and was warmly received around 1 PM far from the scheduled 9 AM reunion.

I met Garry for the first time, a dedicated breeder and cultivator of iris species. Ruth and I caught up on families, careers and old memories as I piled into their van and we were off, bound for adventure and sight-seeing on the slopes of Washington's iconic volcano.

Christine Falls, a short hike for our first stop

Upper Christine Falls

Garry drove us to Christine Falls, and we took a short hike across the bridge and descended down the slope to get a great full-faced look at this beautiful cascade.

Lower Christine Falls

We soaked in the beauty and I collected several images on my digital disk before we returned and headed up the mountain for more vantages.

 

Nisqually River rushing down the flanks of Mt Rainier

 

Snow-fed Nisqually River

 One never knows if the mountain will be 'out' from one day to the next. Or for that matter, one never knows if one will have a view of Rainier's peak from one moment to the next. The clouds can cover the mountain for days and then he will show against the blue sky in all of his pristine white mantled glory. 

We lucked out and pulled into a vantage point and got a glimpse of the peak between clouds runs.

 

Snowy whiskers of a wildman against the snowy crown of Mt Rainier

It got to be time to break out the trail snacks for a lunch, Ruth suggested we dine at Reflection Lakes. And so it was done. The peak came in and out of view, the sunshine was bright, the alpine air crisp and the company outstanding.

 

Garry and Ruth enjoy the scenery on the sunny shores of Reflection Lake

Rainier Rises above the crystal waters of Reflection Lake

We parked at the top of Narada Falls, Ruth with a sore knee, was not sure she wished to do the hike down and back up to see the falls at their fullest. But the spirit of adventure prevailed and we all three walked around and over the edge of this magnificent falls.

In the proper spot, when the sun breaks through the clouds, the heavy mist is illuminated with the colors of the rainbow. Ruth was especially pleased at the rainbow spectacle found before us and she declared it was worth the effort to see such a sight. Ruth is a an indulgent fancier of rainbows.

Narada Falls, Mt. Rainier National Park

Rainbow mist at the base of Narada Falls

We concluded our day of excursions with a easy loop interpretive hike across from the National Park Inn where early entrepreneurs and advocates for Mt. Rainier had built primitive mineral baths and tourist accommodations in the 19th Century.

We enjoyed a Sherpa dinner together outside the park before we parted ways. I checked in with sister Sheri for the night in Tumwater, Ruth and Garry had more adventures planned around The Mountain for the morrow.

It was a grand day of reacquainting and sight-seeing - once I overcame and rerouted my phone GPS and landed in the proper place, even if it was beyond the proper time.

Here is to long time friendships and intermittent adventures! 

Enjoy the journey!