The Mountain is Out!

Leaving for Montana today
Will be in Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado in June and July


The weather in the Seattle/Tacoma area starts out cloudy and many times clears up mid-day or so.  At that point you can see Mt. Ranier - the Mountain is out!

Our first hike was at Point Defiance in Tacoma without a view of the Mountain.  In fact there was a bit of rain.  Laura Sloan, her parents Patty and Hal, Johnny and I took the challenge.

Success!
We joined some family members- Patty, Hal and Laura Sloan and Johnny's cousin Meg for a day trip to the National Park.

Cougar Rock was the first stop.  The Nisqually River was unusually small for this time of year, so we saw a lot of rocks.

The log bridge here was kind of fun.  And a little freaky to cross with the water rushing underneath!

Christine Falls raging!  Loving this bridge too.

On to the Visitor Center and a bit of shopping.  When we stepped outside, the clouds were gone and the Mountain was in perfect view. Mt. Ranier is the tallest volcano in the Cascade Mountain range - 14,410 feet.  It erupted 375,00 years ago when glaciers were huge. The lava stopped flowing downhill when an ice dam formed where two glaciers were joined together.

And we had to see the historic hotel at this National Park.  It's called Paradise Inn and was built in 1916 .  I loved the architecture and the decor!

Old wooden piano in the lobby

Tables in the lobby with a view!

Dining Room

Registration desk

Johnny and Meg are royalty!

These lampshades throughout the lobby

Finally, we got to hiking!  We took the Trail of Shadows which was somewhat short, but wonderful!  A couple of us also hiked part of the Kautz Creek Trail as well.  The photos below are from the Trail of Shadows.

James Longmire established a settlement in this area in 1884.  One of the cabins is still standing!

In addition, this area had an unusual mineral spring heated by the magma in the Mountain.  The hot water dissolves the underground iron as it passes and then it oxidizes as it hits the air leaving a red (rust) deposit.

We saw a deer run behind us on the trail - only a couple of feet away - but I didn't get a good photo.   Another spectacular view of Mount Ranier on the Shadow Trail.

This is probably a good time to note that leaving Portland, on the way to Gig Harbor, we stopped at Mt. St. Helen for a quick look.  We watched a video and saw an exhibit about the eruption in the summer of 1980.  I remember this event from the summer after my first year of college.  Because the eruption and subsequent destruction was filmed, it shed some light on all of the other volcanic mountains we have seen so far this year.

It's been an interesting tour of the Cascade Mountains and their history.  It gives us a different appreciation for the other volcanos that have erupted recently.