As I hiked up Mount Rainier’s Paradise Glacier with its scores of eerie and gurgling ice caves, rocks tore loose from the upper flanks and cracked down sheer cliffs to the wrinkled ice nearby. I began to sense a living presence in this mountain while standing on what John Muir called “God’s ice tool.” When I spotted an entrance to an ice cave carved by a gushing stream, I entered the cave to enjoy a glacial symphony of trickling rivulets, along with gurgles and dripping water sounding something like the abstract expressionistic music of Austrian-born Arnold Schoenberg. I crawled deeper inside until I could no longer see sky. All sorts of thoughts flooded through my mind as I listened to rolling and grinding stones of an inner stream. They became my voice as I began to think like a mountain even in my sleep much later that night back at camp.
Sincerely,
Mount Rainier National Park
Majestic Mount Rainier is the highest peak in the Cascade Range and an active volcano with more glaciers than any other mountain in the United States. Just an hour's drive from Seattle, the park's wild landscape feels much further from civilization. The forests, parkland, wetlands, lakes and rivers offer 260 miles of trails and varied habitat to dozens of plant and animal species.
State(s): Washington
Established: 1899
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Greetings from Mount Rainier National Park
Being a kid from East Texas, I'd never been to a real mountain. The first time I did visit would be with my future wife. We enjoyed hiking, exploring, and seeing sites that didn't seem real to me. I've rhen, since been many times, but that first visit will forever…
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Greetings from Mount Rainier National Park
Mt. Rainier National Park had a big role in my coming into this world. My future Dad, Russ Fryburg, managed cabins there in 1942. He'd hangout at Paradise Inn, girl watching. One June night, he locked-in on a stunning redhead, playing that big pinewood piano in the lobby. Even though…
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Greetings from Mount Rainier National Park
This summer three friends and I had the amazingly good fortune to score a permit to backpack the 93 mile Wonderland Trail around the base of Mt Rainier. We had gorgeous weather and views all ten days and it was the experience of a lifetime. It felt like a rite…
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