In September, two of my Grand Hikers' friends, Dot Agather and Jan Cossette, came all the way to Washington to meet my other friend. That friend is shy, but she can be bold sometimes. People
around her sometimes call her mysterious. Will she come out? Is she out yet? At first we couldn't see my mysterious friend, so we busied ourselves by walking a nice path around a beautiful golf
course on a waterway, taking ferry rides and searching out large trolls, and even went to a baseball game. The second day, my mysterious friend remained quiet and cloaked in shadows. So we
decided to go in search of her by hiking up a steep trail along a creek with a waterfall. We were surrounded by green grasses and tall trees. As we turned a corner, low and behold, my mysterious
friend peeked out from her fluffy cotton mask and gave us a glimpse. But not for long. She seemed to say "Here I am-come back tomorrow and I may show you more!". By now you must have
guessed that my mysterious friend is the majestic Mount Rainier.
We did go back the next day but she remained hidden and silent. So we hiked around an area with tunnels of trees and fern clad mounds. She let us see deer and ponds and reflections in her lakes.
Our legs grew tired but we didn't give up. We spent the night in Paradise Lodge and the next morning she revealed herself in all her wonder! We knew her by sight - her picture is well known to many
around the world. Dot and Jan needed no introduction, they smiled and laughed, "She's out!", "The Mountain is out!".
Off we went - hiking up to the skyline and glacier views. From the Panorama Point we could see her snow capped summit, icy glaciers, glacial waterfalls, bountiful meadows, and faraway siblings,
Mt. Adams, Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens. After enjoying the views, we hiked down through meadows and waterfalls and even saw a wild goat! We didn't want to leave, but had to say good-bye and
head to Oregon the next day.
Earlier in the week we had visited and hiked the trail to the top of Multnomah Falls, which is a stunning 620 foot waterfall located in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland. Now we returned to
Silverton to experience the Trail of Ten Falls which is located in Silver Falls State Park (largest in Oregon). This is a 7.7(ish) mile loop trail passing by 10 different waterfalls of various sizes, four of
which we could walk behind for a thrilling experience!
All through this hiking adventure we saw multiple deer, a mountain goat, a couple of ptarmigan, a couple of marmot, tree frogs, a salamander, a snail and a number of other different birds. No bear,
oh darn! It was a wonderful week filled with fun. Thanks to Dot for creating the ratings on our hikes in The Grand Hiker method. For more information about Mount Rainier visit:
https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm.