Mount Rainier Magic
I’ve been hanging out on the Olympic Peninsula for almost a year and a half. There is so much to explore just in my little corner of the peninsula that I hadn’t yet ventured further afield until recently, once to go to the Hoh Rainforest and once to head over to Mount Rainier National Park.
Mount Rainier is also (and originally) known as Mount Tacoma or Tahoma by Native American tribes in the region. Apparently, one translation of the name is “mother of all waters.” I love that. The mountain is an active volcano that sits in the Cascade Range, southeast of Seattle and Puget Sound. It’s about 147 miles away, with low speed limits and traffic for a good chunk of it. In other words, it takes planning and a full day’s commitment to venture there from here
Make an entrance
I have wanted to visit Mount Rainier National Park for quite some time now. I never made it that way when I was doing my dissertation research out in these parts, and then after I came out here in 2021, I spent all my time getting to know the trails in my own backyard. But hiking in Mount Rainier was never too far from my mind.
I love the Olympic Mountains. I am enamored of the diversity from the low-altitude rainforests to the upper-elevation subalpine meadows and forests. And I still want to experience the natural environments in other regions. So, I had it in mind to go to Mount Rainier before winter hit.
There is more than one entrance into the park, and since it was my first trip there, I had no idea what any of the trails were like. I opted for safety and headed to the Paradise area. It’s where the tourists all go. But it was after the heavy tourist season, so I figured it wouldn’t be too crowded. And it would allow me to get a sense of the place. The spirit of it. The energy.
Because everything is energy, and some places (and people and animals) have an energy that meets with our own, while others don’t.
Pick a path
I didn’t choose a trail before I arrived. I wanted to see what the area was like and how many people were around. Hiking by myself is the norm. It’s generally my preference because I like to set my own pace, stopping to take in the views and absorb my surroundings whenever I want. It’s head time.
It’s heart time.
It’s spirit time.
It’s me time.
But when the area is new to me, I am cautious. Not only do I let at least one other person know where I’m going and what trail I’m hiking, but I want to make sure I don’t bite off more than I can chew. I like adventure, and I like challenges. Taking unnecessary risks is not my thing (though I’ve found myself in tough situations on more than a few occasions).
Trail ratings are only moderately helpful. Generally, a trail that’s rated as easy really is easy. But once you start moving up the scale, there is less reliability. A trail rated as difficult or strenuous may actually be difficult or strenuous, or it may only be that way for the average user in that park. You really can’t tell until you check it out yourself, though I always read the AllTrails reviews to get at least some idea.
I wanted to challenge myself and see beautiful scenery on this trip. But I also had a limited amount of time to complete the hike. When I talked to a ranger, she told me that the Skyline Trail was very difficult, but after asking some more questions, I decided that her idea of very difficult wasn’t the same as mine. So, I chose to hike it, though there was still a little trepidation before I headed out.
Take it all in
There was no need for it. There were plenty of people on the trail, though thankfully I was there in the middle of the week and in the shoulder season rather than on a summer weekend. The climbing was steep, with few breaks until Panorama Point. I stopped plenty, but it wasn’t just to catch my breath (ok, I did that, too).
The Skyline Trail starts at the Paradise Visitors Center and makes a loop that takes you up close to the Nisqually glacier on Mount Rainier, with the grand mountain’s peak pretty much always in view. This is the kind of hike I most enjoy. So many views, in every direction. Peak after peak after peak. I could even see Mount St. Helens in the distance, though the hazy film of the season’s wildfires hadn’t entirely dissipated.
The trail wasn’t buried in the trees. It was out in the wide-open spaces. I felt exposed, but in the best way. I often imagine I’m everywhere at once, intricately linked to everything around me. A small but not insignificant part of the mountains, rivers, trees, rocks, and trees. Not more important than anything else. Just a part of it all.
Formless, timeless, and infinite.
Go with the flow
I don’t like to be rushed when I hike. Sure, it’s great exercise, but it’s so much more than that. What it isn’t, for me anyway, is a race to the top. Though sometimes pushing my legs and lungs hard feels good. When I have the urge, I dig my boots in and plunge up an incline as fast as I can make my legs move. Sometimes, I trot downhill just for the thrill of moving quickly.
Getting out in nature can help you find your own natural rhythms, for the moment, the day, the year. But you have to allow it. And the best way to do that is to go with the flow. Give yourself the gift of observing how it feels to be present. Let nature wrap her arms around you and pull you into the fold of her beating heart and vibrant energy. Science tells us that nature is healing and has so many benefits, but experience will tell you what it means for you.
Nature is a place where quiet isn’t at all quiet, but the sounds you hear are often peaceful and hypnotic. While I enjoy hiking in good company every once in a while, going it alone allows me to go at my own pace, whatever the day’s rhythms are for me. I can be quiet. Even if I arrive at the trailhead with my brain going a million miles a minute, Mother Nature eventually stills my thoughts to a contemplative, open awareness.
I get that sense of expanded awareness in all kinds of natural spaces, but a place like Mount Tahoma (I’m all for the renaming of this mountain…), well, it’s some kind of magic. I feel the universe within and without. The expansiveness of my being meets those of the mountain and all the peaks that stretch for as far as the eye can see.
Have you been anywhere that opens you to the infinite, expansive Being that is you?
Peace,
Desserae
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