Today we started to get a bit antsy about waiting for the horrible smoke from eastern state fires to clear. The fires east of us continue to emit gigantic smog clouds that have obscured most of western Washington. We have considerable sympathy for the dedicated public servants and maybe prisoners that are enduring hot weather, unfavorable winds and crippling heat battling dreadful fires in eastern WA and BC.
We decided to ignore the possibilities of crummy visibility and head east to cross the southern slope of Mount Rainier. We started on WA-12 right near our campground and almost immediately commenced the slow climb into the Cascades. We shot by Mossyrock, Morton, Randle and Packwood before turning off on WA-123 into Mount Rainier National Park. In Packwood, we found a tall roadside woodcarving of someone who appeared to be Jesus toting a double-bitted ax. A few miles up 123 and we turned west on WA-706 toward Paradise and Longmire, two communities on the massive south slope.
We switchbacked up Stevens Ridge until we came around a corner at about 5000 feet elevation and Rainier came into view. The road from Stevens Ridge toward Rainier is bordered by absolutely stunning scenery with luscious vistas, many creeks and rivers, glaciers and gigantic volcanic formations. Mount Rainier, a volcano, makes the rest of the surrounding Cascade Mountains look like poorly nourished runts, albeit gorgeous. 14,411 foot tall Rainier is the big kingpin of volcanoes around this state which also boasts having Mount Baker, Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens which blew 1300 feet off its head on May 18, 1980 in a spectacular demonstration of how puny man is. Rainier has not erupted since 1894 but the violence from the last blast is evident and the terrain is still being altered by glaciation, ice, and both water and wind erosion. Evidence of massive, rock-filled lahars can be easily spotted in the Nisqually River Valley near Paradise.
At Paradise, we pulled off the road for a picnic and few places could be more dramatic than this place for cheap dining. We sat with a large raven ogling our lunch and an amazing view of Rainier. All along the south slope, waterfalls gurgle and thunder away and evidence of violent geological change is plainly evident. Huge ravines full of giant boulders show where the snowmelt livens things up after each year’s thaw. Rivers in this area wander along in 100 foot or more deep crevices carved through solid rock. The forests dotted across the slope have never been logged and they are truly beautiful to explore. The earth is definitely open for business on the slopes of Mount Rainier.
It is unlikely we could have picked a better place to explore today on our 38th wedding anniversary. The smoke from the fires still lingers in this region but it would take a lot more haze to obscure the fantastic sights in the national park. This is certainly another bucket list drive. here
We took a few pictures along the way and you can see ’em if you click here