After a few days of considerable cloudy AM weather, we decided to make a stab at a trip around Mount Rainier to a place called Sunrise. Sunrise is located at 6400’+ on the northeast side of the massive volcano and is only accessible from the east side of the park. Our RV spot is located on the southwest side of the park.
Our route took us up the Cowlitz River on WA-12 until we got to Morton where we turned north on WA-7 to Elbe. In Elbe, we were temporarily detained at a railroad crossing for the mountain version of a steam train ride very similar to the steam train ride we took a few days ago. The ride from Elbe, however, passes through more mountainous terrain. As we drove east from Elbe, we could hear the steam train’s amply loud whistle scaring anything off the tracks.
On our way out of town, we ran across an artist’s sculpture park called Recycled Spirits of Iron. There some artist has re-purposed weighty pieces of iron into a variety of animal and whimsical artworks and it is remarkable how creative the guy is. Not too much further up the road (WA-706), we started the climb into Mount Rainier National Park. It is a spectacular drive through a series of river valleys, old-growth forests and stark, almost black volcanic rock. There are many small and a few large waterfalls visible from the highway.
On today’s trip, we passed by the Paradise area and continued on 706 to WA-123 where we turned north. We drove through some stunning territory (although the roads are extremely lumpy) until we turned off and continued a bit further north on WA-410. Soon, we found the road where we could follow west to Sunrise and hooked a left. The east end of WA-410 from 123 was closed due to forest fires between the junction and Yakima over in central Washington.
The road from WA-410 to Sunrise crosses the White River before angling sharply up. The road is quite narrow, has an abundance of curves, some tunnels, gigantic rock formations hanging over the road and very low speed limits. It also passes through stunning old-growth subalpine forests until it emerges above the treeline into a land of clouds, jagged rock, glaciers and the 8,000 feet taller Mount Rainier. The weather cooperated and cleared up as the day continued and our trip to this highest point one can drive to was terrific. Anyone wishing to go further up Rainier from Sunrise would need to go on foot and it is a long hike.
The sun on the glaciers generated colorful wisps of clouds that were blown sideways in the breeze. The views from Sunrise of all the lower Cascades are great. Above 6,000 feet, there are very few trees but there is a colorful riot of wilflowers. The terrain is very forbidding with volcanism as the culprit. At least 3 glaciers on the north face of Rainier are visible from Sunrise and abundant snowmelt runs down the slopes in jaw-dropping waterfalls and ash-colored streams.
Some 10,000 people try to climb Rainier each year and around half make it to the 14,411 foot summit. Extremely challenging rock climbing followed by lengthy steep trudges across city-sized glaciers and their nasty crevasses is required. The temperature at the top hovers around freezing. Winds can be treacherous and weather changes are extremely rapid. It looks like a place where one would want excellent gear if dying wasn’t on the agenda.
After spending quite a bit of time ogling and having a picnic, we started back down the mountain. We didn’t realize how far we were from home and it took two hours for us to negotiate the squiggly roads, sunken grades, long downslopes and ample scenery as we headed back to our RV park in Silver Creek. We spotted a couple of very tubby elk dining in roadside pastures. We also got passed on the terribly serpentine roads by some of the impatient who were only exceeding the park speed limit of 35 by about 25 mph. They were passing on curves on very narrow roads and we were surprised there was not a setback, like a lane-filling oncoming truck, to kill them. We didn’t get home until dark which is pretty late for geezers like us.
Despite the challenging roads, several prolonged road construction delays and the long distances involved, we can heartily recommend travelling all the roads in this awe-inspiring, majestic place. Assume wherever you go will take all day and you will be fine. Those without a federal access or geezer pass will need to cough up $25 per car for entry. There is very little camping or RV camping in the park. The best bet is to probably stay outside the park and drive in. It would be downright foolish for us to take our 34′ trailer in due to the roads, the climbs and the lack of RV spaces available in this national park.
We shot some pictures and you can see some of the good ones if you click here