Rainier!

[mac_stone]

Amazing day, home now. Very tired, but extremely happy.

Spent the day scrambling around the NW bottom of Mt Rainier, with matociquala  and medievalist.

Every year people get themselves turned around and lost up there, when sudden weather cooks itself up then rolls down the mountain on top of hapless day hikers. So anyone who hikes very often learns to plan for "if one of us busts an ankle and the weather goes to shit, then we'll..." Which means you carry stuff like first aid kits, sunscreen, insect repellent, flashlights, materials to start fires even in heavy rain (road flares work beautifully) and extra water.  Then you don't use any of it, but that's good -- because if you'd had to use it, you'd have been "those hikers who got caught up on Rainier" instead of "those dipshits who got themselves stuck up on the mountain..." when your misadventure is on the local news, later.  Heh.

Unfortunately, I put no such elaborate thought and preparation into making any after-hike plans.  Oops.  We found a teriyaki place that wasn't too dire, though.  I always want Teriyaki to be better than it inevitably is. Ah, well. *G*

Our original plans to hike the Tolmie Peak Trail were thwarted by a road washout. We hiked most of the Green Lake trail, instead -- but got to hike three miles in from the Ranger Station to get to the trailhead, which made it into an extremely pleasant day hike in most excellent company. Also, it made conversation much easier than the straight-up-the-mountain  wheezing and grunting that might otherwise have interfered with both my ability to hear, and my ability to answer.

It's an amazing mountain.

Here, look:

Comments

[yellowhorde.livejournal.com]

Beautiful!

The only mountain I've been on is Pike's Peak in Colorado and we drove up that one, though not all the way to the top because it had snowed the night before. That's when I discovered my then unknown fear of heights. (there aren't any hills that tall in Nebraska... haha) I would have felt more in control and less freaked out if we had walked, but nooo..

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

Heh. Walking really is different, not just because you're more in control, but because your eyes and brain can better sort the perspective, so you realize you're not really about to go spinning off into space. Going to the Sun highway in Glacier Park is very like that.

[topayz4.livejournal.com]

I wrote a whole chapter of my senior thesis on Mt. Rainier and have to agree it's amazing. Sadly, the closest I've ever been is a hotel at SeaTac.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Oh that sounds like such fun!

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

It was terrific fun. Should you find yourself in the NW, give a shout!

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

Best volcano ever!

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

Okay, so now you need to bring Bear to Portland to hike on Hood. Magic Mile Sky Ride is optional, but does make for a nice touch....

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

I lived in Trout Lake at the base of Mt Adams for a couple of years, worked in Hood River, and snowboarded Hood with abandon. Love it there!

[joycemocha.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered what it would be like to live in Trout Lake--just gone through it to pick huckleberries in August.

I'm a skier, not a rider, but if you ever get tempted to hit Timberline--give me a holler.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes it is. The beloved mountain of my youth. I do miss it. I always sit on the side of the plane that will let me watch the chain of volcanos all the way up to Rainier when I fly to Seattle.

[ph-unbalanced.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that sums up my feelings on teriyaki pretty much exactly. And the only place that fixed it just the way I like it closed a few months ago. Of course.

And, oh yeah, Ranier. Wow.

[csinman.livejournal.com]

When I first read this, I was jealous of the other two. "Ah, they got to spend a whole day with Mac," thought I.

Then I met Bear.

Now I am double-jealous. ;)

[mac-stone.livejournal.com]

:) I keep meaning to give you a shout to come have beers at Boundary Bay with me. Dunno where the heck the weeks are going - but I should see you next week, it sounds like?

[csinman.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'll be there! Cool, I haven't seen you in awhile.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of the time in 1992 when my wife and I went on our first drive from the Bay Area to Oregon's Washington border before turning east. As we drove further and further inland, we started seeing a mountain behind the horizon. We thought it was fairly close, but we kept on driving and the mountain remained far away. It turned out to be Mount Shasta.