Now that I have blogged about my main solar eclipse adventure, I will now move on to the many side trips I made along the way (not in chronological order though). Just to recap, chronologically, here are the trips I made as part of this eclipse trip:
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- Tokyo, Japan
- Seattle, WA
- Mount Rainier, WA
- Seattle, WA
- Mount St Helens, WA
- Portland, OR
- Madras, OR [ECLIPSE!]
- Seattle, WA
- San Francisco, CA
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First side trip blog, Mount Rainier!
For this trip, I have taken lots of videos in addition to the usual barrage of photos. I have included them in this blog to complement what photos cannot capture, namely the sound, and the surrounding scene via panning. With current technology, the best way to capture a trip would ideally be via 360 degree videos. But for now, I'll make do with photos and crappy videos.
Mount Rainier National Park had been high on my to go list for a long while. I was first drawn to it from the iconic post card pictures of Myrtle Falls, with Mount Rainier in the background. And I fell in love with it after seeing the amazing pictures of the wildflower display there. I didn't know back then that Mount Rainier was world renown for its summer wildflower display. So I decided to include it in the list of places I would visit before I migrated back to Malaysia, back in 2014. Unfortunately, due to poor research, my first visit there was in the month of June, which was way too early for wildflower season. The alpine meadows and park trails were still covered under a few feet of snow. So, my first attempt at Mount Rainier wildflowers was a failure.
Now 3 years later, coinciding with my eclipse trip in August, I made my second attempt at Mount Rainier. My goal was to complete the Skyline loop trail near the Paradise Visitor Center.
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| Snapshot of the trail map from National Park Service website. |
5.5 miles round-trip. 1700' elevation gain. Average hiking time: 4 ½ hours. The trailhead is located on the north side of the upper parking lot, next to the visitor center. A pit toilet at Panorama Point is available during the summer only.
It didn't sound that bad. But knowing how out of shape I was, I allocated the entire day for it.
August 16 2017
I got my gear for a one night stay at Mount Rainier and departed from Seattle early in the morning. The target was to reach Paradise, Mount Rainier by around 9 am to avoid parking problems. During peak season, the parking lot usually gets filled up by late morning. It was my first time driving more than 2 hours all alone in a while. I didn't really think much about it, other than slight worry over fatigue. I hadn't had much rest 5 days into this eclipse trip. Luckily, it wasn't all that bad. The beautiful scenery along the way was enough to keep me awake.
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| A nice view of the coniferous forest on the way to Paradise, Mount Rainier. It has been 2 years since I had this view, so I did not hesitate to pull over when I had the chance. |
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| Arrived in Paradise! Even the parking lot has an amazing view. |
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| Amazing view from the Paradise parking lot on a beautiful clear morning. There were still plenty of parking spaces at that time. |
I slowly got prepared. I had plenty of time as I wanted to check in at the visitor center before heading out. The visitor center opens at 10 am, so I had about 45 minutes to spare. I put on sunblock, got my hiking stick, my point and shoot and my small backpack packed with energy bars and water. I decided to leave my heavy SLR behind as I was anticipating some rather steep uphill climb, so I had to travel lighter. Once the visitor center opened, I checked in at the info counter to get the trail map and ask about the trail condition. The trail looked good, except for some small sections that were covered in snow. No biggie. And so off I went on my adventure to cover the famous Skyline loop trail of Mount Rainier!
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| Indeed. Engraved on the steps of the trail head right in front of the Henry M Jackson Memorial Visitor Center at Paradise. What a view to kick off the hike. |
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| Trail map. |
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| It didn't take long to stumble upon a bed of wildflowers. These are Asters perhaps? |
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| My first marmot sighting! I have never seen a marmot before, so I was pretty excited. I soon found out that there are plenty of them here. |
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| The first 10 minutes of the Skyline Trail was rather agonizing, pretty much just non-stop uphill climb. I made frequent stops to catch my breath and look out for more marmots. Sometimes, it pays to stop and turn back to check out the view, a view like this. Beautiful variety of wildflowers line each side of the stream. Simply breath taking. |
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| Branch at Skyline Trail with Mount Rainier in the background. |
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| See if you can spot two marmots in this picture. |
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| Few more shots from the same spot. The wildflowers by the stream make for a good foreground. |
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| Moving ahead, I caught a nice view of hikers further up the trail being dwarfed by the glaciers of Mount Rainier. |
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| Looking to my right, I was presented with the view of the Golden Gate Trail, which zigs zags its way up as a short cut. |
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| Yet more wildflower meadow. This time, a vibrant display of Western Anemones and Asters, with some orange wildflowers which I could not identify from the guide. |
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| Steps leading uphill, flanked by Asters on both sides. Stairway to wildflower heaven indeed. |
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| Looking ahead. I just love the view of the trail, with hikers in it, juxtaposed against Mount Rainier in the background. |
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| Mountain chipmunk! I almost missed this cute little chipmunk chilling under the shrubs right next the trail. |
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| Found you! |
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| Nice rest area with Mount Adams in the background. |
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| ... and Mount St Helens in the background. |
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| Nisqually river valley view from the rest area. |
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| Zooming in to the bridge across the river. |
I will blog about the remainder of the trail in my next post, which includes my favorite part of the trail. Stay tuned!
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