Mt. Rainier - Warning - a lot of words

I haven't been to Mt. Rainier for a long time. It has been over 10 years since I have been in the park, and a lot longer since I have gone on a hike there. I decided I would go hike the Pinnacle Peak trail as it was always one of our family's favorites. Dad and I climbed to the top of it one time which required some rock climbing. There was a metal tube drilled into the top of the peak. It contained a guest book to sign that you had made it to the top. We signed our names. I'll always remember that. I didn't go that far today as it was my first hike. It's all uphill. There are hardly any flat spots. I had to cross small snow fields, rock slides and mud. Down was much harder than going up. Here are a couple photos from the trail.






I got up at the crack of 8 and was out of the door by 9. My goal was to see Mt. Rainier in all it's glory. The first time I see from a close range it overwhelms me. I get a little fearful. It really is too massive for me to comprehend. It's always a spiritual experience for me. A couple times it peaked through the clouds and the same awestruck feeling came back to me. I got to the top of the saddle at Pinnacle Peak and sat down to have my lunch all by myself with the just the sound of the wind. I anticipated the clouds parting and revealing the entire mountain to me. Alas, it was not to be. All of the sudden a group of 12 to 15 Japanese hikers where all around me. They cracked open a couple of bud lights. Yes, that's what I thought too. I told them that the mountain would reveal itself. They just had to wait. Some of them understood me. It did show itself, but only in a teasing way.



For days, if not weeks, the Mountain has shown itself everyday. It never ceases to amaze me. However, today I was not supposed to see it all. I sat up on top, eating my lunch surrounded by people speaking Japanese. That was not the experience I had planned. Then it occurred to me that it's not always about the grand picture or the summit. It is about paying attention to what is right in front of me. The trees, the rocks, the water, the flowers and people from different parts of the world all making the same pilgrimage that I was making. They may not know the change the will befall them from Mt. Rainier, but it will happen. It's for each to discover on their own.

THIS is what I was supposed to see today.