#Throwback Thursday: Mount Rainier National Park Hails 115 years

You know the feeling well: You’re limping along in the gray Seattle mist when alas–the sun breaks, the clouds clear and our favorite mountain appears. So long, blues!  Cancel that move to Los Angeles. Whether you favor Mount Rainier for its snow sport capacity this time of year or just its sweeping views from Seattle or Tacoma, it’s time honor the roots of our favorite local peak and revisit all it offers.

Mount Rainier today; photo credit: courtesy of the National Park Service

Most recognized for its colossal snow- and ice-covered volcanic centerpiece (the tallest in the Cascades), the 236,381-acre Mount Rainier National Park contains the largest of the Pacific Rim volcanoes, between California’s Mount Shasta to Mount Baker. The base of Rainier’s active volcano covers 100 square miles, and an average annual snowfall of 641 inches on its 25 separate glaciers make the park the biggest single peak glacier system in the U.S. outside of Alaska.

Ninety-seven percent wilderness, Mount Rainier became a national park in 1899, but its history starts much earlier. The mountain’s name dates back to 1792 when British explorer Captain George Vancouver branded it for his friend Admiral Peter Rainier, who never visited. In the 1850s, farmer James Longmire set up the Packwood Trail, and on August 17, 1870, Philemon Beecher Van Trump and Hazard Stevens completed the first documented summit of the mountain (14,411 feet)— nearly freezing to death, if not for a volcanic steam cave they found.

Early mountain climbers at Mount Rainier National Park; photo credit: courtesy of the National Park Service

Eventually, a campaign began to preserve the area and in 1899, Mount Rainier was the fifth area in the country to become a national park. As roads and railways made the mountain more accessible, Rainier officials reported over a million visitors annually by the 1950s, and in 1962, the peak served as training turf for the first Mount Everest summit by Americans in 1963.

Today, Mount Rainier receives between a million and a half to two million visitors per year—including about 10,000 climbers who come from all over to scale it. In addition to climbing, the most popular activities are sightseeing, hiking and camping according to Curt Jacquot, West District Area Interpretive Ranger for Mount Rainier National Park. During winter, he reports there is also a lot of cross country skiing and snowshoeing in the snow play area at Paradise, usually open from late December through March. (Check here for updates on the exact schedule.)

Paradise today; photo credit: Michael Larson

The Paradise Inn in the early twentieth century; photo credit: courtesy of the National Park Service

According to Jacquot, the two most visited areas of the park are Paradise (so named because when James Longmire’s daughter-in-law Martha first saw the area, she reveled “Oh, what a paradise!”) and Sunrise. Celebrated for its lush wildflower views, Paradise is located about 19 miles east of the park’s Nisqualy entrance and houses the main visitor center in the park, located in the upper parking area. Paradise is also 12 miles east of the Longmire museum, the original park headquarters with historical relics from the park’s early years.

The sunrise at Sunrise; photo credit: courtesy of the National Park Service

Located 1,000 feet above Paradise, Sunrise is the highest point that can be reached by vehicle at Mount Rainier National Park (at 6,400 feet elevation). It is home to most of the same activities as Paradise but according to Jacquot, it has more expansive views at sunrise (hence its name) and the flowers come out earlier. Sunrise is perched 60 miles northeast of the Nisqually Entrance and 14 miles northwest of the Sunrise/White River turnoff on Highway 410.

In addition to these two highlights, the 240 miles of trails in Mount Rainier National Park (including the 93-mile Wonderland Trail that circles the mountain) and the rainforest in the northwest corner (receiving more than 90 inches of rain per year) also add to the park’s glory, though check the status of roads before you visit: East roads on the mountain are closed in the winter.

 

Ranger-guided snowshoe walk; photo credit: courtesy of the National Park Service

“The park has diverse opportunities for outdoor recreation all year round,” Jacquot says. He particularly cheers the range of things to both “experience and learn about,” including the park’s history, geology, ecology and old growth forests.