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Posts Tagged ‘Mount Ranier’

When a Mistake is Not Really a Mistake

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on August 12, 2010| 2 Comments »

“If I had my life to live over … I’d dare to make more mistakes next time.”  — Nadine Stair

A view of Mount Ranier from the Box Canyon scenic overlook, where I finally realized I was headed the right way -- but in the opposite direction from which I had planned to travel. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Travels with Maggie

My plan was to enter Mount Ranier National Park through the Nisqually Entrance on the west side, visit Paradise Junction then return a few miles back to Cougar Rock Campground, where I had paid reservations for the night. I checked out my camp site on the way up to Paradise, and noted a nearby trail that I could hike the next morning

Scarlet paintbrush: Always take time to smell the flowers -- Photo by Pat Bean

 before backtracking to Highway 12 . I would still miss a good bit of the park but I had an appointment to keep in Southern Idaho and a lot of miles in between.

At Paradise Junction, I watched the film about the mountain in the visitor center, bought a few souvenirs for family members and then hiked a short trail for a view of the Nisqually Glacier. Though spectacular, it was a hot hike and I was glad to get back to my air conditioned RV where Maggie demanded a walk along the roadside before we moved on. Dogs aren’t allowed on trails in national parks.

 Back again in the RV, I was eager to get to camp and didn’t double check the route. My memory of the map recalled that the road simply looped around. I forgot I had no sense of direction. Somewhere along the way I zigged instead of zagged. While such is a frequent occurrence, I usually catch the boo-boo within a block or two. Not this time.

 So intent was I at watching the scenery and stopping to take photographs of sights, like the Reflection Lakes, that I had missed on the way up, that I was halfway across the park before I realized my error. Not wanting to backtrack at this point, I simply kept going. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Silver Falls -- Photo by Pat Bean

I was glad I did. Otherwise I would have missed not only a spectacular drive all the way across the park, but Silver Falls and a visit to an old growth forest of hemlocks and firs near the Stevens Canyon Entrance. A walk through the Grove of the Patriarchs was ambrosia to this tree-huggers’ soul.

 Since daylight was close to ending at this point, I checked out the Ohanapecash Campground on the east side of the park and discovered it had vacancies. For a mere $7.50, using my Golden Age Passport, I camped in one of them. It would have cost me a lot more in gas to have driven back to Cougar Rock. Besides getting to see more of Mount Ranier than I had planned, I also had a head start on the next days’ travels.

This was a day that following a plan wasn’t in my best interests.

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Art, Pink Pansies and Railroad Ties

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 2, 2010| 4 Comments »

Baskets of pink pansies add color to a small town's Main Street. ... Photo by Pat Bean

Baskets of pink pansies add color to a small town's Main Street ... Photo by Pat Bean

“It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.” — Ursula K. LeGuin 

 Travels With Maggie

I was too early for the annual Loggers Jubilee that will be held for the 68th time later this month in the small town of Morton Washington. Between Aug. 12th and the 15th, the town’s expected to be booming with parades, logging shows, flea markets, lawn mower races and of course crowning of the Jubilee Queen. 

 The recent July day I visited the town, for a bit of breakfast at Cody’s Cafe before heading on to nearby Mt. Ranier National Park, Morton was quiet and sleepy.

  This southwestern logging town once claimed itself the “Railroad Mill Tie Capitol of the World.” Ties are those things railroad tracks sit on. Each mile of railroad track requires about 3,000 ties. More and more of the ties these days, however, are being made of concrete instead of wood. Morton’s claim to fame was the huge tie dock – Wikipedia says the “world’s largest” — that was located along the railroad tracks east of the town. 

One of two murals on a fire rescue station in Morton, Washington, that captured my attention. ... Photo by Pat Bean

 After an excellent butterhorn, warm and drenched in butter as it should me, but served by a gray-haired waitress who never smiled – I suspected her feet hurt – I took a quick walk down the city’s downtown.  It was a short walk whose main attractions were sidewalk pots of blooming pink pansies and a couple of murals that colored the walls of the town’s fire rescue station. 

 While not exactly what one could call great art, the murals were interesting and brightened up an otherwise dull building. They were painted by a man named Kangas, according to a signature at the bottom of  one of the murals. I later Binged the name on the Internet and came up with the artist Larry Kangas, who according to his Web site has painted thousands of murals over the past 35 plus years. 

 I suspected these weren’t the first piece of Kangas art I had seen in my travels. They looked too familiar. I also hoped they

Artist signature ... Photo by Pat Bean

 wouldn’t be by last. There was a feel about Kangas’ murals that said the artist enjoyed painting them. That suspicion heightened my enjoyment in viewing them. 

My travels take me to well-know and spectacular places , but its the unexpected sights and experiences,  such as pink pansies, a melt-in-the-mouth butterhorn, surpising railroad trivia and art along the way that give the journey meaning. 

 

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A Shared View of Mount Ranier

Posted in Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , , , on July 25, 2010| 2 Comments »

“Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame! “ — William Butler Yeats

Mount Ranier from White Pass ... Photo by Pat Bean

Travels With Maggie

I got my first good look at Mount Ranier from Highway 12 while crossing White Pass, whose 4,500 foot summit looks out over the Cascade Range of the Rocky Mountains. The view of the 14,411-foot mountain was impressive. My look was shared with a couple of scruffy looking motorcyclists riding Harley Davidsons.

 I smiled at them and they smiled back. The magnificence of Mother Nature’s mountain gift vanished all differences between us. I’ve experienced this uniting phenomenon time and again. Besides, I had an inkling these two “Hogs” were probably doctors or lawyers in another life – since they could afford to own what looked like brand new Harleys.

Mount Ranier, which sits about 50 miles southeast of Seattle, is considered an active volcano, just like Mount St. Helen’s which erupted in 1980, killing 54 people. While Helen’s eruption had been expected, its roar was larger than expected. Ranier could one day throw a similar temper tantrum. It’s a sobering thought.

 But what amazed me this hot July day was Ranier’s shining whiteness. The mountain, which is Washington’s tallest, has

Mount Ranier ... Photo by Pat Bean

 numerous glaciers and a snowfield that never melts completely. From my current viewpoint its white cap was made even more prominent by the forest of green trees that stood between it and me.

 Finally, both myself and the two motorcyclists were able to turn away from the mountain view and get back on the road. We waved at each other before they headed east and I headed west, all three of us in search of more of Mother Nature’s wonders.

 I knew, from experience, that we wouldn’t have to travel far.

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