Aug 8 - 13: Mount Rainier National Park, Washington (Part 6)
August 12th – Meadows and Peaks (Part 1)
I wound up having to drink not one but two cans of caffeine water to get to sleep last night. I managed to get enough sleep to function today, but it wasn’t enough to let go of yesterday’s upset. I think I was able to not be overbearing with Benny, but it was in the back of my mind.
During breakfast of omelets, I carefully mentioned my idea about survival skills to Benny … and trying to have prizes for completing some of them. “For instance, I think you are old enough to learn about the Seven Principles of Leave No Trace. And there are patches that would work as a prize.”
“Would it be like schoolwork?”
“Well, I plan on it going into your portfolio so I suppose that is a yes.”
“What if I don’t do good?”
“Do well, not good. And I think you will. And even if it is challenging at first, we can work on it until you conquer whatever it is. Besides, I don’t expect you to climb Mount Everest in the beginning.”
“What’s an evrist?” he asked with obvious worry.
Despite the lingering upset I almost laughed. I told him, “Don’t worry about it. I was just exaggerating. I just mean that I’m not going to start out with something impossibly difficult at first. That wouldn’t be fair or fun. The point is to learn, not be scared. Plus, you already know some of this stuff, I just want to make sure you know it well enough you can use it in an emergency.”
He was unsure but willing, but when he heard today’s lesson he got on board. “Leave No Trace” is a cornerstone for most of my Scout and Navel Cadet paths. The Seven Principles of Leave No Trace are: Plan Ahead and Prepare, Travel and camp on durable surfaces, Dispose of waste properly, Leave what you find, Minimize campfire impacts, Respect Wildlife, and Be considerate of others. Long ago it was just the statement “Take only pictures, Leave only footprints” but these days they are a little more literal. There’s also another one frequently mentioned, “Minimize the impact of social media.” That’s one that is paid attention to the least. It was all stuff that Benny was already familiar with, but we still went over it and the why’s of the principles throughout our day until I was sure that we’d covered all of the age-appropriate skill points.
We were out of camp by 6 am since we had a lot of hiking to do today. The roadside attractions we stopped by today, in no particular order, were Paradise Valley Road – a one-way scenic road, the Reflection Lakes, and Inspiration Point. We’d already stopped at all of them when we first entered the national park, but it was nice to stop again for a different perspective and less drizzly weather.
Then we did the three Paradise Meadows Trails that left from the visitor center parking lot. The lower parking lot is for visits longer than two hours. You can park at the upper lot if you get there very early or get lucky but I preferred the lower lot because of the trailhead at the far western end. There’s a signboard there that directs to each of the trails in the area. Our warm up hike was the Nisqually Vista Trail. The trail was only a little over a mile and even families with strollers can use it.
We climbed the stone stairs to the asphalt path above. turned left at the junction to Nisqually Vista, then climbed briefly before we descended to another signed junction. We had a choice; either direction would take us in a loop. We decided to go counterclockwise and passed a few, nice viewpoints. At the farthest point (just over 0.5 mile) was the best and final viewpoint, with an interpretive sign describing the Nisqually Glacier. The glacier has receded quite a bit over the years, leaving what looks like an elongated gravel-covered mound. The bottom, or snout, of the glacier has a nearly vertical face, where meltwater from above washes over and erodes it.
We looked around but didn’t stay long because even though we started early, several people showed up not long after we did. We continued on the loop and arrived back at our starting point.
Our next trail was twice as long and called Deadhorse Creek Trail & Morraine Trail. It was a 2.5-mile hike on a moderate and wide path that is paved for only a portion of the walk. There was a 400-foot elevation gain that occurred mostly within the first 0.75 mile, with the middle section of the hike flattening out, and the descent on the return.
From the trailhead at the lower parking lot, we took the well-marked trail due north, bearing right at the first Y-intersection. We paralleled the Visitor Center on the Avalanche Lily Trail and crossed the Alta Vista Trail, a trail we also planned to do. We came to the T intersection of Deadhorse Creek Trail and took a right.
The trail map showed that once we were on the Deadhorse Creek Trail there was no way to go wrong. Yes, there are many other trails that intersect Deadhorse, but Deadhorse acts as a main artery. We continued to follow Deadhorse Creek Trail and after about 3/4 of a mile we turned left onto the Moraine Trail.
The Moraine Trail is not a loop, but it did take us right down to the “snout” of the Nisqually Glacier. We noticed that most of our fellow hikers skipped this part because the trail is unpaved and easy to overlook. For that very reason we took it to get out of the crowd that was forming on the trails.
We dipped over a rise and headed down into the valley where the Nisqually Glacier sits. We found a couple of rocks to sit on and took a drink and snack break. We soaked up some quiet, enjoyed having the trail to ourself for a little bit, and then retraced our steps to the Deadhorse Creek trail when some other hikers decided to take the road less traveled as well.
Rather than go all the way back we took a left on the Deadhorse Creek trail and continued up a bit higher. The Deadhorse Creek Trail meets up with the Skyline Trail after a half mile. We are doing that trail tomorrow so I was going to turn us around and take us back to the parking lot, but we ran into a ranger guided group who was heading on another 0.2 miles for a spectacular view from the Glacier Vista trail. When that group switched over to the Alta Vista Trail we turned back because we wanted to start it from the parking lot.
The Alta Vista Trail was our last hike in the Paradise area. It can be accessed from two places, the parking lot were we were or from the Jackson Visitor Center. The trail is also connected to by several other trails but we headed to the trailhead nearby. Once we got our start, the trail initially traversed clusters of firs and patches of meadows. The flowers we saw included asters, bistorts, gentians, lupines, and paintbrushes. There were more I didn’t recognize but did see some low bush blueberry bushes, but they didn’t have fruit on them yet.
Continuing along the trail we passed several junctions with interconnecting trails that make lots of loop options if a hiker is so inclined, and then the Alta Vista Trail got a little steeper. Eventually we came to a junction that allowed for a loop that led us up and over the vista—and then beneath it. We did the loop clockwise for ultimate viewing of Rainier in our face on the way up—and St. Helens, Adams, and the Tatoosh Range on the way down.
So we headed forward and towards the left and made a short and steep push to the top of 5,940-foot Alta Vista. The little knob was forested on its western and northern sides and pretty open on its southern and eastern sides. There was a bench up there that Benny and I took another break on to. There was also a ledge that gave us a head-spinning views. The view south to the Paradise Lodge and Paradise Valley was really good. To the southeast was Mount Adams and to the southwest was a view of Mount St. Helens.
The view directly east is good too offering a different perspective of the Paradise Area, including the Edith Creek drainage. According to a sign-thingie at the visitor center it’s part of the intake system for Paradise’s water supply. The area is off limits to hiking, but we got a good view of it from Alta Vista.
Finally, we turned our attention northward to Panorama Point and Mount Rainier. All I can say is postcard perfect and downright awe-inspiring. There were a lot of trails beneath us and the hikers on them looked like happy ants. About that time a professional guide brought a group of international students to our space. I got up to leave but Benny wanted to hear what the guide was saying so we stayed.
Folks have been coming to this spot since before Mount Rainier was established as a national park in 1899. Just to the west of this spot, James Skinner established a tent camp in 1897. It later was purchased by John Reese of Ashford and became known as Reese’s Camp and the more inspiring Camp of the Clouds. It was a Tacoma-based climber, John B. Hartman who in 1889 bestowed the moniker Alta Vista on this point. The name is Spanish for “high view;” and that it is. Along with Reese’s Camp, these surrounding hills were once marred with developments, roads, and horse paths. A changing attitude in the park over time toward more preservation and less intensive recreational pursuits gradually led to many of these operations being removed. The area continues to recover from the impacts these developments had—and you can do your part by staying on the trails.
When we did get up to leave Benny was satisfied until he saw one of the kids drop a snack wrapper on the ground and not pick it up. Benny ran over to give it to him but the kid didn’t want to take it. He got a surprise when Benny said, “No tieres basura.” LOL or at least I was laughing to myself over the kid’s surprise that Benny was fluent when the kid curled his lip and intentionally threw the wrapper on the ground again. Ah, nope.
In two strides I was there. He may have been a “kid” but he was an older teen and closer to my age than to Benny’s. He was also closer to my size. “Recógelo. Ahora.”
“Hazme perra.”
The group leader stepped forward. “Is there a problem here?”
I understood being protective of the students in his charge, but I was too angry at that second. Luckily someone else had witnessed what went down even if they didn’t understand what had been said.
The guy said, “There’s a $20,000 US dollar fine for littering in a national park and possibly five years in prison. That kid littered. The little kid picked it up and tried to hand it to him and that’s when the big kid turned into a jerk. The little kid’s mom stepped in, and I think he called her something rude cause, if you notice, all the female students in your group are giving your guy there the evil eye.”
The Spanish teacher then took over with the students and found out what was said. I was still giving the kid a CPO Barrymore stare down and enjoying melting his machismo. When the teacher tried to pull the broken English crap with me I gave him a little bit of heck as well.
In Spanish I said, “Don’t. I’m fluent. I’ve also dealt with plenty of international student groups and know everyone gets at least ten hours of English training before the tour even starts. And chaperones are required to be English-fluent.” That goosed him. A little more directly I said, “The littering was bad enough. But the attitude this
boy was throwing was at least as unacceptable. And he better be careful who he calls a bitch from here on out. There are enough females in your group to make sure he stays a
boy for the remainder of his life. And if that doesn’t work, I’m sure you don’t want his behavior creating problems for your entire group, your guides, and your sponsor. If your students don’t understand that international travel is a privilege, I’m sure your government can find students who do and will appreciate what they get.”
Not everyone got the threat I was making but the chaperones and enough students understood exactly how big a stink I as willing to make that one man stepped forward and said, “I’ll stay with him in the bus so everyone else can complete the stay.”
In acknowledgement for the man’s willingness to sacrifice for the group I offered, “He just needs to pick up the litter and apologize to everyone for his behavior.”
The man must have been someone important because he turned and looked at the kid and that’s all it took after he finally figured out he wasn’t the big prissy deal he thought he was. The kid did it and it was done. I surprised everyone by shaking first the older man’s hand and then the kid’s. I’m sure some of them thought I was strange, but I was following my grandfather’s example in how he handled things, even sometimes when those things he handled were with me. Emphasize the positive, including when a situation is brought to a constructive conclusion.
I decided to let the student group go ahead of us for a while and let the area clear out of people that had witnessed the event. A few minutes later when there was another break in the number of people, while Benny and I were still sitting, he said quietly, “Sorry.”
“For?”
“Everyone got mad.”
“That part is not your fault. The kid was being a donkey’s behind, a bully. I wouldn’t have tolerated that even if it hadn’t been you on the receiving end, but because it was …” I stopped and cleared my throat, my anger still too close to the surface.
Benny leaned his head over on my arm and mumbled, “He was a stranger. I shouldn’t have talked to a stranger.”
Trying not to trash too many of our safety rules I said, “Yes. He was a stranger. But I was standing right there, and you were trying to be helpful. The kid is who turned it into something it didn’t have to be. Him … and me getting bent out of shape at him … is what made it nasty. But sometimes we must take a stand, stick to our principles in a way that makes other people take notice. When we don’t do what is right, we set a really bad example and will have to answer for it to the Creator.” Taking a deep breath I added, “And when a situation is concluded successfully, we need to learn to let it go and move on. I’m … just having a little difficulty doing that. The kid made me Barrymore angry.”
Benny understood the difference. Lawrence used to say it the same way. So did Grandfather Barry. Dad understood the difference, he just didn’t experience it very often though he did say that he made sure to get off the road and take regular breaks because road rage could be real. I’m not trying to make up a fairy tale. There’s a difference between regular angry and the kind of angry we Barrymore’s can get. I don’t mean we go all Hulk and stuff, I have enough trouble with the brain hamster doing that. I just mean there is a type of angry I can get that has more to do with my Barrymore personality than just regular anger due to reaction.
I forced myself to use the relaxation technique one of my counselors insisted I know and practice. It works most of the time and thankfully it worked that time as well without leaving me feeling washed out and shaky. I gave him a one-armed hug and said, “Well, will you look at that. I didn’t scare everyone off.”
Benny looked where I pointed and suddenly grinned. There were two deer and a marmot looking at me like they were wondering if I was done being excessively human. The marmot in particular looked like they were just about ready to read me the riot act, like I was a naughty kit that needed a slap on the back of my head. That made me want to laugh and Benny and I got up, in charity with the Creator’s world once again, and finished the loop. We even managed to take a couple of photos and selfies along the way for our collection.