Welcome to Thoughts From the Trail, a list of random thoughts, ideas, questions, etc had while hiking, walking, biking a trail.
Thoughts From the Trail is a series of blog posts, inspired by a whole slew of thoughts I had while hiking the trails during a visit to Mt Rainier National Park.
This post is the first Thoughts From the Trail.
Mt. Rainier National Forest
September 12, 2021 – On foot
- Mt Rainier’s original name was “Tahoma” (or “Takhoma” or “Ta-co-bet”), named by the native people who lived on the land for over 9,000 years. It was “discovered” by British Royal Navy Captain George Vancouver in 1792. He named it after his friend, Rear Admiral Peter Rainier. I think I will keep calling it by it’s real name, Tahoma.
- Apparently there is a debate among native people over whether Mt. Rainer (and Mt. Saint Helens and other mountains in the area) is male or female. The irony of the gender binary…
- Mount Rainier is considered the highlight of the park. It is impressive, standing at 14,411′ tall. Mount Rainier is a volcano and has erupted at least two times. The mountain in this current stage is 500,000 years old. Yet I felt myself even more drawn to the Tatoosh Range, right next to it. Something about those mountains being somewhere around 14-18 million years old. Something about them standing tall, still, and timeless while Mount Rainier has shaken and shifted it around it.
- I met a guy on the trip, also traveling solo. We agreed to take each others photos. At one point, he said, “Would you like me to take a photo of your back?” “Um sure,” I said, “but, why?” “So you can look at the mountain in awe,” he said.
- Every down and decaying tree, I saw, I couldn’t help but think, “Thank you for your service. Thank you for your continued service.”
- Why do trees twist?
- Of all the five senses, my olfactory was the most engaged. If only we could capture smells! I would rather share that part of the experience than the sights and sounds.
- I passed a group of four people on the trail, and one of the women asked me if I worked for Cotopaxi. I said, “No, I wish!” She said, “I ask because we all do, and you look the part!” Why to make my day!
- At what point will we quit taking photos because they never do it justice?
- What would Nan Shepard say about this place?
- How long does it take to hike the Pacific Crest Trail? The Application Trail? The North Country Trail? How long does it take to ride the Great Divide?
- When can I come back?
Trail Tunes
I listened to this perfectly fitting playlist while writing this post. Thanks, Parks Project!
Post Trail Discoveries
After getting off the trail, I did some related digging, and found some other exciting things worth sharing!
- Here is some more history of Mt. Rainer National Park.
- This is why trees twist.
- The tour guide that lead the day around the park encouraged me to look up this podcast about “listening to the mountain.”
- Speaking of tours, I highly recommend Viator! I found this trip with Tours Northwest. Lucinda was an awesome guide!
- It takes roughly 5 months to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, 5-7 months to hike the Application Trail, 7-9 months to hike the North Country Trail, and 6-10 weeks to ride the Great Divide.
