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Mount Reinier National Park in Washington state is a major attraction for both visitors to the state and locals. It is the highest peak of the Cascade Mountains, a ski resort and a place for trekking in the mountains and picnic in the summer.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Mount Rainier can be seen from afar and definitely dominates the landscape of the southeastern part of the state. And how handsome he is! We did not even doubt this. Continuing our journey by car across the United States, we left California and arrived at Mount Rainier National Park at the foot of the most dangerous volcano in the United States in the evening, in complete darkness. And in the morning, in the same darkness, we woke up and went on a date with the sun rising over a snow-covered volcano mountain.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Mount Rainier National Park is a nature reserve in the evergreen state of Washington in the northwestern United States that encompasses the entire Mount Rainier and the 956,000 square kilometers around it, covered with subalpine meadows and ancient forests. The height difference in the park is from 490 to 4300 meters. At the top of the active Mount Rainier, there are huge glaciers that give rise to five rivers at once.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Most of the attractions of Mount Rainier National Park, accessible to the average tourist, are located at an altitude of up to 2000 meters. For example, vizitor center of Sunrise ( the Sunrise visitor center ) is located on the highest point reachable by car - it is 950 meters. And this is not so difficult for a person who does not live in the mountains all the time, because acclimatization is not required. That is why Rainier Park receives so many tourists every year, unlike Big Bend Park in Texas , which is more remote from civilization.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Mount Rainier is the most dangerous volcano in the USA
Mount Rainier National Park is the highest peak in the Cascade Mountains, at 4392 meters. She is the hallmark of the state of Washington and its most recognizable symbol. But besides all this, Mount Rainier is also a stratovolcano! Just 87 km from Seattle, the most dangerous volcano in America and the 17th most dangerous in the world slumbers.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Of course, the Yellowstone supervolcano should be called more dangerous, which even if it decides to explode, it will become bad for everyone, not just North America. But Yellowstone is not quite a volcano in the usual sense. And here is Mount Rainier National Park - here it is, under a snow-white glacier in the mountains. You can see it from everywhere. And it is not known whether His Majesty will deign to disturb people.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
The park around Mount Rainier attracts visitors with the opportunity to see:
- The most dangerous volcano in the United States is Mount Rainier;
- 25 mountain glaciers;
- Waterfalls with melted glacial water in the mountains;
- River valleys;
- Blooming alpine meadows;
- Ancient forests.
The Cascade Mountains are mostly composed of active or extinct volcanoes. We wrote about some of them on our website, for example, Mount Bachelor and the Cascade Lakes , which are located in Oregon. And Rainier is no exception.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
And although previously the Mount Rainier raged and poured lava around (at the beginning of the 18th century), now it remains only a source of fresh water. Local Indians call it "Tacoma", the source of water. And all because a huge glacier has accumulated at the top of the mountain, which supplies water to the inhabitants of Washington state.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
Meeting dawn on Mount Rainier
At dawn, we, frankly, did not have time quite a bit, but Mount Rainier still captivated us with its stately appearance. Autumn was already in full swing, and we thoughtlessly spent the night in a camping at the foot of the volcano, on the river bank. And by the morning they were terribly cold. Therefore, at 4 o'clock we got up, laid down our tent and drove in the dark along the mountain road up to Mount Rainier to meet the dawn.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
But by half past five in the morning, in a warm car, we realized that we wanted to sleep. So we decided to be more prudent, stopped our beloved Cruz in the parking lot, and dozed for ten minutes. But we slept for about half an hour, waking up from the beginning of its sunrise. This time was probably not enough for us. But there is no point in regretting, because we did not plan to be here at dawn, but hit the road so early just so as not to freeze.
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| Mount Rainier National Park Washington State |
But still, it is expensive to meet the dawn in such a magical place as Mount Rainier National Park, and we still managed to see the last flashes of the creeping sun.
Surprisingly, we did not notice a large number of photo-hunters at the most trump spot at such an early hour.