StuMar West: Mt. Rainier Edition

This picture hung at my grandparents home for all to see for many years.
Back Row:  My brother's Jeff, Rob and Cousin David
Front Row:  My cousin Matt, Cousin Trucker Todd, and myself. 
Circa 197......old. 

Growing up in Michigan I was really fortunate to have two cousins close by, David and Matt.  My dad's sister, my Aunt Sue, their mother, lived only about 30 miles away near my Grandparents and there were many, many weekends that our parents got all us kids together.  Between my two older brothers, Rob and Jeff, all of us were within 5 years of age, so we had a lot in common at that time of life.  Often times, as parents would or should do, us kids were either banished to the basement or outside to create our own fun.    Somehow we became in possession of an 8mm camera and soon StuMar Pictures was born. Just like Steven Spielberg did as a child, we spent many hours and days making our own movies.  Unlike Spielberg, however, none of these "films" were of great quality, after all we were only little kids, but we did make a few feature films entitled; Crump, Return to Crump, Little Children and our own version of James Bond.  They were all horrible I'm sure, but like good parents and grandparents our families all got together to watch our premieres each and every time.  I'm not sure I'd want to see them nowadays, but then again, I suppose it would be good for a laugh.  As we grew up we all moved our separate ways.  But just this last weekend I was able to get together with David and Matt here in Washington and we decided it would be a great idea to go to Mt. Rainier for the day.  So with that, 3/5 of StuMar headed south, albeit without those cool pants of yesteryear.



No Matter where you are in Seattle, you can almost always see Mt. Rainier.

The three of us figured out that we hadn't been together in almost 10 years, the last time being at their mom's funeral, my Aunt Sue.  I'd seen David a few times in between there, but I hadn't seen Matt since I moved here to Washington this summer as he lives near Seattle on Vashon Island.  Unfortunately Rob is in Maui and Jeff was in Banff National Park in Canada, so all 5 of us couldn't get together this time, but maybe someday we will.  So Saturday morning I went to the Fauntleroy Docks to pick up David and Matt from the Vashon Ferry and we drove down to Mt. Rainier.  

Looking south from Seattle to Tacoma, Rainier stands tall.

Rainier really does stand out like you can't even begin to imagine.  It truly is like something out of a postcard every day.  Standing at 14,410 feet in elevation it is one of the 20 highest peaks in the USA, with Mt. McKinley in Alaska being the tallest at 20,320.  The drive to the Mt. Rainier National Park is less than 100 miles from Seattle, but it takes over 2 hours with the switchback roads and two-lane traffic.  However, despite not being together in years, the three of us seamlessly connected just like old times.  We told great stories about our grandparents and parents and had a fantastic time reminiscing on the way there.  Even though all 5 of us lived in 5 different states, until I moved to Washington, we spent our first 18+ years together  in Michigan and that bond will apparently never be broken.  It was great.  As we made our way to the park entrance, we then drove another 45 minutes or so up the mountain to Paradise where they have a lodge and visitor center. 



The road up, windy and scenic.



The drive up was very scenic.  At times we were buried beneath the shadows of massive pine trees and then we'd be on the edge looking at the range of mountains all around.  The road does stay open in the winter, although tire chains are virtually mandatory to ensure a safe passage.  Cell phones don't work anywhere in the park and that's a good thing as I am as guilty as most of constantly checking my email and such.  Up here you can't do those things, so you have to soak in the views, relax and have a good time, as it should be.

 When you could stop and take it in, the scenery was fantastic.

A view of the lodge with cars parked along the road, on our way up. 

Once we arrived at Paradise we soon learned the biggest challenge, parking.  With a fairly decent sized lot already full we were forced, along with many others, to continue on the one way loop road to parallel park about 1.5 miles away.  We walked up to the Lodge and had lunch at the Paradise Inn, the only place to eat, before they closed at 2:00 p.m., then went over to the Visitor's Center and looked at some of the 3-D Maps and trails and then went out to hike.

From the Lodge and Visitor's Center.

Marian Falls.

With Mt. Rainier virtually staring us in the face, we first headed up the Alta Vista Trail to Marian Falls.  It was a short hike and the Falls were nice, but having grown up in Michigan, we'd all seen falls much bigger, however, never near a mountain.  We then headed up the Skyline Trail which went West along the base of Rainier, before going right up it.   The slope was mostly subtle so you could keep going and going and before you knew it, you were miles from the Lodge.  But it was sure worth it, especially today as the temperature was a perfect 70 and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.

Looking back as we climbed up. 

Looking back to the South.

With Rainier at 14K feet, the Lodge is at about 5440 feet and we then hiked about 1K feet up and even though we were now in the snowy area, the temperature didn't seem to change or at least have any affect.  I suppose if you plan to summit you would definitely need cold weather provisions.  The trail we were on ultimately led to Camp Muir which is the base camp for the first night for those doing the summit and is about 5 miles from the Lodge.  Mostly led by a guide company, it is a rigorous climb to the top, with one Ranger telling us it has all the challenges and effects of climbing Mt. Everest despite being smaller.  But just being as high as we were, the views were indeed worth any efforts we had made.

Matt and David. 

Getting closer to the top! Well for today anyway. 

Snow in late July? Must be a long ways up. 

The infamous Mt. St. Helen's to the south. 

 Mt. Baker, another prominent Washington peak.

Mt. Rainier, as close as we were getting to the top today.

After really just sitting and taking in the views in all directions, we started our hike back down.  It's a lot to take in visually, stunning in every direction, especially on a day like today with the bright sunshine and blue skies.  We took a less traveled path on the way down and found ourselves all alone on a ledge of the mountain.  We stopped for a moment and realized we could see Mt. Baker in one direction, Mt. St. Helen's in another, Rainier was behind us, the Nisqually River and Falls were below with wildflowers in every direction and then it all hit us, that maybe we hadn't stayed in touch all these years like you might hope.  Life's trials and tribulations had affected all of us at various points, but yet here we were today, the three of us, just like it was 1980, acting like kids, cracking jokes, telling stories, enjoying our life's history, knowing that our grandparents and my Aunt Sue were there with us in spirit and so very happy I'm sure that we all found our way together at least for today.  Hopefully it's not another 10 years before we can make it happen again.  And next time maybe we can get Rob and Jeff in on it too, StuMar Pictures may just have another film to make.  But for today, it was a fantastic time with family at one of nature's most spectacular creations.  You know they say a picture is worth a thousand words; today I think we just made millions.

StuMar Lives!

StuMar West waiting for the other two.