This past summer my family visited four national parks in three different states. We started out at the Grand Canyon North Rim in Arizona where we watched the sunset and the Milky Way cross the sky. The next stop was Zion National Park in southern Utah so my kids could experience the beauty of the desert I grew up near for the first time. Both parks were unforgettable and it’s no question as to why they are two of the most visited national parks in the United States.

After coming home, we camped at Seaquest State Park here in Southwest Washington. The Mount St. Helens Visitor Center near Seaquest showed a fascinating documentary about the 1980 eruption which got us even more excited to visit the biggest volcano on the west coast the very next weekend: Mount Rainier.  

Elbe and Ashford 

We left early one Friday morning and stopped in the charming town of Elbe, population 39, where an enormous statue of Bigfoot welcomed us outside of Elbe Market. The flower-flanked store was full of old-fashioned snacks and drinks we stocked up on for the hike we planned to do the next morning. Just across the street was the historic Heisler steam engine (more on that later) and a little white church built in 1906 which still holds regular services. Though the doors were closed, a staircase next to the window allowed us to look inside at the old wooden pews.  

Further up SR 706, we stopped at Recycled Iron Spirits metal sculpture garden in the city of Ashford. Created by artist Dan Klennert and his son-in-law Jay Bechtold, the beautiful yard welcomes public visitors. A life-size giraffe visible from the highway was perfectly positioned, making it look almost alive. The front yard held a variety of larger-than-life bugs, fish and deer. In the backyard we met some members of a jazz band who just happened to hold the same instruments my family plays, so we decided to join them in their jam session. There were hundreds of individuals pieces, each one so carefully crafted, it was easy to forget they were made of scraps.  

As lunchtime rolled around, we stopped at Rainier Base Camp Bar and Grill. We arrived a little before opening so we decided to look around Whittaker Mountaineering where real rock climbers buy gear. It was there I learned that almost every alpinist begins with Mount Rainier before trying K2 or Mount Everest; and though it is certainly smaller than those two giants, only 45% of those who attempt Rainier reach the top.

The covered outdoor seating kept us cool from the summer sun while we ate, and life-sized photos of climbers traversing glaciers on the buildings kept the conversation on hiking. Ice cream after lunch at Whittaker’s Motel & Historic Bunkhouse was refreshing, and again, every piece of décor inside was dedicated to climbing. Even the chains of the light fixtures featured carved men belaying. Outside, a kid-sized climbing rock beckoned us all to give it a try.  

Each of these stops built up our anticipation to see the mountain itself. As we drove toward the Nisqually entrance, my kids were especially hyped because I had been telling them for months that Mount Rainier was the most beautiful place I had ever been. After visiting three other spectacular national parks, they were understandably skeptical. Since we had hiked many trails near Mount St. Helens, I think they expected Rainier to simply be a bigger Saint Helens. They were wrong.

 A Beautiful Behemoth 

What makes Mount Rainier special is that it was the first national park to have a master plan. The roads were specifically designed to help visitors enjoy the mountain’s beauty, not just placed to get people from point A to point B, or where it would be easiest from an engineering aspect. As you drive through the entrance, at all once you become engulfed in an old growth forest, and the winding roads compel you to look all directions so you don’t miss a single view. My husband and I were both surprised by how different a river valley created by the melting glacier looked in the late summer compared to the last time we came in early summer.  

Our first stop in the park was at the Historic Longmire District. The museum there holds a collection of taxidermy wildlife and information on how glaciers continually shape the mountain which answered some of our questions. Outside was a slice of a cedar trunk with different historical events labeled on the rings showing us just how old the forest really was. The short Trail of Shadows interpretive path just across the road was where we saw the coolest mushrooms and found more information on the history of that area.  

Driving further into the park, the snowy peak of Mount Rainier finally came into view around one particularly deep turn and my husband yelled out “BOOM!” We stopped at the trailhead for Comet Falls to take a short hike to the top of Christine Falls. The parking for Christine Falls fills up fast, and in my opinion the view from the top was much better than from the bottom. Narada Falls was just a few more miles up the road and always wears a rainbow on sunny days.  

By then it was late afternoon, so we checked into the historic Paradise Inn Lodge next to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center. We calculated that it had been 16 years since my husband and I had last visited the park, so we re-created the photo we took back then for my 21st birthday trip. Our room did not have TV or internet, but when I asked my kids if they were disappointed, my son who had loved everything we had seen so far said, “No, let’s watch window!” quoting from “The Croods: A New Age.” Tired from our full day, we opted to eat at the Paradise Inn restaurant where we tried bison meatloaf and forager mushroom pasta.  

We went to bed early, knowing that the Skyline Trail Loop, our destination for the following day, gets busy. The last time we had tried the hike, snow still covered the path and we didn’t make it very far, so I fell asleep excited for what I would finally get to see.

The next morning, we grabbed a to-go breakfast from the café and started out. Going clockwise, we had a beautiful view of the mountain keeping us motivated to keep climbing. I was sad I had forgotten our binoculars but was shocked at how close we still got to the glaciers. We could both hear and feel the power of one enormous waterfall flowing down the Nisqually glacier. Wildflowers were everywhere, as were small creeks and animals. My daughter said she felt like she was in the Shire.

At the end of the 5.5-mile hike, we got the perfect photo of the mountain from Myrtle Falls, and we also saw two black bears in the distance. My husband and I are now two for two on seeing bears at Mount Rainier! And though the hike was one of the harder hikes we had done as a family, both my kids were happy to have completed it and agreed that Mount Rainier truly is paradise.  

Interactive History 

We had seen a trail of old train cars converted into the Mount Rainier Dining Company restaurant in Elbe the previous day and decided to head there for lunch. It was a good thing we were all hungry from our hike because my chicken fried steak was the size of a sasquatch footprint!

From the window we watched a wood carver painting his chainsaw sculptures, so we stopped to check out his work afterwards. Artist David Franz told me that he left the construction business only a few years ago to carve full time. His shop, Old Calico, featured classic black bears and beautiful tables, as well as Christmas ornaments created by his mother. At the same time, a steam engine began whistling and lots of people were climbing on. I walked over to see how to get a ride only to find out that the rail bike trip my family had booked for that afternoon was part of the same organization. 

The Western Forest Industries Museum is dedicated to preserving and restoring the historical train routes running through Elbe, Eatonville and Mineral. The 100-year-old working museum/train ride helps to fund their vision of preserving the history of the area which has relied on trains and the lumber industry since the founding of the towns.  

I learned that our rail cycle trip would take place on the same historic tracks as the steam engine, but farther up and going the opposite direction. None of us were quite sure what to expect, but we absolutely loved the ride!

When it came time to stop and turn the cycles around, our guide gave a history lesson about the forest industry. He told stories of young teens coming to Washington to become lumberjacks even though the death rate was one in three, until more technology became available like the chainsaw and donkey engine. He also explained how after the attack at Pearl Harbor, Japanese Americans, who were unfortunately sent to internment camps in Eatonville, worked the railroad, and that a new exhibit they plan to build will feature their powerful stories.  

After a day of exercise, and looking for a quiet place for dinner, we chose Paradise Village Hotel and Restaurant near the park entrance. Not having a reservation, we did have to wait a bit to be seated, but the grounds were so beautiful and the late summer night so nice, we didn’t mind one bit. My kids and I sat on a swinging wooden bench and talked about our favorite moments from the trip before being seated and enjoying our dinner. I highly recommend the shish kabobs and the cherry perogies, but if it hadn’t been summer, I would have gone for the Ukrainian borscht.  

Rainier was the perfect end to an epic summer with our kids, and with so much we didn’t see, we want to go back this winter to experience the mountain with snow. Park Rangers give guided snowshoeing tours, the Mount Rainier Railroad has winter rides and I definitely haven’t forgotten about that borsht!  

Read the full December 2024 issue here:

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