On a recent trip out west to Oregon, my wife and I decided to extend our trip by driving from Portland to Seattle. We had never been there and wanted to experience a little of what Washington state had to offer before returning to the East Coast. In planning our trip, Mt. Rainier was on the way, so we decided to spend a night and day at the mountain as the Mt. Rainier National Park was definitely on our bucket list. Our oldest son, who had previously been to Mt. Rainier, suggested we stay at the Paradise Inn up on the mountain. What's not to like about a place called Paradise - right. It's gotta be great. So we booked it.
We left Portland early in the morning determined to also make a quick visit to Mt. St. Helens. This visit was anything but quick as we first took the wrong exit off the interstate and ended up on the wrong side of the mountain. However, we were determined to see the blown out crater. So we got back on the Interstate, took the correct exit, and drove another three hours to get to the monument and scenic overview. This day wasn't going very well. We arrived at the overview and the entire crater was shrouded by low clouds. We walked around a little bit, but couldn't see much of anything except a lot of denuded mountainside. Check this one off our list. Oh well, such is life. We were running late, so we left after a short while to make sure we would get to Mt. Rainier and the Paradise Inn before dark.
Paradise is 19 miles inside the Nisqually entrance to the National Park. It was late in May and the fact that there wasn't a lot of snowfall this year was in our favor. The mountain passes were open. We drove through the entrance after 6:30 PM with dusk starting to set in. Good - we're going to make it before dark. The fact that there wasn't someone at the gate collecting a park entrance fee should have been an omen. Not sure we were necessarily headed in the right direction, we saw a sign that said "Paradise - 17 miles". That was good enough for me. We pressed on.
The road was slow going. The mountain got steeper, the road got narrower, the canyons got deeper, there was no guard rail, the clouds were getting lower, it was getting darker, and my passenger was getting very nervous and questioning my sense of direction. We were counting off the miles on the odometer hoping we were on the right road and Paradise would come sooner than later. About 15 miles in from the gate, you could barely see the road in front of the car. The fog and clouds had dropped down below our elevation and all I could see was the yellow line in the middle of the road directly in front of the car. Dropping our speed below 5 MPH, Paradise Inn had better come up soon or we would be spending our night somewhere on Mt. Rainier in the car. This was beginning to look like one of those horror movies where a backwoods redneck with a hockey mask and chainsaw comes out of the mist to assault the young teenage couple. Good thing we are not a young teenage couple. No, that wasn't Freddy Kruger crossing the road in front of the car, just a deer. We are not freaking out, that was a deer! Maybe we are getting a little anxious and should calm down a little. Just as we were finding religion and despair was starting to set in, the sign for Paradise appeared out of the mist. Relieved, we pulled off the road and there was the Paradise Inn.
The front desk clerk was surprised to see us walk in. It was past 8 PM and due to the weather and darkness, he hadn't expected anyone else to show up. Outside, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. The Paradise Inn is a beautiful old building having been built in 1916 and recently renovated. We roamed the building for a while and decided we better get to bed, check this day off to experience, and hope for a beautiful day tomorrow.
That's just what we got - a beautiful day. As socked in with fog the previous night had been, it was a fantastically clear morning. The sun came up behind our room lighting up the mountain range outside our window. Damn, this is paradise. The Paradise Inn Guest Lodge is located 5,400 feet up on the south slope of the 14,410 foot Mt. Rainier glacier-shrouded active volcano. It's the highest mountain in the Cascade range. There are hiking trails surrounding the inn and visitor's center. In fact, if you were really ambitious, you could walk (more like climb) up to the base camp, the jumping off point for serious climbers headed to the top of the mountain. We weren't that ambitious (not even close) - we just had tennis shoes (good excuse), but we did spend an excellent day hiking. The Mt. Rainier National Park is everything we expected it to be. Beautiful scenery, good hiking, and the highlight of our trip.
We also highly recommend the Paradise Inn. If you want to see Mt. Rainier, this is the place to stay. Plenty of hiking trails, peaceful, and great views everywhere you look. We were there in late May, one week after the Inn opened for the season with the snow melt just underway. I hear it is even more beautiful in the early fall before the inn closes in early October. One day in the park was not enough time. We will be back, but next time we will stay longer and get there much earlier in the day.