Soul Places (In Explore 09/15/2021)
Glacier Basin, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
I have been incredibly lucky to be able to hike on many beautiful trails. But there are some places, that beyond simply being beautiful to the eye, just feel special. Glacier Basin in Mount Rainier National Park is one of those places for me.
I first hiked this trail in 2016 and have returned every year thereafter. The trail itself is predominantly old growth forest, interspersed with open areas featuring incredible views of Tahoma and the surrounding peaks and glaciers, all the while accompanied by the mellifluous sound of the White River as it pours off its glacial source and rushes through the valley below. The trail steepens considerably in the last 3/4 mile, then levels off at just below 6000 feet (1800 meters) as the trail exits the woods into a basin surrounded by rocky peaks, with the top of Tahoma/Rainier looming over everything from behind the encircling walls. (The Emmons Glacier, shown in my previous post, lies behind the hunk of rock to the left, known as Mount Ruth. The Winthrop Glacier lies over the ridge on the right. And the small patch of snow in the center of the photo is all that remains for now of the Inter Glacier, a small cirque glacier that has sadly receded to almost nonexistence after our hot dry summer.)
Part of what makes this place so special for me is the immediacy and intimacy of the mountains in being so close to them. There is something about being at or above treeline that always makes a place feel wilder to me, and being face to face with those unforgiving rocks and ridges, unadorned and unsoftened by forest or vegetation somehow speaks to my soul.
Once in the basin, there is a small sign that proclaims “End of Maintained Trail”. Beyond that sign my favorite part of this hike beckons, as one can follow the rutted climbers trail past the trees, along a narrow (single hiking boot width) path on an edge that drops off to the river bed, and eventually arrive to a place where the “trail” consists of steadily picking one’s path of least resistance up through the rocks and boulders until reaching a point where common sense dictates that a solo day hiker should turn around. (The climbers path continues much further up to St Elmo Pass and then beyond to Camp Schurman, which is the high camp on one of the two standard Mount Rainier summit routes.) But even at that turnaround point the views from above the basin are remarkable, and the proximity to the mountains is riveting.
Soul Places (In Explore 09/15/2021)
Glacier Basin, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
I have been incredibly lucky to be able to hike on many beautiful trails. But there are some places, that beyond simply being beautiful to the eye, just feel special. Glacier Basin in Mount Rainier National Park is one of those places for me.
I first hiked this trail in 2016 and have returned every year thereafter. The trail itself is predominantly old growth forest, interspersed with open areas featuring incredible views of Tahoma and the surrounding peaks and glaciers, all the while accompanied by the mellifluous sound of the White River as it pours off its glacial source and rushes through the valley below. The trail steepens considerably in the last 3/4 mile, then levels off at just below 6000 feet (1800 meters) as the trail exits the woods into a basin surrounded by rocky peaks, with the top of Tahoma/Rainier looming over everything from behind the encircling walls. (The Emmons Glacier, shown in my previous post, lies behind the hunk of rock to the left, known as Mount Ruth. The Winthrop Glacier lies over the ridge on the right. And the small patch of snow in the center of the photo is all that remains for now of the Inter Glacier, a small cirque glacier that has sadly receded to almost nonexistence after our hot dry summer.)
Part of what makes this place so special for me is the immediacy and intimacy of the mountains in being so close to them. There is something about being at or above treeline that always makes a place feel wilder to me, and being face to face with those unforgiving rocks and ridges, unadorned and unsoftened by forest or vegetation somehow speaks to my soul.
Once in the basin, there is a small sign that proclaims “End of Maintained Trail”. Beyond that sign my favorite part of this hike beckons, as one can follow the rutted climbers trail past the trees, along a narrow (single hiking boot width) path on an edge that drops off to the river bed, and eventually arrive to a place where the “trail” consists of steadily picking one’s path of least resistance up through the rocks and boulders until reaching a point where common sense dictates that a solo day hiker should turn around. (The climbers path continues much further up to St Elmo Pass and then beyond to Camp Schurman, which is the high camp on one of the two standard Mount Rainier summit routes.) But even at that turnaround point the views from above the basin are remarkable, and the proximity to the mountains is riveting.