Mt. Rainier, Garmisch Revisited

Matt and Dawn were up early for work and fortunately had time to head a few blocks down the hill from their house for breakfast. Dawn and I returned to their house briefly where she gave me a book and a map for my upcoming 8-day adventure around Vancouver and Vancouver Island with my friend from Minnesota, Emily, who was scheduled to fly into Vancouver the next day. Matt and Dawn and I would see each other again in 9 days at a port outside of Vancouver in order to cross together onto Vancouver Island to begin our kayaking trip. Dawn gave me precise directions to get around the morning rush hour traffic and out of Seattle southwards towards Mt. Rainer. My destination within Rainer was Paradise Lodge where I planned to spend a while working on my journal and, time permitting, hiking.

I opted for the "scenic" route to the mountain once I was south of Tacoma. Highways 512, 161, 7, and 706 led me to the lodge, but the view was anything but scenic. The entire route was very foggy and sometimes I couldn't see more than a few dozen yards in front of me. "Pea soup" is how the east coast fishermen would describe it, I think. It was slow going and my hopes that I would pass above the cloud cover on my way up the side of the mountain went unrealized. If anything, the fog thickened! I learned a little more about the mountain, it's history and it's status in the region by spending time at the Visitor Center. At 14,411, Mt. Rainer is the highest peak in the Cascade Range. It is also the second most active volcano in the area, second only to Mt. St. Helens. Alas, I would not see any of it! The fog and mist hung in my entire time in the area. I could not confirm the actual existence of the mountain, but according to the visitor center, it is beautiful. I really should see it sometime!

The cloud with the silver lining was the fact that my time at the Visitor Center presented a perfect opportunity to catch up on my journal, without having the feeling that I should be outside hiking and basking in the glory of the beautiful scenery.

The hours clicked by quickly as I typed. I wanted to find a wifi hotspot prior to returning to Seattle to meet up with my friend Jay. I also wanted to clear some space in my car for Emily and her bag before she arrived in Vancouver the next day. I stopped in Ashford on my way down the mountain and to Seattle.

I was really excited to see Jay. We worked and hiked together when we lived in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany 10 years earlier (I can't believe that much time has passed!) We had kept in touch via email over the years, but I hadn't heard his voice until we spoke as I was driving through the lava beds in Idaho a week earlier. The drive back to Seattle seemed to drag.

Jay was home from work and waiting for me in the Ravenna neighborhood of Seattle. We stood in his doorway for just a moment sizing each other up and observing how the other had changed over the last ten years. Jay had been busy. He had lived in France for two years and traveled through Syria and Jordan for five months before returning to Seattle 6 months ago. Prior to that, he lived/worked in NYC and recounted watching first hand as the World Trade Center towers fell.

Jay had planned a busy evening for us! We visited Green Lake Park just north of the Wallingford neighborhood and walked for a short way around the busy lake as we caught up on the last 10 years and talked about old friends from our days in Garmisch. Jay had arranged for us to meet with an old Garmisch friend, Tara, and her husband, Dan, for drinks later in the evening. First, we headed to the Queen Anne neighborhood for some slushy margaritas and tasty enchiladas at a Mexican place Jay recommended. Then we returned to Jay's house to drop off the car and walk a few blocks to the local German bierstuebe where we met with Tara and Dan. (Jay, if your reading this, please email the name of the Mexican and German places!) It was great to see Tara after all these years and meet her husband Dan, who I vaguely remembered from Garmisch. Tara works for Rick Steves (the travel writer and TV personality) and was in the midst of preparing to guide a group through Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Jay and I each washed down a couple of dunkelweisse beers as we chatted and we got back late to his house late.

The couch was very comfortable. (Thanks, Jay!)