Not every day is Rialto Beach. I said that at the end of the last episode and it turned out to be prophetic faster than expected.
The aurora alert came in red at 7 in the morning — greater than 70% chance of visibility — and that was the deciding factor in canceling out of Packwood and securing a room at the National Park Inn right at the base of Mount Rainier. That close to the mountain, with darkness like that and no light pollution, if it was going to happen, I wanted to be there for it.
By afternoon the website had quietly walked the whole thing back. The red alert had been triggered by smoke, not solar activity. Green now. Slight chance. Don’t get your hopes up.
I was not giving up hope. But I was recalibrating.
The Drive Between Packwood and the Park
There’s a scenic road between Packwood and the park that I couldn’t tell you the name of and should have written down. What I can tell you is that it’s the kind of road that stops you in your tracks — mossy old growth trees hanging over the water, the light filtering through in a way that makes everything feel slightly ancient, the sounds of the river running alongside. I pulled over with the Zoom F3 and spent some time just recording the water. No particular plan for the audio. Sometimes you just want to capture a sound before it’s gone.
I also discovered what smelled like skunk for most of the walk. Skunk cabbage. It blooms in May, it’s everywhere in this part of Washington, and it does not smell like anything you’d want to name a plant after. Mystery solved.
The East Entrance and Mother’s Day
I drove up to the east entrance of the park, which was still closed — wildflower season on Mount Rainier doesn’t start until August and I was there in May, so the timing was predictably wrong in the best possible way. Beautiful entrance. Closed gate. I took the picture and turned around.
Happy Mother’s Day, by the way. It was Mother’s Day. I mentioned it in passing and I’ll mention it here.
The Meadow Across the Street
The National Park Inn has a meadow loop across the road. About a mile. I wandered it without the camera backpack, without a plan, just walking and looking at the mountain appearing and disappearing through the trees. Five days into this project, two national parks already. The goal had been to see small towns and national parks and scenic drives and a side of the country I hadn’t fully seen. It was working faster than expected.
One of the rustic cabins near the meadow caught my eye. The kind of place I’d come back for with more time, set up, and wait for the right morning light.
The Couple From Austin
The best part of the evening happened without a camera. A young couple had moved from Austin to Seattle and were traveling with their cats — which I was primed for, given I was running a site at the time about traveling with cats. We talked for a while about the logistics of it, how the cats handle the car, what kind of setups work. They let me photograph the woman sitting on a stone wall with the cat and Mount Rainier in the background. Simple image. The mountain just there behind them, enormous and quiet.
The aurora didn’t come. The stars were out. I shot a few frames and went to bed.
Every day on this trip is a good day. That’s all I’ve got for now.
