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Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
There's always a heaven where there's a hell
It's not that hard to get to Paradise.
On clear days Mount Rainier is not only visible but actually scary as seen from downtown Seattle. The dominant mountain is a dormant volcano, part of the same Pacific Ring of Fire that will probably one day destroy Los Angeles, Alaska and Tokyo, among others. Until then things have settled down nicely, Mount Rainier is a national park, a state icon and the most popular Washington state license plate available.
My travels did not take me to the summit of Mount Rainier (14,400 fasl) but rather to the heart of Paradise Valley, a subalpine meadow on the mountain at 5,400 feet up. I stayed for two nights at the Paradise Inn, a historic hotel without television, phones or cell phone reception. A wonderfully quiet time with the exception of the historic hotel itself- apparently people weren't too concerned about sound insulation a hundred years ago, each of the rooms allowed you to hear everything you could imagine from each of the other rooms.
Paradise is the most popular area in the park, and while it has been paved there are not nearly enough spaces in the parking lot. Popular day trails leave from the inn and visitors center, they start out as paved but are too steep to be readily accessible. All lead past wildflowers to ridges where you expect to be able to touch the summit, only to find that it's still miles and miles away.
A roadside attraction on the way to Paradise, Narada Falls does what it does best right behind those trees.
