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By Root 3304 0

you often get unexpected chances to encounter wildlife up close and personal, sometimes whether you want to or not. Yes, cougars live in this park, as do black bears, but neither is seen very often. Much more common large mammals are the park's deer, elk, and mountain goats. Deer, mostly black-tailed, are the most frequently spotted. Elk, much larger and more majestic in stature, are less in evidence than deer, but sometimes appear in the Sunrise area in the summer and throughout the eastern regions of the park during the autumn. Mountain goats, which are actually not goats but rather longhaired relatives of the antelope, keep to the rocky cliffs above alpine and subalpine meadows during the summer.

Perhaps the most entertaining and enviable of the park's wild residents are its marmots. These largest members of the squirrel family spend their days nibbling wildflowers in subalpine meadows, and stretching out on rocks to bask in the sun. In meadows throughout the park, these chubby creatures seem oblivious to the presence of humans, contentedly grazing only steps away from hikers.

Marmots share these subalpine zones with pikas, tiny relatives of rabbits, that are more often heard than seen. Living among the jumbled rocks of talus slopes, pikas skitter about their rocky domains calling out warnings with a high-pitched beep that is surprisingly electronic in tone.

Monkeyflowers, elephant's heads, parrot's beaks, bear grass: they represent just a small fraction of the variety of wildflowers on the slopes of Mount Rainier. This mountain's subalpine meadows are among the most celebrated in the Northwest and the world. Although not as colorfully named as the flowers mentioned above, lupines, asters, gentians, avalanche lilies, phlox, heather, and Indian paintbrush all add distinctive splashes of color to the slopes in summer.

The meadows at Paradise are much wetter than those at Sunrise, which lie in a rain-shadow zone and consequently are relatively dry. In the northwest corner of the park, the Carbon River Valley opens out to the Puget Sound and channels moisture-laden air into its valleys. As a result, this valley is a rain forest where tree limbs are draped with moss and lichen, and where Douglas fir and western red cedar grow to enormous proportions. In the southeast corner of the park, in the Grove of the Patriarchs near the Stevens Canyon Entrance, stand some of the oldest trees—Douglas firs more than 1,000 years old and western red cedars more than 25 feet in circumference.

Avoiding the Crowds. On a sunny summer weekend, it is sometimes necessary to park more than a mile from Paradise and walk on forest trails and the road to the meadows. You can avoid the crowds by visiting in the spring or fall. Keep in mind that in May, Paradise and Sunrise will still be snow-covered and most park roads will be closed; weather may still be unsettled. Even in June, Paradise may remain snow-covered and some park roads may be closed. Also, the rainy season starts in mid- to late October and continues until early summer.

Perhaps the best tip, if you're traveling in busy months, is to visit on weekdays rather than weekends. You might also consider avoiding the Sunrise and Paradise areas altogether, heading instead to the more remote sections of the park, such as the Carbon River area in the northwest section, or the Denman Falls/Gobblers Knob area in the southwest. Both are accessible, at least part of the way, by car, and they provide the same sorts of stunning vistas you get at Sunrise and Paradise. The Carbon River Road is subject to flood closures; check with park staff. The Westside Road, which leads to the Denman Falls area (open summer only), is closed due to flood damage 3 miles up, so you will have to do some hiking. Be sure to check at the ranger station for the latest info.

Otherwise, a good plan is to arrive at either Sunrise or Paradise early in the day—before 10am—spend an hour checking out the visitor center, and then high-tail it out to a trail. Likewise, people generally leave the park between