Mount Rainier Visitor Statistics, National Park Service.

I consider Mt Rainier National Park to be one of our top 7 national parks.  By 2009 NPS statistics it is the 66th most visited location in the National Park System (out of ~362).  17th of National Parks.  That is remarkably far from the top for such an impressive park.  This is however one of the reasons that I love Mt Rainier!

I think that this speaks volumes about the character or our park.  In league with Denali, Yosemite, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain National Parks, Rainier is certainly one of the more daunting parks to explore.  AND it is going to get tougher, as aggradation continues and the roads through the park are closed even more often.  For me the idea of inaccessibility creates Mt Rainier's allure, and it is one of the aspects that drove me to become a climber and guide.  I wanted to be closer.

Wallace Stegner on the value of wilderness...

"We simply need that wild country available to us, even if we never do more than drive to its edge and look in."

To look into the wild is to look inward.  The questions that our body feels when we look out into what might as well be outer space or another planet are the same questions that our body feels when we question the meaning of life.  The next time you look at Mt. Rainier think of all the places on the mountain that have never felt a human foot, and what your connection to that place is.  Become aware of the value of having wild places like The Mountain as a resource for your heart and your growth.  And be glad that even though our species has a knack at loving things to death, This Mountain will always keep us at a distance, the way an objective mentor must.

Adam