Mt. Rainier : highest mountain of Washington State. First Starbucks is in Seattle.
Sitting in Starbucks and writing a blog on Mt. Rainier – two dreams being fulfilled together. Nataliya is a photographer in Seattle, and is having a meeting with a client at the next table for a prospective wedding shoot.
I haven’t ordered yet, I brought ear phones to hear my own favorite songs, but they are lying nearby, I just want to absorb the sights and sounds of this place. What to say of the smell of the coffee, which I prefer to smell only. I mean, I love the blue berry muffins, and butter croissant.…
Actually, I’m writing about Mt. Rainier, and I’m wondering if writing would be of much use. Since you are only going to look at the awesome pictures, which say enough. Nataliya took most of those pictures.
“Here is the banana bread”… did I hear someone say that?
Excuse me….
Wait!
I’ve heard you write better on an empty stomach. So, let it wait, let Mt. Rainier reign supreme for this moment. I’ve been so intrigued by it. This is my fourth visit to Seattle, and finally I’ve been lucky to see it. You know, Mt. Rainier was called Tahoma by the Native American Indians here, meaning “That frozen water.” Now, Tacoma is the name of a local town.
Bilal and Nataliya took me there a couple of weeks ago. We went to its three vantage viewing points: Sunrise, Reflection Lake and Paradise. At the height of 14,410 feet, it is not as high as the peaks in Pakistan. For instance: K2 (28,251 feet), Nanga Parbat (26,660 feet) and Rakaposhi (25,551 feet) among many others. Yet, in Pakistan, it’s such a long drive lasting several days, and a lot of danger, to get to a point to be able to see any of these peaks. Here, after a three hour drive, you are there. Its sixty miles from Seattle, and the drive is as beautiful as can be with lakes and streams all over the place. The jungle of pine trees is thick like it is in Nathiagali or Murree. These jungles have cougars, bears, deers, rabbits, raccoons and all sorts of other animals. The jungles are 97% of the Mt. Rainier National Park.
Why am I constantly comparing with Pakistan? Well, I suppose it’s natural. When people come to Pakistan and keep talking about their home in US or England it always bugs me. I feel they are trying to show off. I suppose I’m showing off too, as the mountains in Pakistan are far higher than the ones found here, too. Well, it is also natural to talk about the place you have come from, so we all have to be a bit tolerant, I guess.
You think we go to see a mountain to see the mountain? No! You go there to see yourself in that mountains’ backdrop! You are there and still so busy looking at yourself. Even when the pics are seen, you are looking at how nice you are looking with that back ground! Yet, there is another dimension to viewing a mountain. Realizing your own reality. Or maybe to find out how spectacular Nature is, and that we are just a little speck in this fabulous universe of ours. In the perspective of time, space, heights, or even depths – actually we stand nowhere!
So, the reality is: You go to see a mountain to find your own self. The brochure handed at the entrance of the Mt. Rainier National Park had a line which stood out “Mt. Rainier National Park is a place where people can reconnect with what’s important in their lives.”
Finding one’s own self, what is important in one’s life. The life you have now onwards. So, that much is true too. I suppose this is why most ‘mazars’ are placed on mountain tops back home…. (there I go again!)
Can you believe it, signs and proofs of habitation in these areas have been found from 2500 years ago. Local Indians had many beliefs related to this great mountain . The over 400 National Parks in USA celebrated a centenary this year, meaning that most of them have been there since 1916. Mt. Rainier National Park has been here since 1899. Now, why am I not talking about ‘back home’?
Just want you to know, that if you are planning a trip to Seattle, USA, do so in the summer months, just to be able to see Mt. Rainier. If anyone of you is a mountain climber, camper, trekker or explorer you will certainly love it. The place gets closed for about two to four months in winters. So, it is best to come here from April to mid-October to see Mt. Rainier.
Stay blessed my dear reader, sorry for the delay in posts. Hope to make up for it. 🙂
