Photos by N.S. Nokkentved/The Olympian
Marc and Sherri Cote of Olympia bring their family and visitors to Mount Rainier to enjoy the scenery and wildflowers, now in bloom.

A blacktailed deer finds a tasty patch among the wildflowers at Mount Rainier.

Magenta paintbrush flowers add a splash of vibrant color to subalpine meadows.

Late bloomers

Wildflowers draw crowds to the meadows at Mount Rainier

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published August 7, 2001

MOUNT RAINIER -- Every spring, Mount Rainier pulls on its coat of many colors, and people flock to the mountain to take in the subalpine splendor.

Of course spring comes a little later, try summer, to the high country in the Mount Rainier National Park. But wildflowers are blooming.

"Now's the time," park ranger Maureen McGee-Ballinger said. And they will be blooming for a while yet.

Among those who came to see the flowers recently were Marc and Sherri Cote and their family. They take out-of-town visitors to Mount Rainier, Marc Cote said.

He had heard the wildflowers were blooming, so when Sherri's sister and her husband, Susan and Lou Kunkel, arrived from Boston, the Cotes took them to the mountain.

Lou Kunkel was glad for the opportunity to do some hiking, to see Mount Rainier, but he didn't expect the flower show.

"Beautiful," he said.

The weather was a pleasant break as well, he said.

"In Boston right now it's 95 degrees," Kunkel said. On the mountain the temperature was in the mid-40s and cloudy with brief sunbreaks -- or "sucker breaks," as some call them.

The appearance of a hoary marmot on the rocks along Edith Creek spread excitement through the younger family members. Cameras came out amid general scrambling. The marmot, unfazed, continued on its errand.

The Kunkels and the Cotes saw lots of wildflowers, patches of pink alpine heather dotted the slopes, a patch of purple Jeffrey's shooting star lined a small stream, and a blue lupine clung precariously to the edge of the overlook where Edith Creek tumbled off a rock ledge at Myrtle Falls.

The peak of blooming wildflowers will continue through the coming weekend, and then the colorful show starts to taper off.

"There will still be wildflowers, but it will lessen in intensity," McGee-Ballinger said.

The question visitors ask her most often: "Where can we see the most wildflowers?"

Her answer: Myrtle Falls trail, Nisqually Vista and Alta Vista.

McGee-Ballinger recommended coming during the week when fewer people visit the mountain. She also suggested that people not let cloudy weather keep them away. The flowers still bloom, and overcast makes for better pictures.

Even when Paradise is in the clouds, she can always tell when the mountaintop is visible in Seattle, because the crowd grows, she said.

Wildflowers are found in many meadows on the mountain. But the most profuse display is the subalpine meadows around Paradise on the south flank -- at 5,400 feet. Large meadows of flowers also can be found at Sunrise on the northeast side and Spray Park to the northwest.

At Paradise, the growing season is short. Some years it is only one or two weeks, while others it is a couple of months, McGee-Ballinger said. And the plants grow in thin, fragile volcanic soil, often exposed to winds.

The fragile-looking blossoms of avalanche lilies makes it tough to imagine the many feet of snow that pile up in winter. The mostly white flower is the first to push through the snow in the spring.

The snow has been gone from the meadows for about a month, and there are more lilies this year than usual, ranger Eric Haskell said.

Along the trail a patch of bistort -- unremarkable white flowers -- gives off a smell like dirty socks in the warming noon sun.

Among the groves of subalpine fir and mountain hemlock, without enough sun for the flowers, the ground is thick with mountain ash and mountain huckleberries that attract black bears in the fall. A deer grazes in the brush studded with neon magenta paintbrush.

Merry O'Brien of Renton comes to the mountain with friends and family for fresh air, the flowers and the chance of encountering wildlife.

She calls the mountain the heap or Tahoma, never after a man or woman, she said.

"I think I'd call it church," she said.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5445.

If you go

- Wildflower tours: Mount Rainier National Park rangers offer guided tours of wildflower meadows every day at 10:30 a.m. Depart from the flagpole outside Jackson Memorial Visitor Center at Paradise. One-mile walk through subalpine meadows takes about 1 1/2 hours. No fee.

- Park admission: The entrance fee is $10 per vehicle, or $5 per person walking, biking or riding a bus. An annual park pass costs $20.

- Driving: Figure on a two-hour drive from Olympia, more on really nice weekend days.

- Lunch: If you go up on Sunday, save time for brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Paradise Lodge. Food is excellent and plentiful, and the rustic lodge dining room, looking out over mountain slopes, offers a pleasant setting to linger over dessert. It is a great way to satisfy an appetite worked up by a hike.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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