Читать книгу One Night Wilderness: Portland. Quick and Convenient Backcountry Getaways within Three Hours of the City онлайн

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After crossing Nickel Creek you make a long, switchbacking, generally viewless climb that gains some 1500 feet in 2 miles to a junction with the Olallie Creek Trail at a wooded pass atop Cowlitz Divide. Keep left on the Wonderland Trail and climb in forest for 1 mile to a grassy knoll where you gain the first really nice views of the hike. From this point you can see Mt. Rainier to the northwest as well as the rugged Cowlitz Chimneys to the north and down into the heavily forested Ohanapecosh Valley to the east. To the southwest is the jagged Tatoosh Range.

Mount Rainier from the Wonderland Trail on Cowlitz Divide, Mount Rainier National Park

The trail’s next section is wildly scenic as it descends to a saddle, and then goes up and down (mostly up), never straying far from the top of Cowlitz Divide. The route is a mix of meadows and partial forest with frequent views that continue to improve as you get closer to the park’s massive, glacier-clad centerpiece. Wildlife is common in this area. Look for black bears, elk, deer, and a variety of mountain birds. At 6.1 miles you come to the top of a knoll where the views of Mt. Rainier are absolutely spectacular. With wildflowers in the foreground and trees framing the scene, this is one of the author’s favorite spots to photograph the mountain. You can also look south to distant Mt. Adams. From the knoll, the trail makes a moderately steep descent, following a ridgeline to the northwest for 0.4 mile before leveling out in a rolling meadow.