Mount Tahoma

trail from Sunrise

Sometimes we call her Mount Selfish, for the stretches of days when she hides her beauty from the rest of us, though she was generous and constant this visit.  She is also called the girls' birth mountain, since they were born within her view.  Her native name is Tahoma, or "mother of waters" in a language spoken by the Puyallup.  She is magnificent.

This hike came on a rough day.  We were sad to be leaving Seattle, and the girls in particular were really needing to let it all hang out, which sometimes means big feelings and lots of talking.  They were reluctant to go on a hike, and it was one of those moments that we just declared it a family hiking day.

Dan and Eliza got ahead of us and Ani became more and more chatty the further we got, which is like the aural equivalent of watching weight lifting off of her little shoulders.  When we met up with Dan and Eliza at Frozen Lake, Eliza told me that once her body started moving and she stopped complaining, she started feeling so much better.  (This was just short of "you guys were right to make us go on this hike!" I'll take it.)

We sent Dan up further on a path that crossed closer to the glacier (Burroughs trail), while we looped around and down through a beautiful valley, to return to Sunrise.

building fairy houses

White River

We only had one day and one night at Rainier, but it was so beautiful and a restorative pause on our journey from people to people.