MT RAINIER

Was too bright for us

It dazzled our dull minds "to desperate enthusiasm" just like John Muir said it would when he climbed it in 1898. The next time we come back we will have spikes in our shoes or at least webs on our feet and we will not let 12 feet of snow stop us from gaining the so-called Muir Snowfield. Instead, this time, we started our climb down in the deep forests hiking with the birds until we found our own private variation of Muir's "newborn world" where we could watch the mountain make its weather and the ground squirrels freeze in time.

We love these mountains and these forests. They sharpen our dulled minds and make the world new with actuality. They make us note the wind and water and variations in the noisy hum of the earth at work. We'll miss these most when we're gone. But the mountains are good where we are going too.

Saying goodbye to Seattle is like saying goodbye to a good friend. We know we'll see these logging camps again and we'll miss them when we're gone.