Preserving Paradise

"Mt. Rainier National Park at Paradise"  ~ photo by Carol E Fairbanks  © 2014

As I stood at Jackson’s Visitors Center, near the Skyline trailhead in Mount Rainier National Park, I was reading a brochure that described the formation of our country’s “best idea” - America’s National Parks. Almost 100 years ago, on August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed an act of Congress that created the formation of the National Park Service, whose purpose was to “conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.” 
But, it has taken much more than an act of Congress, signed by the president, to make sure that those pristine natural areas in our country have stayed “unimpaired.”  As I began hiking the Skyline Trail, I read a quote carved in the steps by a well known conservationist, John Muir, and was reminded of the many men and women, who have dedicated their time and talents to preserve this and many other National Parks. As I looked up the trail, winding its way past Mount Rainier, I felt unbounded gratitude for the work of those passionate, dedicated people, especially John Muir, whose words and other efforts of persuasion have supported, and most likely, saved those paradise-like natural areas. 

"Beginning the Skyline Trail."  ~ photo by Carol E Fairbanks  © 2014

When I read Muir’s words, describing Mount Rainier as “the most extravagantly beautiful of all alpine gardens”, I knew this alpine garden might not be as “beautiful” for my hike here today, if it were not for Muir’s passionate persistence. He knew that such persistent effort to preserve our beautiful nature was necessary in an ongoing way so that they might stay “unimpaired” by people. In a speech at a Sierra Club meeting in 1895, Muir stated “The battle we have fought, and are still fighting for the forests is a part of the eternal conflict between right and wrong, and we cannot expect to see the end of it….. so we must count on watching and striving for these trees, and should always be glad to find anything so surely good and noble to strive for.” 

"Hiking up the Skyline Trail."  photo by Lee G Young  © 2014

I am one of those “tired, nerve-shaken, and over-civilized people”, that Muir wrote about at the beginning of the twentieth century and that still exist today…maybe even more so! I, too, like John Muir, have found out, especially on this beautiful Skyline Trail, that “going to the mountains is going home.” As I pass by the stately presence of this mountain, I believe, as Muir did, that “mountain parks and reservations are useful, not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life.” It is here on the Skyline Trail that I am renewed by this scenic wonder, knowing, as Muir wrote, that “wildness is a necessity… that by going out (on this Skyline Trail) I found was really going in.” 

In 1888, when Muir was weary from the responsibilities of running a family farm and very much missing his mountain wanderings, he joined nine other men for a climb up to the summit of Mount Rainier. That trip played an important role in reinvigorating Muir and convincing him to rededicate his life to the preservation of nature as National Parks. At that time, national forests, called forest reserves, were being created throughout the American West, under the utilitarian “conservation-through-use” view of Secretary of the Interior, Gifford Pinchot. Muir, however, believed that nature would be better preserved under the more protected status of National Parks. But since public sentiment was more in favor of creating national forests rather than national parks, Muir and his supporters were only able, through their efforts, to protect one national forest as a National Park. In 1893, when the Pacific Forest Reserve was created, Muir quickly persuaded the Sierra Club to support a movement to protect Rainier as a National Park. Groups, such as the National Geographic Society and other scientific associations soon joined the movement, in support of forming a National Park at Rainier. Also offering support were commercial leaders in Tacoma and Seattle, as well as, the Northern Pacific Railway.Those collective efforts lasted for over five years and involved six different attempts to push a bill for Rainier, as the fifth National Park, through Congress. Congress eventually agreed, but only after being assured that the new park was not suitable for either farming or mining and that no federal appropriations would be needed for its management.

"Indian paintbrush & broadleaf lupine add their vibrant color to the mountain landscape."  ~ photo by Carol E Fairbanks © 2014 

Muir, who worked tirelessly to open the hearts of everyone to the importance of preserving this great nature, asserted in his writings that “one touch of nature makes all the world kin.” And in this place of unifying natural beauty. I, too, felt an intimate connection with all life. In the verdant meadows of Rainier where I hiked, brightly colored wildflowers brought a vitality to this alpine landscape, that contrasted with the snow and ice of an enduring “winter” on the mountain. On the way up to Skyline Trail’s summit at Panorama Point, I passed by a sign pointing up a very steep trail to the Muir Base Camp, where Muir had camped on his trek up the mountain. Not really a day hike, this alpine ascent is about as close as you can get to Mount Rainier’s summit without roping up and following a guide. Not being prepared for that kind of challenge, I moved on past the Muir Base Camp sign to my destination at Panorama Point. And at the summit of the Skyline Trail, I was quite pleased with my less challenging, but still magnificent, view of Mount Rainer’s peak from a much safer distance.

"On the High Skyline Trail."  ~ photo by Carol E Fairbanks  © 2014

Climbing further up the moon-like, rocky path on the High Skyline Trail brought me even closer to the immense majesty of Mount Rainier. Ascending that mountain trail gave me an opportunity to view things from a much higher perspective… to witness the way everything fits together in a harmonious pattern. That vision of harmony, seen from high up on the Skyline Trail, is just what we need to begin to see ourselves in a better relationship with our environment. Muir wrote about this a century ago in saying, “Man must be made conscious of his origin as a child of Nature. Brought into right relationship with the wilderness, he could see that he was not a separate entity, endowed with a divine right to subdue his fellow creatures and destroy the common heritage, but as an integral part of a harmonious whole.”

"My feet enjoying Paradise Creek."  ~ photo by Carol E Fairbanks  © 2014

And I was feeling, like Muir suggested, as much a part of this landscape, as Paradise Creek that flowed down the hillside amidst  the vibrant color of wildflowers. I stopped at the creek to rest and decided to take off my hiking boots and place my hot, tired feet in the very cold mountain stream.  As the clear water flowed over my feet, I felt my cares and concerns, that I brought with me from my “over-civilized” and, sometimes, hectic life, wash away. Sitting on a rock by the creek, surrounded by all that natural beauty, I, indeed, felt more loved and loving. Muir suggested long ago, “Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away once in a while… climb a mountain…. wash your spirit clean.”  So, it was not only my feet that were clean, but also my spirit!

"Relaxing at Paradise Creek." ~ photo by Lee G. Young  © 2014

From Muir’s words carved in the steps at the trail’s beginning to the sign pointing to the Muir Base Camp leading to the mountain’s summit… and including my hike in the magnificent natural beauty at Mount Rainier, I am reminded of John Muir and his efforts to preserve this valuable natural treasure at Mount Rainier National Park.  On this ninety eighth anniversary of the creation of National Parks, it seems very appropriate that I am remembering and writing about John Muir. It was because of his wanderings in the woods and his love of Nature, like Rainier, that our National Parks exist today.  So, I say “thank you” to him and to all the countless other workers, who have dedicated themselves with their time and talent, to better preserve our areas of paradise. I think of Muir’s words that exclaimed, “Of all the fire-mountains, which, like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest in form”, and I am reassured that with passionate, dedicated people like him and others, these precious gifts of nature will always be a blessing to both our land and to our hearts.

                                                                      by Carol E. Fairbanks, W.W.W.