The Mountain

The inn opened in 1917 with 37 rooms, a cavernous lobby, and dining room seating 400. Architect Frederick Heath of Tacoma designed the inn. Featured were the river-rock fireplaces at each end of the lobby and posts and rafters of peeled logs. Hans Frachnke, a German carpenter, lived at the inn crafting the rustic yellow cedar furniture, including a piano, which is still in use today. Today, the inn has 188 rooms, Paradise Inn Dining Room, Glacier Lounge, and a gift shop offering Native-American crafts.

Our room was very plain and very serviceable. The room had a bed, a sink, a mirror, one chair, one bureau, and a bath. I'm sure the big picture window had a wonderful view if the clouds rolled away!

Paradise Inn is open from May 20th to Oct 10th with the following rates:

Room without bath: 1-2 persons - daily $92
Room with one bath: 1-2 persons - daily $137
Two-room unit with bath: 1-3 persons daily - $194
Suite with sitting room: 1-3 persons daily - $211
Crib and each additional person: $15
Handling fee: reservation changes and/or cancellations $15

The large living room is the central location of the lodge. The loft and rafters had tables big enough for families to play games on top of, and it made a great area for an early morning coffee. A piano player played nightly, much to our delight. The fireplaces were ablaze and provided a nice warm, cozy feeling. The room had to have had about 20 couches and chairs in small groupings for families to enjoy or guests to meet each other. Everyone was crashing after a day of physical exercise and just relaxing! I thought I was in heaven. Paradise Inn does not have a television. What a wonderful thing. It's back to basics of reading, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company. This is a great place for a family vacation. National parks are also very reasonable in price and a great vacation buy. We did not have any children on this trip, but the next time I go back, I'm bringing our grandchildren. Their parents may join us if they want!

The National Park Inn at Longmire offers 25 rooms, a full-service restaurant, and a gift shop. Guests use this hotel year-round as a base for hiking and/or cross-country skiing in winter. There is a log cabin nearby housing a general store. The veranda has a beautiful view of "The Mountain," provided the mountain is out! Winter packages are available from November through late April.

Rates:

Room without bath: 1-2 persons daily $98
Room with bath: 1-2 persons daily $132
Two-room unit with bath: 1-3 persons daily $181
Crib and each additional person: $15
Handling fee: reservation changes and cancellations $15

Winter Escape Package:
A room with private bath, breakfast, afternoon tea, and in-room coffee is available Sunday through Thursday, holidays excluded, from $99 per night.

Bed-and-Breakfast Package:
This is available during the winter season. Complimentary breakfast is served from 7 to 11am, and this is available 7 days a week from $129.

Cancellation policy: Minimum of 7 days notice is required. Less than 7 days notice results in a charge for one night's room rate plus tax. All facilities are nonsmoking.

This dining room seats 400 people. The room is very large, with full floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides for views of "The Mountain." One end has a very large fireplace that had a roaring fire the night we dined. The other end is the entrance and cashier. The kitchen is located next to the fireplace. The ceiling has cedar rafters and is all open architecture. The dining room is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Breakfast is maybe á la carte or buffet. The regular menu has such items a "Camp Muir" French toast, oatmeal pancakes, mountaineer classic breakfast, juice, coffee, breads, and potatoes. I ordered the "Camp Muir" French toast, which was very good, and it was a large portion. My husband ordered "The Mountaineer Classic" breakfast, which was two eggs, meat of your choice, toast, and potatoes. As with Western tradition, the coffeepot was never-ending, which, coming from the East, is a big plus for the Western restaurants.

Although lunch was available, we did not have lunch the day we arrived. Dinner was very good. We had choices between salmon cakes, chicken satay, an Alderwood salmon Caesar salad, penne with red pepper sauce, London broil, pan seared salmon, garlic prawns, a Paradise pot pie, or cider-glazed pork medallions.

I had the cider-glazed pork medallions served with mash potatoes and a vegetable, which is a daily choice. My husband tried the garlic prawns, which were served with pasta.

Both meals were very good and upheld the traditions of good restaurants within the National Park System.

My trip to see "The Mountain" began at the Seattle airport by renting a car and driving to the Nisqually Entrance. It was a cloudy day, and the mountain was not visible, but I knew it was there! I could feel the car climbing as we traveled to the entrance, and the forest grew thicker. We passed pristine lakes with all kinds of logs floating on the surface. We passed by the town of Elbe and by the old steam train of days gone by. Once we reached the park's entrance and paid our $10 fee, we were off to see "The Mountain!" We passed through winding, twisting roads, and the clouds hung off the top of the trees. We stopped at the National Inn in Longmire for lunch and purchased fleeces as the temperature was dropping. Our first lookout was the riverbed beyond Longmire. Mount Rainier did not get the normal amounts of snow this year, and the riverbed was dry around the edges, but a stream of water was passing though the center. As I looked up, the clouds were trying to reach the riverbed, though the trees on the other side of the river. I still could not see "The Mountain." We traveled up the road by the Christine Falls and had to stop for more picture taking. As we climbed to paradise, the road was hardly visible and the forest along side of us disappeared. We were in "The Clouds." I still could not see "The Mountain."

We stayed overnight at the Paradise Inn in the clouds. I'm sure our room had a wonderful view, but I still could not see "The Mountain."

The next morning, we stopped in the Guide Center and were told the snow line would start on the other side of the Skyland Trail, but to try it until we reached the snow line on the path. We hiked straight up hill for about 2 miles before the snow covered our path. During the 2 miles, we passed through the meadows alive with new wild flowers. The color of yellow was everywhere. Hikers were passing us with snow shoes, skies, and sleeping bags, and they appeared ready for anything. They were traveling the trail until they reached Muir Camp 4 miles away. They planned on skiing on the glacier. My husband traveled the snow in sneakers for another mile and finally saw the glacier before heading back to the rock he left me sitting on. The day was cloudy and misty. In fact, we were in the clouds. I still could not see "The Mountain." I knew it was there, as I'd just hiked straight up hill and we were at the base of the glaciers, but...

We travelled that day back down the mountain, and I kept looking for "The Mountain," but it was not visible on the entire trip. I feel so lucky to have seen it that week years ago in Seattle. I'll be back as I really want to see "The Mountain" up close and personal!