MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, Washington August 24, 2002 You know it's a fine day in Seattle when you can see Mount Rainier in the distance. So when you hear hear a Seattleite say "The mountain" is out, he means the sun is out. The mountain was known as Tahoma before European explorers renamed it Rainier. Also any seemingly connection to rain is purely coincidence, as a visitor recently asked me if the mountain was so named because it rains a lot in Seattle. If you're driving from Seattle, take I-5 south to Tacoma then head east on Highway 512 toward Puyallup. After a mile or two, exit onto Highway 7 and go south to Elbe. As soon as you pass the town's railroad dining cars, stay left at the fork to Route 706. You will reach the Nisqually entrance to the park in 30 minutes. If you don't have a National Park Pass, must pay $10 at the gate. Paradise is where you want to go. Ignore signs at the entrance saying parking lot is full; you can always find a spot when you get there (even if you have to park along the road or at picnic sites). Do make stops at the vista point after crossing the bridge over the Nisqually River and at Narada Falls. The road into Paradise becomes one-way at the lodge and returns to meet Route 706. If you have time, and if weather's permitting, you have to hike the Paradise Flower Trails, which is a web of short and long paved trails that lead you to stunning views of Mount Rainier, surrounding glaciers, and miles of wildflowers. Click HERE to see the photos of the trail that I hiked. When the one-way Paradise loop meets Route 706. You can either go west and back to Seattle or continue east on 706 to do the loop around the whole mama and return to Seattle (45 minutes longer this way). Besides, there's so much more to see and explore: Reflection Lakes, Box Canyon, Grove of the Patriarchs Trail, and Sunrise.