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FALL 2018 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 03
The view from the Sunrise Visitor Center ( elevation 6,400 feet ), visited by thousands daily . With snow whipping the air at 70 mph , only serious mountaineers will consider going anywhere near Rainier ’ s summit .
Back across the Canadian border , not an hour ’ s ride from Lynden , I met a lad on a Kawasaki KZ400 . I ’ d guess both he and his bike had passed 21 or 22 summers . He rode well , easily sluicing the underpowered twin past dozens of cars and a new 600 sportbike … despite the weight of his camping gear and a race-ready mountain bike which he carried on his back ! Like me , he didn ’ t know where he was spending the night , but seemed much more buoyed by its possibilities . Never caught his name , but I vowed to be more like him . If only I had the time . Mount Rainier — Tahoma to the Nisqually and Puyallup Indians who first lived there — is the goal , but how can you just ride past Mount Baker ? You can ’ t .