This Rewarding National Park Hike Around An Active Volcano Is One Of The US' Most Scenic

Majestic, glacier-covered Mount Rainier is both an active volcano and the tallest peak in the Pacific Northwest's Cascade Range, and the 93-mile Wonderland Trail looping around its base is as spectacular as it is challenging. This trail is so grueling, in fact, that its 22-23,000 feet of elevation gain is the rough equivalent of summiting Mount Kilimanjaro — twice.

Yes, the climbs are epic and the descents knee-bruising, but the views? Sublime — as I learned firsthand during my own 10-day trek around the mountain. Mile-per-mile, the Wonderland yields so much spectacular scenery that the constant gasping in awe can leave you feeling as oxygen-deprived as the altitude. This isn't a hike to one or two memorable vista points, but a constant kaleidoscopic voyage through so much beauty you'll feel overstimulated and overwhelmed much of the time.

One moment you're traversing eerie, glaciated rock fields above the treeline. The next, you're dipping down into a temperate rainforest carpeted in moss and ferns. Then you're climbing abruptly back up to wildflower-strewn alpine meadows that tempt you to run through them, twirling around and around with open arms, singing the opening song from "The Sound of Music." Unless, like me, you are nursing a fresh blister when you get there, and all you really want to do is strip off your boots and soak your toes in an ice-cold creek. This hike isn't dangerous, like the climb to Camp Muir in Mount Rainier National Park, but it's an endorphin-fueled endurance suffer-fest. And you'll love it.

According to The New York Times, only around 250 people complete the Wonderland each year, in part because the season is short (you can only count on a snow-free hike from mid-July through mid-September) and also because the elaborate permit system limits backpackers to the exact number of established campsites on the mountain.

Three ranger stations along the trail allow you to drop off food to pick up as you pass through, so it's not as remote as other bucket list backpacking destinations like the Maze in Utah's Canyonlands National Park, but the daily distances can be daunting. After winning the permit lottery, you must pick your nightly campsites from a rapidly dwindling pool, so it's possible to end up with an itinerary that includes several days that are longer and steeper than you'd like. In fact, you could easily end up with multiple days that are each the equivalent of hiking in and out of the Grand Canyon.

In one long day, you might climb 5,000 feet to the trail's highest point at Panhandle Gap just in time for sunset. Then, you'll descend through an electric pink and orange rockscape surrounding a jade green lake, eventually arriving back in camp by headlamp. Those who expect to wake up alone in the wild may be surprised to see a steady stream of day hikers heading up from one of several drive-up points of entry that let visitors sample the Wonderland's scenery and be back in Seattle, just 80 miles away, in time for dinner.

The weather and the scenery are constantly changing on Rainier. August may swing between 95-plus-degree heat, socked-in fog, and all-night rainstorms. You'll cross narrow, swaying suspension bridges over rushing river canyons and eat your lunch next to a verdant waterfall or an alpine lake reflecting the mountain nearly every day.

If the Wonderland is your first long-distance solo hike, as it was mine, know that you will never be alone. Hikers share the trail with deer, mountain goats, marmots, foxes, and oh-so-many bears. Everyone you meet on the trail has a bear-sighting story — as will you — but the calm, lumbering giants are always so busy chomping berries that they barely glance at passing humans. Sometimes the swishing and grunting of a large animal just out of sight will indicate that you barely missed seeing one, and every backcountry campsite on the trail includes access to a tall pole for hanging your bag of food high up out of the reach of these furry gourmands.

At day's end, you'll set up your tent or hammock, make yourself a cup of instant cider or cocoa on your backpacking stove, and sleep so soundly you never once wonder where your four-legged trail mates might be lurking. Be prepared, on your last day of hiking, to be as hungry as a bear yourself, fantasizing with every step about the meatloaf and blackberry cobbler you'll devour as soon as you reach the historic National Park Inn at trail's end.