is similarly very large. One can ride
horseback round the mountain in a leisurely week, or spend a month or
more exploring the greater wilderness of the park. One can tramp the
trails on long trips, camping by the way, or vary a vacation with
numerous short tramps. Or one can loaf away the days in dreamy content,
with now and then a walk, and now and then a ride. Or one can explore
glaciers and climb minor mountains; the Tatoosh Range alone will furnish
the stiffest as well as the most delightful climbing, with wonderful
rewards upon the jagged summits; while short climbs to points upon
near-by snow-fields will afford coasting without sleds, an exciting
sport, especially appreciated when one is young. In July, before the
valley snows melt away, there is tobogganing and skiing within a short
walk of the Inn.

The leisurely tour afoot around the mountain, with pack-train following
the trail, is an experience never to be forgotten. One passes the snouts
of a score of glaciers, each producing its river, and sees the mountain
from every angle, besides having a continuous panorama of the
surrounding country, including Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens, Mount
Baker, Tacoma, Seattle, Mount Olympus, the Pacific Ocean, and the
Cascades from the Columbia to the international line. Shorter excursions
to other beautiful park-lands offer a wide variety of pleasure. Indian
Henry's Hunting Ground, Van Trump Park, Summerland, and others provide
charm and beauty as well as fascinating changes in the aspect of the
great mountain.

[Illustration: _From a photograph by A.H. Barnes_

MOUNT ST. HELENS SEEN FROM MOUNT RAINIER PARK]

[Illustration: _From a photograph by A.H. Barnes_

MOUNT ADAMS SEEN FROM MOUNT RAINIER PARK]

Of course the ascent of the mountain is the ultimate objective of the
climber, but few, comparatively, will attempt it. It is a feat in
endurance which not many are physically fit to undertake, while to the
unfit there are no rewards. There is comparatively little rock-climbing,
but what there is will try wind and muscle. Most of the way is tramping
up long snow-covered and ice-covered slopes, with little rest from the
start at midnight to the return, if all goes well, before the following
sundown. Face and hands are painted to protect against sunburn, and
colored glasses avert snow-blindness. Success is so largely a matter of
physical condition that many ambitious tourists are advised to practise
awhile on the Tatoosh