Schmoe - A year in paradise: a personal experience of living on Mount Rainier in the early 1900s

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WASHINGTONS MOUNT RAINIER: A Centennial Celebration

Tim McNulty and Pat Ohara

Large-format photographic celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mount Rainier National Park. The official book of the Centennial.

50 HIKES IN MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK Fourth Edition,Ira Spring and Harvey Manning

Complete, authoritative hiking guide to the Northwests most popular national park, with full-color photos and maps throughout.

100 CLASSIC HIKES IN WASHINGTON: North Cascades, Olympics, Mount Rainier & South Cascades, Alpine Lakes, Glacier Peak,Ira Spring and Harvey Manning

Spring and Manning present their favorite trails in this compendium of classic hikes. With full-color photos throughout.

Mount Rainier: A Climbing Guide,Mike Gauthier

Details 30 routes, with an emphasis on safety and minimum-impact climbing, by the lead climbing ranger at Mount Rainier National Park.

North Cascades Highway: Washingtons Popular and Scenic Pass,JoAnn Roe

A comprehensive, regional history of the people, nature, and environment along the North Cascades Highway.

Field Guide to the Cascades & Olympics

Stephen Whitney

Describes and beautifully illustrates over 600 species of plants and animals found in mountains from Northern California to Southwest British Columbia.

Northwest Trees,Stephen Arno and Ramona Hammerly

Superb drawings enhance this study of the 35 conifers and broadleaves native to the Pacific Northwest.

Impressions of the North Cascades: Essays About a Northwest Landscape,John Miles, Editor

Essays by 13 contributors who interpret the North Cascades from the different perspectives of their disciplines and daily experiences.

A year in

PARADISE

A year in

PARADISE

by Floyd Schmoe

Published by The Mountaineers 1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201 Seattle, WA 98134

1959, 1979, 1999 by Floyd Schmoe

All rights reserved

First cloth printing 1959 by Harper & Brothers

First paper printing 1968 by the Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc.

Second paper printing 1979 by The Mountaineers, third printing 1999

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Manufactured in Canada

Illustrations and maps by Floyd Schmoe

Book and cover design by Helen Cherullo

Book layout and cover production by Peggy Egerdahl

Cover photograph: Mt. Rainier and Paradise Meadow by Pat OHara

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file at the Library of Congress

Printed on recycled paper

Contents

List of Photographs

The drawings throughout the text are by the author.

Foreword

F LOYD S CHMOE WORKED IN A VARIETY of positions within Mount Rainier National Park for many years. In 1919, when he first came to Mount Rainier, he was employed at Paradise as a caretaker, and later as a mountain guide by the Rainier National Park Company. He then returned to the University of Washington to obtain his forestry degree. His intense interest in Mount Rainier led him back to the park first as the District Ranger, and later as Mount Rainiers first Park Naturalist.

Writing out of his own experience and memories, Mr. Schmoe tells of the mountain as it is through the turning seasonsthe long white frozen winters, the brief tumultuous springs, the equally brief summers glorious with blooms and invitations to adventure, the autumns with visitors gone and the life of the mountain restored to its ancient rhythm. Through this personal narrative runs comment on the many things which to him spell the charm of the region. The work is a reflection of Mr. Schmoes personal philosophy for living in peace and wonderment of nature.

Today, visitors to Mount Rainier National Park will find the natural environment little changed though nearly 50 years have passed. Yet in this same 50 years our society has evolved at an ever quickening pace. As a newcomer to Mount Rainier I have found in this book a delightful introduction to a magnificent park.

More importantly, I have found a stimulus for reflection about the relation of man to his natural environment. Today we have the affluence to choose between orderly, well-conceived development of our total environment or the ill-planned cities, diminished natural resources, congested highways, and polluted water and air which in too many instances reflect our present land ethic.

Mr. Schmoes book would be valuable for anyone who might wish to consider his own relationship and responsibility to a land so richly endowed with natural wealth and beauty.