Enumclaw Day Trips #1--Goin' up on Crystal Mountain

You can be sitting on your couch at 9, and standing on top of a mountain at 10:15--at least if you live in Enumclaw.  And you can take your toddler, your grandmother with her walker, and your dog along.  (We didn't since we don't have any of these in our house.)

Continuing on our mission to explore the wonders within easy reach of Enumclaw, we rode the gondola to Crystal Mountain summit for our first time.  Only an hour and fifteen minutes for our mouths to drop open.  Crystal is a mountain, so although it is very big, the top is very small.  It drops off steeply all around, giving you a 360° view from the Manatash Ridge by Yakima to the Olympic Mountains and from Mt Adams and St Helens to Mt Baker near the Canadian border.  And of course Mt Rainier in your lap.  The air is clearer up there, the colors more intense, the views immense.

The gondola offers a smooth, quiet ride up, and Doreen, who wanted no part of the big suspension bridge over Tahoma Creek, was quite comfortable in our ascending enclosure.  At the top, we stepped out of the slowed gondola.  They will stop it if you need that.

Your choices at the top include relaxing in loungers where the world drops off at your feet, hiking a knife-edge ridge trail, scrambling up a nearby peak, or feasting in the highest restaurant in Washington. 

When it is time for you come down, just walk over to the gondola or take one of several hikes downhill to you car.  If you rode your mountain bike up the access road (not many people do) you can go back the same way or try some of the unique bike trails down.  (No bikes on the gondola.  Even though I love offroad cycling, I think this is a wise decision.)

One thing we noticed was how welcoming all the staff were--the gondola operators, ticket sellers, food servers, maintenance workers, restroom cleaners, flower trimmers--everybody.  It was quite remarkable.

Fall is a perfect time to enjoy Crystal Mountain.  The crowds are gone, the colors are brilliant, and in a season of changeable weather, you can make your decision to go from Enumclaw on the spur of the moment.

[Video is coming as soon as I figure out the logistics.]

[Well, I guess not.  Anyway, here is a link to that video.]