Chapter 8

Charley’s turn:

I’d been watching for the right opportunity to do something special with Claire — a trip to Panorama Point on Mt. Rainier. It finally looked like we had a good shot, so I brought it up over Thursday dinner the week she started back to school. Catching her attention, I asked, “How would you like to get a view of some of the other mountains in the Cascades? I’ve been following the weather for Rainier and Saturday looks like it’ll be gorgeous.”

“How would we do that?” she asked. “I mean, I’m sure if we were up on top of the mountain we could see Baker and St. Helens, but I’m not ready to climb the mountain, are you?”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that. There’s a viewpoint on the south side of the mountain called Panorama Point. On a clear day, you can see all the way to Mt. Hood from there, maybe even a little further to Mt. Jefferson,” I said. “Looking down the chain of volcanoes is pretty cool and sort of brings home the idea of the Ring of Fire.”

Claire’s eyes lit up at that, and we agreed to get up and gone early on Saturday.

Bless Terri’s heart. She got up early, too, and made us breakfast burritos to eat on the way to the mountain. With that, we were on the road by 6:30. Even leaving that early, we didn’t make it to the visitor’s center at Paradise until 10.

Claire was standing facing the mountain from the parking lot when she said, “It still almost doesn’t seem real. It’s so huge!”

I just nodded since I was enjoying the same view. The mountain completely dominated its surroundings. We’d spent a bit of time in the Olympics that summer, but there really was no comparison. Mt. Rainier stands so far above the surrounding mountains that they mostly look like hills.

After soaking in the view for a few minutes, we took the paved section of trail and started up. And then we went up some more. Given that we were starting at over 5,000’ elevation, we took it easy on the trail, taking frequent rests and making sure we were drinking and eating enough.

As the trail hugged the mountain, we had views of the meadows above Paradise off to the right and behind us, and of Nisqually Glacier on the left. Then, as we got higher, we could start to see further and further to the south, finally getting to where we could easily see beyond the Tatoosh range that sits just south of the mountain.

Claire was in the lead, and we were almost to Panorama Point, when she stopped to stare at a trail leading off to the left.

“Yikes! I thought this trail was steep,” she said. “That one looks like it goes straight up.”

I agreed with her. The trail to Camp Muir, branching off from the Skyline Trail that led to Panorama Point, looked more suitable for mountain goats than people.

“Just think, love, a lot of the people taking off here are carrying big packs in order to be ready to try for the summit the next day.”

Looking at me, she asked, “Have you ever thought about going all the way to the top?”

I shook my head. “No, I’m not all that interested in climbing on snow and ice. Hiking on nice trails and maybe a steep scramble are enough for me up in the mountains.”

“Sounds good to me,” she said. “I can kind of understand why someone would want to do it, but it doesn’t really appeal to me.”

Turning back to the trail, she led us up the last stretch to the point. When she got there and turned south, she just stood with her mouth open. Looking the same direction, I saw Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams looking small, but still seemingly close. Further in the distance was Mt. Hood, a gorgeous, symmetrical, snow-capped cone. There was a hint of something further south, but the air wasn’t clear enough to make it out.

I dropped my pack and reached for Claire, pulling her in tight next to me, just enjoying sharing the wondrous view with the one I loved.

Unfortunately we weren’t alone for very long so, after a quick bite to eat, we headed out to continue the loop down to the meadows and back to Paradise.

Even having gotten away at 6:30 in the morning, we didn’t get back until almost 5:30 in the afternoon. It was a long day’s driving, but the view so worth it, not to mention the meadows and other classic Mt. Rainier scenery.

Miss Green was as good as her word about smoothing things out for Claire at school. Part of the talk at dinner the night after her first day of classes was about how the teachers had all been briefed about her. She’d also met some other students who accepted her. She was hoping they’d be able to visit for lunch that Sunday.

Sunday morning we went for a bike ride. We took it relatively easy after the hike the day before, but not too easy. We did a loop just out of town that included a couple of fairly steep climbs. Claire was getting stronger, but after our 100K on Labor Day weekend she asked me to help her get stronger on the hills, so I started challenging her to keep up with me on climbs. We both knew that was going to take some time, but she was persistent.

When we got back, we both needed to clean up ... separately, dammit. After seeing my sweetie in her Lycra riding gear, I was a little worked up, so spent some extra time taking care of those needs. Claire was probably doing the same next door.

We were just starting to set up in the backyard when a couple of familiar faces showed up.

“Tom? Sean?” I asked.

“Good afternoon, Charlotte,” Sean said with a smirk.

I gave the guys a disappointed look, and they grinned back unapologetically. “We know you expect it of us, Charley,” he said. “We’d hate to disappoint you.”

“Go ahead and disappoint me next time, eh? So, I take it you know Claire?”

At that point, Claire came out of the kitchen carrying veggie sticks and bread to go with the chips and salsa I’d brought. “Hey, guys!” she said excitedly. “I’m glad you could make it.” After putting her load down, she then gave them each a hug.

“We wouldn’t miss it, Claire,” Tom said. “We were just razzing Charley about her name.”

Before she could say anything, Terri came out with the rest of the sandwich fixings. “Good afternoon, Sean, Tom. How are the two of you doing?”

“We’re doing great, Terri. How are you and Bill?” Tom said.

“We’re doing fine, thank you,” Terri said. “Do you know when the others will be by?”

They didn’t even have time to answer before three girls came around back. Claire saw them and called out, “Trish! Shelly! Jane! Come meet my grandparents and Charley.”

Well, Bill and Terri already knew Shelly for the same reason they knew the guys. Ever since I’d moved next door, they’d actively supported me and Olympic Pride. They knew just about everyone who took part in the organization.

Claire did introductions anyway. “Patricia Green, Jane Wells, Shelly Reinhold,” she said, indicating each of them when she said their name, “These are my grandparents, William and Theresa Lewis, and my fiancée, Charlotte Black. Trish is Miss Green’s niece and Jane is Principal Wells’ granddaughter. They were asked to sort of keep an eye out for me, and it’s been great!”

Bill said, “Hi Shelly, guys.” Then he aimed a mock blow at Claire and said, “Please, we’d rather be just Bill, Terri and Charley. It’s good to meet you Trish, you too Jane. Thank you all for looking out for Claire at school. Her position is kind of strange, so having friends will go a long way to keeping things stable for her.”

“Uh, Bill, we should be thanking you for bringing her here,” Sean said. “She already knows a lot more about programming than anyone else in the class, and she’s offered to help us out. The teacher was going over something Friday, and several of us must have looked confused. Claire got us together after he was done and explained what he was talking about.”

“Did you meet Claire in class, then?” Terri asked.

Sean shook his head and said, “In my first period class the first day, someone mentioned a tall, pretty girl with pink hair from her homeroom. She said the girl was fifteen, a senior, and already engaged to be married. A tall, pretty, fifteen-year-old senior with pink hair? I figured she’d have a ton of guys sniffing around, so I thought I’d show her that not all the guys were after her. I had the next period free, so I went to Miss Green and asked about her. Once she understood what I was trying to do, she said she’d probably be in the library that period.

“What I didn’t realize then was that she’s mostly taking college prep classes, and she spends the rest of her time in the library. She might still get some attention between classes, but the word’s gone out that she’s engaged and that she’s a friend of the principal’s granddaughter, so I think most of the guys will keep their distance.”

Shelly then said, “I had a free period, too. Jane and I frequently go to the library during our free periods anyway, but this time she said that she had a special reason for going there. When I found out the special reason was another girl, especially one as striking as Claire, I was so bummed.” At that point, Jane pulled her into a hug and just held her for a minute. When she let her go, Shelly continued, “After we talked to her between classes, Jane told me that it wasn’t what it looked like at all. Then at lunch we found out she was already engaged, and to Charley! We all had a good laugh then about their height difference.”