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Daily Reports, Day 1
Sunday, August 29
After nearly two weeks of rain-free weather in Seattle, on this morning I awakened to drizzle and thick, low clouds. From Queen Anne Hill, the Space Needle is barely visible, let alone Mount Rainier. Ordinarily, I would choose another day to begin a 13-day hike around Mount Rainier National Park's 95-mile Wonderland Trail. This, however, is a public hike, a high-tech trek, filled with pre-arranged obligations to file daily reports of my trip's progress for The Seattle Times and for a radio station (KIRO-AM). Shushing a voice of internal anxiety, I complete a flurry of last-minute duties. I drive to the Nisqually entrance of the park and feel relieved when I find no rain falling at Longmire (elevation 2,800 feet). At 3:45 p.m., beneath cloudy skies that keep the nearby mountain obscured from view, I take my first steps.
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