Mount Rainier National Park, Washington

Waking up in our tent in a state park just south of the Canadian border, our first thought was of the famous Seattle coffee. Trying to make Salt Lake City the following night as well as check out Mount Rainier en route, we had precious little time to dilly dally and the best coffee we could manage was from a stand in a mechanic's yard outside Tacoma. The coffee was a little disappointing, but better than you would think.

Mount Rainier, on the other hand, was not disappointing at all, and better than both of us thought it would be. Famous for making its own weather, Mt. Rainier is a massive volcanic cone standing at 14,410 feet (just 23 foot shy of Mt. Egbert, the highest peak in the Lower 48). Warm, moisture heavy air flowing east from the Pacific Ocean hits its noble western slopes and is forced upwards, condensing to clouds. This effect produces some monstrous precipitation numbers for the towns on the western flank of the mountain – most famously Paradise, which receives an average of 680 inches of snow in a season and 126 inches of rain annually. In the winter of 1971-2, Paradise received 1,122 inches, a world record. When we passed the mountain on the way to Olympic National Park, it was experiencing its typical weather, hence we couldn't see it, and we expected much the same this time around. We were so lucky then to see it in perfect sunshine – at least for a few hours – and made the most of it with a hasty walk through knee-deep snow to the Nisqually Glacier.

Mount Rainier is the quintessential volcanic mountain because it rises from a relatively flat plain (although it is technically part of the Cascade Mountains that include Mt St Helen, Mt Hood and Mt Baker) with even, gently sloping sides rising to the cone in the middle. There are still 27 major glaciers on its slopes, so it is always white on top. The mountain was first climbed in 1870 by a comically named pair called General Hazard Stevens and Philemon van Trump who were trapped on the mountain overnight and survived by finding an ice-cave that was created by volcanic steam vents. Every year more than 10,000 people attempt the two-day trek over ice and snow fields to the peak and only half of them make it to the top. The mountain was proclaimed a national park in 1899, making it one of the earliest national parks in the U.S. and it remains one of the most popular due to its proximity to Seattle and Portland.

Our trudge through two feet of snow to a viewpoint overlooking the Nisqually Glacier reminded us regularly of the importance of having the right gear – snowshoes in this case – and also how lucky we were to be seeing the mountain at all. Nonetheless, we made it in our hiking boots and managed to survive the smug looks of those better equipped than ourselves. No doubt it is an exquisite walk in summer when the world-renowned wildflowers are out in the alpine meadows and the path easier to locate.

As we watched the sunset on the mountain with a cup of French-pressed Illy coffee, we were struck by the twin realizations that the national parks really is America's best idea, and that coffee is Italy's. How fortunate we are to be able to pick the best of both worlds. Shortly after an easterly wind got up and we could see the clouds forming on the western slopes and dragging the cloak back around the mountain. It was amazing to see this weather pattern so plainly and in such a short period of time. Our drive back down the slopes was marked by this intense fog which brought visibility down to just a few meters.