On a clear day in Tacoma, Mt. Rainier is hard to miss. You walk out of the door or glance in a certain direction, and it takes your breath away. It’s enormous and beautiful and intimidating, and when I unexpectedly had a free afternoon on a work trip to Joint Base Lewis-McChord not too long ago, I felt like I had to drive over there.

Luckily, I did read a little bit about Mt. Rainier before I laced up my hiking boots, and I learned that only the southwest entrance was open in March. Unfortunately, I didn’t learn until I entered the park that there is a gate on that road that closes at 6 p.m. each day — and they are serious about it. They close the gate going north at 5 p.m. and the road south at 6 p.m., and the woman at the ranger station told me the people with the keys go home.

I was kind of terrified of getting stuck on the mountain, so I didn’t do any hiking north of the gate that closes — I just hopped out for a minute or two at a few spots to take photos.

The views were absolutely incredible, and I wish I had been able to spend a little more time enjoying them.

Even though the clouds were covering the top of the volcano, it was still pretty spectacular. There was quite a bit of snow up at the Paradise visitor’s center, but I only had about five minutes to walk around up there, so it wasn’t a big deal.

As I was on my way down from the top, I noticed a few cars of people who were still headed up, and didn’t seem to be in any hurry. I thought that was kind of weird, but figured they were staying up near the visitor’s center or something. Then, I parked my car just south of the gate (with time to spare) and went on a little walk on a short trail nearby.

When I finished the short loop, I saw that the gate was closed… and there were five or six cars stuck behind it. Whoops! Luckily, there is an inn, restaurant and store very close to the gate, so even if the drivers couldn’t find someone to open the gate, they wouldn’t have to sleep in their cars overnight! Seriously, though: If you don’t want to be stuck on a mountain, you should probably read signs, listen to the national park information radio station and follow the directions.

I was also lucky that there was plenty to do south of the early-closing gate, because I had about two hours of sunlight left. I decided to walk/hike around a little bit on a few of the short trails, and was planning on watching the sun set in a place the ranger had recommended.

But, after exploring for a while, I realized that the clouds were covering the area where the sun would set, and I would have to drive the rest of the way down the mountain in the dark. So I left a little early.

If you go, I would HIGHLY recommend you poke around the Mt. Rainier website ahead of time, and make sure you have a plan, some water, a few snacks and a camera (at a minimum). There are plenty of short, not-too-challenging trails to explore, as well as longer, more intimidating trails if you’re a more experienced hiker. And make sure you leave some time for driving up and down the mountain — it’s kind of big.