i hiked the WT in 2004, and at the time i found transportation options other than renting a car were very limited. there were shuttles to get you to rainier mountain guides outside the park, but nothing into the park. mt. rainier np is fairly remote, which is why public transportation is somewhat limited, i think. i would suggest that unless that has changed a lot you just rent a car and factor it into the cost of the trip. i live in san francisco bay area and at the time did not own a car, so i rented and drove all the way. didn't have to worry about schlepping gear on a plane and saw a lot en route. the cost difference was negligible. either way you have the convenience of transporting your gear, as well as not worrying about coordinating hooking up at the end. plus you could consider starting at another point. i started at sunrise, leaving the car there. if i recall it was a somewhat softer start(relatively speaking) and ending there was quite spectacular. driving through the park is nice too seeing the various persepcives of mt. rainier. also, if you did that you can drop your cache off at park headquarters in longmire(rather than mail it), which will now be your halfway point, then leave anything you don't need there when you pick it up, and stop back by in the car on the way out. a few less odds and ends to worry about. one more bonus -- when you stop at longmire to get your cache go to the lodge there and have their cinnamon bun. i heard they are legendary and now i know it is a fact. anyway good luck. http://www.pbase.com/slowfoto/wonderland_trail

I'm also trying to deal with the SEATAC to/from RNP transportation issue. The real problem with the car rental idea is that it's a waste of money to leave it parked in RNP while you're on the trail. I'm in Virginia so I have to fly into SEATAC.

I'm looking to do the WT in early October. An alternative transportation idea I was thinking about trying is to make a call to the main Ranger station in RNP. It may be possible to coordinate a ride to/from the airport with a Ranger who is off duty at the time you need the transportation. Heck, I'd rather pay an off duty Ranger for his time & gas than pay AVIS for a car that spent 90% of the rental period parked in RNP.

I was curious to see if there was a way to piece together a public transportation option to MRNP. About the closest you can get to Ashford is Graham - first take a Sound Transit bus from Sea-Tac to Federal Way, then transfer to a Pierce County bus to Graham. You're still 35- 40 miles away from Ashford, but that would reduce the cost of a taxi ride, which would be really expensive from the airport. Once in Ashford, there's a free park shuttle bus to Longmire, though it only runs on the weekends during the summer.

If you have a bunch of people in your group, getting a limo/van from the airport might not be so bad, but it might not be cost effective if it's just a couple of you.

well, good luck. i was merely suggesting that the convenience and time spent would offset the cost of a rental and if there are more than one of you it is even less, not to mention the feeling of going into the luggage you left in your car and getting the clean set of clothing and shoes because everything in your pack is 10 days on the trail and smelling just terrific. have fun and happy trails whatever you do.

Post it at http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/cfrm. There should be a ton of local climbers traveling back and forth on those days and going by the airport from Seattle is fairly simple (or you could hop on the light rail from the airport and meet at another station.) It's mainly an issue of space.

I'd offer but I'm going to be in Squamish on the 2nd and the San Juans on the 11th.

Good luck!