This is an off-trail route. Only come here if your navigation is up to the task of finding your way where there are no trails to follow, and practice Leave No Trace to avoid damaging fragile terrain.

Hang on, what's a biblically significant Turkish mountain doing in a Rainier hiking guide?

Blame Ben Longmire. The grandson of pioneer James Longmire, Ben worked as a park ranger and trail builder. He is responsible for several romantic placenames including Devils Dream, Fishers Hornpipe Creek, and Martha Falls, which is named after his mother.

Frank Brockman wrote in 1932:

The name of this mountain is the result of Ben Longmire's finding [a petrified tree] stump in that section. Mr. Longmire surmised humorously that "That probably was the tree to which Noah tied the Ark" - hence the name.

Most of the distance and elevation gain of this strenuous hike is incurred along the Indian Henry's from Kautz Creek trail. After turning off-trail, the scramble to the top of Mount Ararat is only half a mile with 400' elevation gain. There's no single correct route here - just look at your map and pick an approach where the contours indicate steep rather than cliffs. The easiest option is to continue on the Kautz Creek trail past the east flank of Ararat, then climb it from the east, but in winter (as this hike can work as a snowshoe on days with low avalanche risk) it's probably better to ascend directly from the south.

The summit of Ararat is a wide and flat meadow offering stunning views of the west face of Tahoma. It's a great place to enjoy solitude while soaking in that splendor. The Kautz Creek trail itself is fairly quiet, and the off-trail portion of Ararat even more so.

Mosquitos were awful at the top, and the view was socked in cloud when I arrived there. I spent an hour encased in my rain gear to protect myself from the biters, hoping things would open up, and it paid off.