A few weeks ago, Kerrie and I realized that we had a few weekend coming up so we made a last minute decision to head up to Mt. Rainier National Park. About 2.5 hours north of Portland, this national park was much too close to have never been visited by either of us.
We contemplated putting the platform in Ellie the Element, but instead opted for the easier and traditional tent camping arrangement. We loaded up most of the gear Thursday night so we only had a minor packing Friday after work.
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| Kerrie is actually driving, wahoo! |
We made a few pit stop on the way North deciding to take Dirty 30 (Hwy 30 to the non-Portlanders) instead of I-5 due to heavy traffic getting out of town. Just out of town, Kerrie told me that on our previous camping trip with a bunch of co-workers she had tried some Bulliet Bourbon and actually like it. Now Kerrie doesnt typically drink whiskey, which is sad, but after hearing this, I bee lined it straight to the nearest liquor store to pick up a bottle. Whiskey!
We got in late and ended up getting a decent spot at the Cougar Rock Campground. The next day we did the Skyline Loop, which was pretty amazing as the weather was clear and sunny. It was very cool to be so high on such a large mountain. Hopefully one day, I'll get a chance to climb it.
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| Paradise Inn |
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| Sorry, couldnt get enough of the Tatoosh Range |
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| Not a bad view for a lunch spot |
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| THE HIGH LIFE, kicking myself that I didn't bring a Rainier. Doh! |
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| Don't feed the wildlife |
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| Lots of day hikers were traversing this sketchy snowfield in tennis shoes. After scoping it out, much to Kerrie's dismay, I decided to take the safer, but longer route around. |
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| Great day in the mountains! |
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| Getting the fire going. According to Kerrie, "It's not camping without a campfire." |
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| Getting the foilbombs ready, aka Hobo Dinner. I would also like to point out that Kerrie is actually wearing her headlamp. She's come a long way. |
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| Kerrie has taken up watercoloring, which has been a fun addition to the typical camping practices. |
The next day we did an out-n-back to Bench Lake and Snow Lake. It was very odd to have fall colors in 75 degree temperatures. Bench Lake was great because it had a spectacular view of Rainier, while Snow Lake was tucked into a little cirque in below the Tatoosh Range.
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| Starting the day with a history lesson. |
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| Bench Lake |
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| Snow Lake |
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| Mountains! Yeah! |
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| Narada Falls |
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| Finally on the Wonderland Trail |
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| Loo with a view. I don't know why I have a fascination with backcountry bathroooms, but this one isn't too shabby. |
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| On the drive out, Kerrie and I contemplate visiting every National Park in the US. Which turns out is quite the challenge because there are 59 of them spread all the way from Alaska to American Samoa. Totally worth it thought. Here's to the first one we've visited together. |
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| Spectacular sunset on the way home. This photo doesn't do it justice. |
On the way out of the park, Kerrie dropped me off on the Wonderland trail, allowing me to get a few additional running miles in. Wonderland is great and I ran on running around the mountain someday over a few days.
All in all it was a great last minute trip and is definitely an area that we will need to come back and explore more thoroughly.
UNT
Bryan
