We went camping in Washington at Mt. Rainier National Park! For those of you that read these entries - you were there, so you know what happened. We went to visit O & H in Seattle, among our favorite people to visit! They are so incredibly well equipped for camping. H makes a fire like a boss!
We arrived in Seattle on a Thursday night and got some super scrumptious thai food. We departed late Friday afternoon after running around for provisions. We made it to Rainier in what seemed like longer than it should have been because we ran into traffic. But that was okay, because we made it! We had some time for a short hike to Madcap Falls. We went beyond the falls looking for another waterfall and we might or might not have found it. We turned around after what seemed like we had gone too far away from the water. Somebody estimated we might have doubled our estimated distance for that hike.
The rivers and waterways are so cool in Rainier. There is just so much of it! The forest is so lush and green and vibrant. It is just so different from the dusty and hot and dry places in CA. I loved it! It was mostly overcast and rained on us overnight. We waited with a view of Mt. Rainier in clouds for a little bit and the peak never revealed herself to us until the last day on our way out.
Our full day began a little late and a with a big breakfast. It was as close to gourmet camping as I could think of. I'm not a big breakfast person, so when we go camping just me and A, we don't usually spend too much effort on breakfast. But we had pancakes this time around. Nuts! We went on a hike to Comet Falls and beyond to a meadow with fields of white avalanche lily flowers. That waterfall was huge! There is so much water melting off that mountain, it's amazing! We had been miscalculating off the maps, and it is probably not to scale and there was no scale on the map. We ended up probably with a 6 mile hike, anticipating only 4 at the outset, but it was so nice to hike in the forest and not in the sun on a dusty trail in CA. What a change!
Again we found ourselves among the last groups to tuck in. The RRS was snug as a bug in a rug wrapped in a 0 degree sleeping bag within a 30 degree bag. That kid is a weenie for sure. It was in the upper 40s at night and probably low 60s during the day. We awoke to some glimmers of sunshine our last day. After making it to the Grove of the Patriarchs over a suspicious suspension bridge, we zipped out of the park and pulled aside when we noticed the peak of the mountain making an appearance. The ever elusive Mt. Rainier; we were so lucky to have caught a glimpse.
magnificently tiny,
jt
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