- COVID and Fire Tour 2020 — Introduction
- A quick stop at Mt. Rainier
- A short visit to Mt. Hood
- An interesting (and largely eventful) time at Newberry National Volcanic Monument
- Lava Beds National Monument
- Fire Evasion!
- Avoiding Vegas — and loving it!
- Kickin’ Route 66 and the Grand Canyon
- Migration — Communities that share the land on their way to somewhere (like us!)
- Red Rockin’ Utah’s (and a little of Arizona’s) National Parks and Monuments
- The journey home and final thoughts
It’s a little weird — we’ve lived in WA state since 2009, have been to the other national parks in the state multiple times, and yet this was our first trip to Mt. Rainier. I suspect it’s because you always see it in western WA — it’s an icon, rising to 14,410 feet above sea level, and reminding you that it is an active volcano that could devastate cities like Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia. But it’s so much more. It’s the most glaciated mountain in the lower 48 states, has gorgeous subalpine meadows, and is surrounded by old growth forests. Sadly, because we lost a couple of days with a delay in getting our solar panels installed, we could only scratch the surface of this jewel, but we thoroughly enjoyed our brief time here.
We arrived in the late afternoon after an unseasonably overcast and cool day. Luckily, the clouds parted and we got our first up close view of Rainier. It had a large lenticular cloud as a crown. Since we came in the less trafficked northeast side of the park, there were very few people. Our first stop was at Tipsoo Lake, which sits in a glacier-carved basin. It was our first sampling of the wildflower meadows that are dotted all over the park. While we were past peak for the flowers, they were absolutely beautiful. We ended up spending the night in Wenatchee National Forest, just a short distance outside the park, where we enjoyed the quiet and continued arranging our rig for the long trip ahead.
On the second day, we headed to one of the more popular areas in the Park — Paradise. Along the way, we stopped off to look at Box Canyon (it’s actually a slot canyon that is 180 feet below the road bed). We also stopped to hike a short way along the Wonderland Trail (probably the most popular trail in the park) to get down to Lake Louise. There were only two other hikers at the lake. It was really quiet! We also stopped the the Reflection Lakes. Because of the wind, they weren’t “reflecting” the peak that day, but were still beautiful.
Once we arrived in Paradise, we discovered where all the people were — the place was packed. Sadly, the visitor’s center, lodge, and pretty much everything else was closed down due to COVID. Even more sad, a number of people didn’t wear masks or maintain any type of social distancing. It turns out that masks aren’t required in national parks, which is an unfortunate (but not surprising) decision. Anyway, this is where some of the truly beautiful alpine meadows are, all framing Mt. Rainier. We hiked up to Myrtle Falls, but couldn’t do more because we had to hit the road.
On our way way out of the park, we stopped off to see Narada Falls which drops 188 feet to the river below. The trail to the base was not in good repair and was pretty slippery, but the views are worth it.
But as we have seen on the trip so far, plans don’t always go as intended. Today, the truck’s air conditioner decided to give up the ghost. Given that we are slowly working our way to the desert, that is not a good condition to be in. Consequently, we have diverted to Portland to get it repaired. Then on to Mt. Hood!
This entry was posted in National Park/Monument, Travel, United States, Washington
I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.
