Blogs from Mt Rainier, Washington, United States, North America

Today was occupied by a visit to the Hoh Rain Forest and then the drive to Olympia, which was mostly uninteresting (the drive, that is). The rain forest is the finest remaining example of the vast temperate rainforest that once stretched from southeastern Alaska to the central coast of California. From the Kalaloch Lodge, we had to backtrack somewhat to reach the visitor center. If you decide to go, go early in the morning. Otherwise, prepare yourself for a prolonged sojourn in your car waiting for admission as others leave. The origin of the name "Hoh" is lost. Some think it comes from a Native American word meaning"fast flowing river". Since the broad and fast-flowing river divides the land, some think the name comes from a Native American word meaning boundary. A third explanation is that ... read more

8/3 The Alexander’s Lodge and Inn included breakfast (7am to 9:30am) we chose the 7am to get on the mountain early. The breakfast was all self serve. Coffee, tea, and apple juice were at a table station. You help yourself to bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and cooked potatoes in steamer trays. Yogurt, hard boiled eggs, a waffle maker, bagels, toast and English muffins were also available but there was no visible staff. There was plenty to eat but not the quality I had expected thinking we would be at an inn with a restaurant, a chef would be on staff here. It turns out it was not that kind of inn. This breakfast was no different than a major motel chain breakfast. We left Alexander Lodge around 8:15am for Mount Rainier National Park entering from the ... read more

8/2 On our last morning in Hood River, Debbie made a breakfast of French toast accompanied by real maple syrup. Homemade blueberry and strawberry sauces were set on the table along with a bowl of scrambled eggs and a plate of chicken sausage. As we left, our host Don kindly gave us a large bag of fresh picked, not organic but delicious, Hood River cherries for our next journey. Once again we were dissuaded on going somewhere, this time to The Dalles and again I am glad I didn’t listen. By 9:30am we were driving east on 84 to the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center following the Columbia River all the way. The wide open desert like landscape was in contrast to the heavily treed region along route 30, but a welcoming sight to me since I ... read more

Die letzten Tage war Wandern am Mt. Rainier angesagt. Mt. Rainier steht zwar mitten in den Cascade Mountains und sollte daher eigentlich ein Berg unter vielen anderen sein; aber er ist vulkanischen Ursprungs, und so steht dort immer ein riesiger, 4.400 m hoher Kloben heraus. Man sieht ihn sogar von der Küste aus als großen eisbedeckten Monolithen herumstehen. Am ersten Tag haben wir eine Wanderung zu 7 verschiedenen subalpinen Seen gemacht. Mt. Rainier hat sich hier mal im Hintergrund gehalten, aber die Wiesen und Seen waren auch so einfach schön. Das fand wohl auch Familie Schwarzbär (Mutter und Kind), die auf einer Wiese unterwegs waren. Wir konnten sie eine Weile unbemerkt beobachten. Unsere Strategie mussten wir erst ändern, als sie sich in Richtung unseres Weges bewegt haben - vor uns lag der Weg im schlecht einsehbaren ... read more

Todays adventure was heading south to Mt Rainier - a sleepy volcano about 70 miles south of Seattle. We went far enough into the park to get a great view of the snow covered mountain peak and then headed back out of the park to catch our train trip and BBQ on the Mt Rainier Scenic RR. Beautiful sunny day with just enough breeze. The RR trip was a bit different than the one we took with them 10 years ago ending at a different spot with food, music, some train engines and other units to walk around, and a mock up of a logging camp. Boys topped the day with swimming in the pool.... read more