Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington

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Toured up to Mt. Rainier National Park, passing Mt. St. Helen’s on the way, which unfortunately was shrouded in clouds so we couldn’t see it. Made it to Rainier and discovered it’s early in the season for them (snow still melting at mid and high elevations) so we had no problem getting a campsite. Immediately saw the impact of the huge November 2006 floods which devastated sections of the trails around the park. The park has tons of rivers, and many bridges are still out. Back at camp, we were fascinated and repulsed by the “toilet sink” - is it a toilet or a sink? Seems to be where you’re supposed to wash your dishes, but also requests people to empty their ‘toilet receptacles’ in it - sounds like an invitation for gross things to be deposited in this flushing sink. We tried to be quick and touch as little of the toilet sink as possible. When done with camp maintenance, we toured the park. Great vistas along the road along the southern portion of the park. Cloudy and rainy, but the immediate hills and many cascades, rivers, and glacial deposits were evident. Walked around the Grove of the Patriarchs (bridge out), Silver Falls (bridge out), Box Canyon (bridge in!) which had great mossy rocks covered in wildflowers abutting a steep canyon. Picturesque. Next day made much of the same drive through the park, but the skies had cleared, and (ahhhh) Rainier was towering above us (completely invisible the day before). Amazing mountain, snowy, glaciers, and imposing. Went through Paradise, which was choked with climbers, skiers, and snowboarders lugging their way up to the snow. Got through the park and passed many small towns. Stopped at one dinery place for lunch, where we were amused by the local crowd. One very old woman complained to anyone who would listen that they gave her way too much oatmeal. She even demanded a second bowl so she could empty some out so it wouldn’t offend her sensibilities so much. Big problems to worry about! When we left that scene and tried to get into the northwest corner of the park, we were thwarted by a big accident. Got some crap directions by a woman with a Natty Ice in hand (big surprise) but finally found a chain-smoking woman who gave us correct directions to circumvent the only road showing on our undetailed map. Got to the park and obtained our backcountry permit - used to be a frontcountry campsite, but the road was destroyed by the floods, so now it’s a five mile hike in to stay at the site. The walk in was nice, with big trees dripping with epiphytes, looking bearded in green. Hiked up from there to Carbon Glacier, which was very cool (no pun intended). Covered in soil and trees, and constantly changing before our eyes as chunks fell off while we lunched. Rainier towered in the distance. Tried to go a ways up the trail to get more views, but the clouds rolled in so Rainier again was obscured by clouds and we turned back. On our hike out, we trekked up to Green Lake, a side trail off the road. The lake was very aptly named, as it was a vibrant green and surrounded by the various greens of the verdant vegetation. Quite a nice little hike. From there headed up to Olympia. Fortuitously drove right into downtown and parked across from what turned out to be a delicious Indian restaurant. Found a slightly sketchy looking hotel for a good price (big surprise) and toured the city. Seems a cute town, with nice open space, a bustling downtown, and situated right on the water. From there moved down to Millersylvania State Park, not far from town. Didn’t do much, but took advantage of their good system of running trails. Though we did get reprimanded for going into a members-only section, and I had to wish the man decked out in red white and blue a “happy fourth of july, asshole”. How dare we try to run near their private party at this public park? America, fuck yeah. After we got over the injustice, we took a nice swim in the lake, along with many others enjoying the holiday. From there we took the road to Seattle…

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Comments

[butthead]

Buttface's sister
Hey! Love the pictures. Campfire sweet potatoes mmmmm. I wish I had seen the huge fir trees and liked the tree on a tree picture best. I hear VT has been gloomy lately too, but Alaska has been nothing short of spectacular. We can't swim though. I'm glad you have some warm..er waters to plunge into. I especially like the description of local womenfolk. They would fit in with my lame, Alaskan, dirty, brandy drinkin', drunk by 9am landlord without teeth. I can't stand the SOB. Anyway, lots of America F-yeah moments, good and bad. Hope the sun shines soon. Love Casey