Lewiston, Idaho to Mt. Rainier National Park Washington

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Saturday May 8, 2021

Drive from Lewiston Idaho to Mt. Rainier National Park Washington

Nice bright sunny day in Lewiston started driving across Washington to Mt. Rainier. The landscape of eastern Washington is mostly large rolling farmland hills. There were so many farms much like the Palouse of Idaho. This is rich volcanic soil so fertile. We followed several rivers (Snake, Columbia) which most likely provide the irrigation for this beautiful farmland. As you get further into the state we saw acres upon acres of vineyards they were stunning. Wineries abound in this area of Washington. Then there were apple orchards as far as you could see. I will think about that every time I eat a Washington apple. As we drew nearer to Mt. Rainier the weather became colder and the mountain was covered with clouds. When the clouds would clear a bit there was fresh snow on all the Ponderosa Pine trees and surrounding mountains. We pulled off for a scenic view and we were treated with two glorious waterfalls called Clear Creek Falls at elevation of 4100 feet. The big fall drops a stunning 228 feet and eventually flowing into beautiful Clear Lake. It is located right after crossing the southern Cascade Mountain White Pass at 5401 feet Most roads into Mt. Rainier are still closed due to snow removal and avalanche hazard. We drove around to the west entrance called the Nisqually Entrance. Not much is open here and we had a very hard time finding a restaurant open or serving more than a few people due to Covid-19 restrictions. These restrictions are the most stringent that we have seen on our vacation. We got some food to go and took it into the National Park and ate at a pull out. We only saw one other person in the park. The park road is only opened to Paradise which is about 15 miles into the park. We will drive to that area and hope to find some snow free trails in the area. It is really a beautiful area and hope to catch a nice glimpse of Mt. Rainier while we are here.

Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for Joy… Psalm 98:8

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Photos

Drive to Mt Rainier
Columnar rock formations

Clear Creek Falls
Bigger Falls

Clear Creek Falls
Bigger Falls

Clear Creek Falls
Top of falls