We managed to squeeze in one final camping trip in at the end of September before the weather got too rainy again and Tyler had to be back at school. We have wanted to visit Mt. Rainier since we got to Portland, so we are happy we finally got there. It vastly exceeded our expectations, and we were just sad we only had one night there. The National Park was immaculate. We forgot how awesome National Parks are. We plan to head back with our snowshoes ASAP.
This was one of my favorite hikes we have done in a very long time. While it was pretty steep for my liking, it was absolutely gorgeous with so many scenery changes in only a few miles. We had snow, green fields, wild flowers galore, and rocky volcanic areas.
Getting ready to go UP. Fast.
We made it to the top where the view was amazing, but it was FREEZING cold.
We went crazy over the wild flowers. We took about 10,000 pictures of them. It was by far the most beautiful hike with wild flowers I have ever seen. They were everywhere and made the whole hike smell incredible. We were in awe the whole time.
We love camping and the time it allows us to just sit and talk late into the night. It is so relaxing and revitalizing. It thought about raining on us, but luckily waited until the middle of the night to really get going. Sadly, the rain cut our trip a bit short so instead of hiking on our second day we just visited some cool little pull offs before heading home.
We walked down to one of the washes surrounding the mountain. While very different than the greenery from our hike the day before, it was beautiful in its own way as well. 
We saw some beautiful waterfalls just off the road.
We walked around a few of the many lakes at the base of Rainier. The mosquitoes were awful, so we didn't spend as much time near the water as we wanted to.
We took a little 1/2 mile hike through the Grove of the Patriarchs (or something along those lines) where we saw some pretty serious cedar trees. The smell of the forest during the rain is about the best thing ever. Especially when the trees are cedar. 
We had a fabulous weekend. Our break could not have gone better. If you ever have a chance to get to Mt. Rainier, we highly recommend you go. It was fantastic.
This was one of my favorite hikes we have done in a very long time. While it was pretty steep for my liking, it was absolutely gorgeous with so many scenery changes in only a few miles. We had snow, green fields, wild flowers galore, and rocky volcanic areas.Getting ready to go UP. Fast.We made it to the top where the view was amazing, but it was FREEZING cold.We went crazy over the wild flowers. We took about 10,000 pictures of them. It was by far the most beautiful hike with wild flowers I have ever seen. They were everywhere and made the whole hike smell incredible. We were in awe the whole time.We love camping and the time it allows us to just sit and talk late into the night. It is so relaxing and revitalizing. It thought about raining on us, but luckily waited until the middle of the night to really get going. Sadly, the rain cut our trip a bit short so instead of hiking on our second day we just visited some cool little pull offs before heading home.We walked down to one of the washes surrounding the mountain. While very different than the greenery from our hike the day before, it was beautiful in its own way as well. We saw some beautiful waterfalls just off the road.We walked around a few of the many lakes at the base of Rainier. The mosquitoes were awful, so we didn't spend as much time near the water as we wanted to.We took a little 1/2 mile hike through the Grove of the Patriarchs (or something along those lines) where we saw some pretty serious cedar trees. The smell of the forest during the rain is about the best thing ever. Especially when the trees are cedar. We had a fabulous weekend. Our break could not have gone better. If you ever have a chance to get to Mt. Rainier, we highly recommend you go. It was fantastic.
5 comments:
Summer vaca 2012? Of course you know who might spoil it. It all looks great. We have got to do it though.
gorgeous pictures!
I LOVE wildflowers so much! Great pictures!
now I know who to go to for all sorts of recommendations with fun things to do around here :) Love the pics...gorgeous!
You guys have become like, full blown tree huggin hippies..
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