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| Mount Jefferson @ 10,000 ft |
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| Ochoco Mountains |
While driving out of Oregon into Washington, we crossed the Columbia River. This river is wide & long with brown hills lining it's shoreline. Around Maryhill, there are peach & apple orchards along the river so of course, we sampled some of the local fruit. Along the river, in the town of Maryhill, it is quite industrialized. We passed an Alpaca farm on Route 97; the animals were cute, some were white, some red & others were a dark color. We camped @ Maryhill State Park for the night. The temperatures are back in the 90's, the grass @ our campground was brown & dry where they didn't water. Our site was right along the riverbank, the beach was of smooth, rounded stones and the water clear & cool. We checked out some of the local tourist attractions. Stonehenge, a memorial to the WWI soldiers was built & named by the founding father of Maryhill, Samuel Hill. It is a complete replica of the original Stonehenge in England & sits atop a hill overlooking the Columbia River. We wanted to visit Maryhill Museum, but it was closed so we stopped @ Maryhill Winery instead. The winery also overlooks the Columbia River and has an awesome grass outdoor amphitheater. Big names play here but it was empty for our visit. We enjoyed a nice wine tasting & then sat on their patio & sipped some fine red wine & took in the view.
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| our view from our site |
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| Stonehenge in Maryhill WA |
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| Mount Rainier, WA |
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| Reflection Lake, Mt Rainier |
The next morning we drove north to Mount Rainer NP & wow, what a beautiful huge mountain. It is 14, 410 feet high. I don't know whether to call it a Mountain or Volcano. Remember it is No. 3 on the list of the top 10 most dangerous volcanoes. We entered @ the Stevens Canyon entrance & camped in Ohanapecosh campground which is very woodsy with old growth pine trees that are very tall & straight. I love to be amongst the pine needles. We walked to the Visitors Center. The Nature Trail was nearby so we strolled around that & saw and felt a real hot springs. We have a creek running behind our campsite & the Ohanapecosh River is close by. The river has some white water & is very picturesque with a transparent green shade to it. People were jumping off high boulders into the river. We listened to a Ranger talk in the evening @ their amphitheater. There is not a road that runs through the whole park or a trolley system here.
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| Rusty Hot Springs |
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| Silver Falls |
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| Douglas Firs |
We did some major hiking while in Rainier, about 20 miles total & loved every minute of it. On the Silver Falls Trail, we hiked along side the river and through a pine forest filled with Douglas firs, hemlocks & cedar trees. Obviously the fragrance was amazing. We hiked among the Grove of the Patriachs, (old growth pines) along with many other tourists. We watched a few of the 800 bicyclist riding 150 miles in one day, around the perimeter of Mt Rainer. We met Steve, a retired attorney from Olympia WA in the campground & he joined us for cocktail hour @ our site.
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| Silver Falls |
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| Longmire Museum |
We checked out Paradise Inn & the historic National Park Inn which afforded great views of the Mountain while rocking on the front porch. Doug even splurged & ate a big breakfast @ Paradise Inn. We stopped @ Reflection Lake and snapped awe inspiring shots of Mount Rainier & it's reflection on a sunny, bright blue sky day.
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| wildflowers |
Our highlight was hiking the Skyline Trail which took us up a portion of Mount Rainier. The weather was perfect, sunny & warm but not hot. We ascended 2,000 feet in just under 3 miles. There was a lot of snow and where the snow had melted, wild flowers flourished. Purples, yellows, oranges: Doug said he felt like he was in the "Sound of Music". I know why this area is called Paradise. We followed real climbers for a while who were headed for the base camp, which we were close enough to see off in the distance. We slid & slipped along the snow covered trails on the way down, it was so much fun.
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| Marmot in the snow |
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| The Rangers were shoveling the snow |
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| Nisqually Glacier |
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| Myrtle Falls |
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| Narada Falls |
We moved to Cougar Campgrounds in order to see more of the park. The Nisqually River runs through the Longmire area and the water is a milky white due to run off & melting from the Nisqually Glacier. This park has it all: Raging Rivers, Waterfalls, Mineral Springs, Rainforest, Mountains, Volcanoes & Glaciers. In the evenings, it's been cool enough for campfires & great star gazing. The mornings have been cool enough for us to savor some hot chocolate, too.
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| Nisqually River |
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| Carter Falls |
Some of Doug's photos of animals: (disclaimer, some are stuffed)
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a live Marmot
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Our view from Panorama Point:
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| Mount Adams |
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Mount Adams, Mount Hood, Castle Peak, Pinnacle Peak, Plummer Peak
& Mount St Helens in the far distance |
While driving out of Oregon into Washington, we crossed the Columbia River. This river is wide & long with brown hills lining it's shoreline. Around Maryhill, there are peach & apple orchards along the river so of course, we sampled some of the local fruit. Along the river, in the town of Maryhill, it is quite industrialized. We passed an Alpaca farm on Route 97; the animals were cute, some were white, some red & others were a dark color. We camped @ Maryhill State Park for the night. The temperatures are back in the 90's, the grass @ our campground was brown & dry where they didn't water. Our site was right along the riverbank, the beach was of smooth, rounded stones and the water clear & cool. We checked out some of the local tourist attractions. Stonehenge, a memorial to the WWI soldiers was built & named by the founding father of Maryhill, Samuel Hill. It is a complete replica of the original Stonehenge in England & sits atop a hill overlooking the Columbia River. We wanted to visit Maryhill Museum, but it was closed so we stopped @ Maryhill Winery instead. The winery also overlooks the Columbia River and has an awesome grass outdoor amphitheater. Big names play here but it was empty for our visit. We enjoyed a nice wine tasting & then sat on their patio & sipped some fine red wine & took in the view.
The next morning we drove north to Mount Rainer NP & wow, what a beautiful huge mountain. It is 14, 410 feet high. I don't know whether to call it a Mountain or Volcano. Remember it is No. 3 on the list of the top 10 most dangerous volcanoes. We entered @ the Stevens Canyon entrance & camped in Ohanapecosh campground which is very woodsy with old growth pine trees that are very tall & straight. I love to be amongst the pine needles. We walked to the Visitors Center. The Nature Trail was nearby so we strolled around that & saw and felt a real hot springs. We have a creek running behind our campsite & the Ohanapecosh River is close by. The river has some white water & is very picturesque with a transparent green shade to it. People were jumping off high boulders into the river. We listened to a Ranger talk in the evening @ their amphitheater. There is not a road that runs through the whole park or a trolley system here.
We checked out Paradise Inn & the historic National Park Inn which afforded great views of the Mountain while rocking on the front porch. Doug even splurged & ate a big breakfast @ Paradise Inn. We stopped @ Reflection Lake and snapped awe inspiring shots of Mount Rainier & it's reflection on a sunny, bright blue sky day.
Our highlight was hiking the Skyline Trail which took us up a portion of Mount Rainier. The weather was perfect, sunny & warm but not hot. We ascended 2,000 feet in just under 3 miles. There was a lot of snow and where the snow had melted, wild flowers flourished. Purples, yellows, oranges: Doug said he felt like he was in the "Sound of Music". I know why this area is called Paradise. We followed real climbers for a while who were headed for the base camp, which we were close enough to see off in the distance. We slid & slipped along the snow covered trails on the way down, it was so much fun.
