Fourteenth Stop - Mr. Rainier National Park - July 7 to 9, 2018

Short, beautiful drive from Mt. St. Helens to Mt. Rainier National Park.  BONUS!!  Friends Connie and Bernie met us here.  Bernie recently retired and Connie has been winding down the family business in the Quad Cities, IL as well as other family matters.  They are on a month-long vacation to the Oregon/Washington area, and luckily our paths were able to cross!

Our campsite was in the southwest part of Mt. Rainier - in the Ohanapecosh area.   We had a beautiful site overlooking the Ohanapecosh River.  We short walk away we could get down to the river.  As Bernie coined the phrase and which we repeated many time, "you know, it doesn't get any better than this". 










The Ohanapecosh area of Ranier is known for old-growth forest.  Our first full day, we hiked from the campground to Silver Falls, and on to the Grove of the Patriarchs - old trees.  The falls were gorgeous and the forest makes you feel small.    














The next day, we drove to the Sunset area of the Park.   We first hiked the Glacier trail to the Emmons Moraine Trail.  Mt. Rainier National Park has the highest concentration of glaciers in the 48 states.  Emmons is the largest glacier.  "It doesn't get any better"  than this hike!












After the hike, drove further to Sunset Point.  WOW!  Views all around.  








Continued driving to the Sunset Visitor Center area.  A big cloud had pushed up against Mt. Rainier, and was stuck there.  We did another short hike called Silver Forest.  WOW!  Views of Mt. Rainier and overlooking the Emmons Moraine that we had hiked in the morning.   Wildflowers were blooming in this area, called subalpine.   Doesn't get any better than this!

















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