Trip to Pacific NW
We had a great time in the Pacific Northwest this past week (be sure to check out our photo gallery). We flew into Seattle, rented a sweet electric blue Focus, and then drove to Selah to visit Joan for the weekend. The drive to Selah made for a long day but we stopped into Cle Elum for a late (Eastern time) snack and coffee. After arriving at Joan’s, we quickly hit the sack to prepare for the excitement of the following day- a visit to Mt. St. Helens. The drive to Mt. St. Helens was long, but the trip was well worth it. We got a great view of the newly-growing lava dome from the Johnston Visitor’s Center. It was amazing to see the gaping crater left by the eruption and learn more about the destruction and subsequent regrowth. The drive home was equally long but mostly uneventful save for the elk that darted across the road safely in front of us. The next morning we drove out to Whistling Jack’s Lodge for a yummy breakfast. Joan then took us to the cherry packing plant where we went on a fascinating tour. We got to see the process from the initial cooling wash, sorting, and finally packaging and labeling. Very cool!! We left with a contraband box of delicious cherries. Joan then cooked us some delicious baby back ribs for dinner. Yummy!! We truly enjoyed our weekend visit with Joan and her five dogs (my favorite was Weiner Dog aka Meyer)- thanks Joan!!
The next morning we packed up to head to Mt. Rainier. After accidentally locking ourselves out, we finally got on the road. The drive to the park was long but uneventful. We drove straight to Paradise to get some views of the mountain and some information from the rangers about the various hiking trails. To stretch our hiking legs, we took the short, paved Nisqually Vista loop. Surprisingly, it was still covered with snow virtually the whole way (and we left our hiking boots in the car). The day was clear and we had some awesome views of the mountain. From Paradise, we drove about 45 minutes to exit the park and arrived at Alexander’s Inn, a historic inn that dates back to the early 1900s. We got settled, enjoyed our compimentary wine, and had a lovely dinner. Follwing dinner, we walked through the path behind the inn. Along the pond, we startled a large crane that flew off into a tall tree. After the short walk, we got into our bathing suits and headed for the outdoor hot tub. While enjoying the hot tub, a group of deer came along to munch- two adult females, one adolescent, and two new fawns with spots. They stuck around for quite a while, eating and frolicking. Very cool!! The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the inn, grabbed our box lunches, and headed into the park. Our plan was to do the Skyline Vista loop- a 5.6 mile loop that starts from Paradise (5400 ft.) and climbs up into the mountain with a high point of roughly 7100 ft. There was some low lying clouds that quickly dissipated as we drove higher to Paradise. We had an awesome hike along the Skyline trail- it was steep and mostly snow-covered but the views of the mountain were awesome. We had lunch at the high point and watched other hikers heading to Camp Muir- the 10,000 ft. camp that serves as a staging point for climbers to reach the summit (~14,000 ft.). Following lunch, we started down and finished our hike in about 5 hours. Along the way, we saw deer, marmots, and lots of squirrels and chipmunks. Truly an amazing hike- sure makes you want to climb the mountain. After the long drive down and out of the park, we checked into Nisqually Lodge- our home for the next three nights- and enjoyed some take-out pizza.
We had hoped to do some hiking the next day to get other vistas of the mountain but a low-lying fog that stuck around all day caused us to alter our plans. Instead, we took the quick hike to see Narada Falls and then drove back over to the east side of the park to do some sub-alpine hiking. First we did the short Grove of the Patriarchs hike to see some ancient fir and cedar trees. The trees were immense, especially the ones across the river that have been protected from fires and other destructive forces. We then drove to Ohanapecosh Campground to do the hike to Silver Falls. We ate our lunch and then started the hike- a nice, rolling stroll through the forest. We were greeted with some amazing views of the falls at the halfway point. Following lots of pictures, we continued and finished up the hike. On the long drive across the park, the persistent clounds/fog kept the mountain hidden making us thankful we’d gotten our vista-filled Skyline hike in while the weather was clear. After enjoying the hot tub and a yummy dinner at the Wildberry Inn (awesome pie!!), we settled in for an early evening.
We woke up the next morning with the same weather as the previous day- foggy all over. We had hoped to do the Snow and Bench Lake loop while the mountain was out but went ahead and did it anyway. It was a very nice hike to two alpine lakes deep in the woods. we had also planned to do the Comet Falls hike, but a bridge was out making it a bit dangerous. Based on a ranger’s recommendation, we did a short hike to Martha Falls along part of the Wonderland Trail. The hike was short but all downhill from the road (and thus uphill on the way back). Martha Falls was very neat- a nice falls that you could get right up to. There were even two little bridges across the creek. After taking some pictures, we hiked back up and out. Since the weather hadn’t improved, we drove out of the park. It was a short day and we enjoyed a nice rest back at the Lodge and a yummy dinner at Coppercreek Inn.
Liz woke up the next day and cried, “Blue sky!!” so we decided to head back into the park one last time before driving down to Portland to see John, Nichole, and little Emilia. The weather was awesome so we drove down to Reflection Lakes and got some pictures of Rainier and its reflection in the lake. Very cool!! With the binoculars, we could also see the climbers on their long hike to the summit. After lots of pictures, we drove out of the park and hit the short Twin Firs hike before exiting one last time. What an amazing park!! We certainly got good value from our $15 park entrance fee. We then drove down to Portland- mostly uneventful except for the super slow Burger King and the very slow traffic once we crossed into Oregon due to several accidents (and some mystery slow downs as well). We were excited to see John and Nik and meet little Emilia. She was a bit wary of us at first but warmed up to us quickly. We enjoyed a nice dinner with them before crashing for the day.
The next day we woke up and headed to Silver Falls State Park to do the hike of the 10 waterfalls. Though we didn’t do the entire 9 mile loop, we saw about 7 falls and even got to walk behind a few. Excellent park!! After driving home, we ate some pizza and hung out for a while. Our last day in Portland was great- we had a yummy breakfast (thanks John), the girls did some shopping, and John and I watched the World Cup final and played a little Madden (nothing like two last minutes touchdowns and OT), and watched “Young Frankenstein” (”Put ze candle back”). We went to bed early so we could get up and drive to Seattle for our 6:15 AM flight (it is nice to drive without lots of traffic around). We really enjoyed our visit and look forward to seeing them soon.
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July 21st, 2006 at 4:43 pm
WOW!! The pictures from your trip to WA and Portland are absolutely breathtaking!!! What a great time you both must have had hiking. Please let John and Nichole know that their little girl, Emilia, is beautiful!