Weekly Recap: Mt. Rainier Camping Trip

Long-winded recap of our camping trip to Mt. Rainier National Park. This post could have been much longer.  This park is magnificent, and it was really hard to narrow down the pictures (I think posted 38 of them on FB!). 

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Day 1: We arrived at our campsite at Ohanapecosh a few hours later than we planned, which scrapped any hiking we might have wanted to do. That turned out to be something of a shame, since the nicest weather we had was on Sunday. We got our only glimpse of Mt. Rainier on the drive in.

While they waited "patiently" for the tent to be set up and the chili to be ready, the kids invented a "fun" game called Huggies. It sounds nice - it's not. They take turns "hugging" each other, which seemed to involved grabbing the other and shoving them around the campsite. It figures - of course they turned hugging into a violent sport.

Clockwise from top left: Mt. Rainier;
kids at the campsite; views from the drive in.

Day 2: After a long struggle, Nicholas begrudgingly fell asleep in the tent and actually did very well overnight. Both nights, so we are calling that a win! A toddler in the campsite across from us screamed at night and in the mornings, but we were just so relieved that it wasn't ours that it wasn't an issue for us. It was quite a bit chillier this morning.

After breakfast, we headed to the trail to the Grove of the Patriarchs. We needed a few layers to be comfortable - short sleeve shirt, long sleeve shirt, coat or sweater. The Grove of the Patriarchs is magnificent - a cool suspension bridge to cross, trees over a thousand years old to marvel at, etc. Color the kids unimpressed. Nicholas was fixated on the promise of a Pop tart at the end of the hike, and Anna was extremely unhappy about the prospect of having to cross the bridge twice. Next time I'll just leave those butts in the car.

We decided to see how crowded the parking lots at Paradise were since this hike was short. The lower lot was largely empty, so we parked and dragged the kids on the short Nisqually Vista Loop. This trail boasts stunning views of Mt. Rainier and a glacier... In clear weather. We had clouds, more clouds, and fog. The trail is still pretty, with some late summer wildflowers still hanging on, but morale was low. It was cold, damp, and very gray.

The views! The glacier, the mountains, the valley...Nope, just fog.

Afterward we had a late lunch at a picnic area, where we saw a deer wandering among the tables and had to constantly shoo some very aggressive birds away from our lunch. We sat in the parking lot for a long time, since we were at a high enough elevation for cell service, and Ben talked to the insurance people before we went back to the campsite. Well, almost back to the campsite.

Ben and I were not prepared to waste the rest of the day at camp, so we pulled over at Box Canyon and checked it out. On the way back to the car, we saw a trailhead for the Wonderland Trail, and on a whim decided to hike it for awhile. This was the densest forest we saw in the park, and it was just lovely. We did not see another human being while we were out there. The kids were... unenthusiastic. It was a little too much for them at the end of the day, so we had some angry tears (Anna) and tired legs (Nicky).

Wonderland Trail

Day 3: We got up around 7, for which we were grateful (there was some concern the kids would get up much earlier). It took longer than expected to pack up the campsite, which should probably have been expected. Anna and Nicky played a little hide and seek, during which Nicholas pressed his face against a tree trunk and got the world's stickiest sap on his face. Almost a week later and you can still see it on his cheek.

Before heading home, we did our longest hike - the Naches Peak Loop Trail. Spoiler alert: this was a mistake, saving this for the last day. It was my favorite of the hikes we did though, even in the fog and clouds and barely 40 degrees and the general lack of scenic vistas. It's supposed to be a very popular trail, but given that we were there on a freezing cold Tuesday, we didn't see many people other than some thru-hikers on the PCT.

It was quite cold on the last day. One park ranger commented to us in passing "hope you're enjoying this winter day in August!" He wasn't kidding.

With the kids, and a stop for lunch, this 3.5 mile loop took almost 4 hours, which was longer than any of us anticipated. Anna cried for the first mile and a half (she had to cross a bridge, and then she kept tripping and scaring herself). Nicholas did great on the first half, but then at some unspoken agreement he and Anna switched roles for the last 1.5 miles. He cried inconsolably after lunch for a long time, until he was put in the hiking backpack, where he promptly passed out.

Clockwise from top left: Naches Peak Loop Trail; tired toddler;
finally done at Tipsoo Lake; showing off my new hiking shirt

Anna decided in the last mile that life wasn't that bad, and we were rewarded at the end of our hike by a mountain goat sighting. Some park rangers were all standing around trying to photograph them, and one said after almost 20 years of living and working out there, this was only the second time he saw the goats. I didn't even try to photograph them, as it would just have looked like some tiny white dots on the hillside, so you'll have to take my word for it.

We loaded up in the car, stopped at a gas station outside the park for very expensive gas and candy, and drove away from some of the most gorgeous country I've seen. Arrived home around 5, just in time to order the traditional "post hiking" pizza, and collapsed in bed.

Fin.

#highfive #mtrainier #hikingwithkids

P.S. In case you can't read the print, my shirt says "Proud Member of the Out of Breath Hiking Club," which is a 100% accurate statement. I had to take a selfie in it since it never made it into any photos - it was hidden under multiple layers of long sleeved shirts and coats!