Call us crazy, but with the way our luck has been going, maybe it wasn’t a good idea to go riding around an active volcano, but we did. It was on our “list of to do’s”.
Spectacular! Spectacular! Spectacular! Have you heard me say this before? Have you heard me say this before about a National Park??
The slide show below is only a sampling of the 100 plus photos I took today.
Our original plan was to drive to Sunrise point, via Hwy 410, in Mount Rainier National Park. We were going to do three hikes, the 0.5 mile walk around Tipsoo Lake, the 1.5 Sunrise Point Nature Trail loop and a few miles of the Palisades Lakes Trail.
E T cannot be left alone. She still has stitches and open wounds from the drainage tubes. So, we changed our hiking plans to a “road tour”. Instead of just going to Sunrise Point and hiking, we drove the 100 plus miles around Mount Rainier National Park. We had the whole day to do it and E T loves going for a ride. It worked out PERFECT. We were treated to one spectacular view after another. The road around the park is steep at times, twisty, turning, switchbacks, elevations ranging from a few hundred feet to 6,000 plus ft. Not as narrow as the Going To the Sun Road at Glacier or as steep as the Trail Ridge Road at Rocky Mountain National Park, but still quite a tricky ride. Starting at Sunrise and going clockwise to the Nisqually Entrance, a lot of the “thrilling” (aka cliff/no guardrail) side of the road were on the oncoming traffic side. I like being on the mountainside 🙂
There were plenty of pull offs and lots of roadside areas where we could take E T out of the car. She had a LOT of people interaction and sympathy. She is really starting to milk it 🙂 My concern now is “doggie interaction”.
It wouldn’t be fair of me to compare Glacier National Park to Mount Rainier National Park. We didn’t camp at Mount Rainier and we only did a driving tour, but if you only had one day and one choice, hands down I would recommend Mount Rainier.
I posted a couple of photos of the helicopter/firefighter efforts used to stop and/or control the fires out here. It’s one thing to watch on TV, but when you see the efforts in action, it puts into perspective that this is a lifestyle that these heroic men and women battle with on a continuous basis. I’ve had the opportunity to talk to a few volunteers and I was very impressed with their dedication.
Next Stop the Pacific Coast Highway
How beautiful everything is! ET looks contented with David, too.
Rich and I have great memories of our trip down the Pacific Coast Highway. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. You’ll really see the results of the drought as you follow the Russian River. It was dry in 2008′ must be negligible now! The redwoods, dunes and views were spectacular! We wished we had rented a convertible!!!
Have a great time and we miss you!
Kathy