Day 1 - Wednesday 7/25/2018 - Travel to Mount Rainier NP and Drive the Park
Brian and I woke up 4:45 AM and left the house by 5:20 for the airport. We had a 7:45am departure on United Airlines for Seattle, Washington, arriving at 10:15am. Our name was called and we were asked if we would move to an exit row as a kid had been placed in that row and they were trying to sit the mom and kid together, YAY for extra leg room for the 4hr flight! The guy that had window next to me was from Brenham, Texas and was going to look at a car to buy in Seattle and then if all goes well, drive it back for his wife. Talk about along drive but it would be a cool one to do! As we were coming into Seattle we saw Mt. Rainier from the plane, what a spectacular sight! We landed, got our bag and then headed over to an offsite Enterprise in Redmon (cheaper than at the airport) via Uber where my brother, Scott was going to meet us. He flew in the night before on Alaskan airlines out of Kansas City. We had rented a small suv and used one of Brian’s free upgrades to get a mid sized suv, a brand new Hyundai Santa Fe. We hit the Walmart near the Enterprise for supplies and then headed south, stopping at TacoBell for lunch. We were so excited to start exploring the park!
I plotted a course that took us 2/3rds a way around the rim of the park, going from the airport to Sunrise at the east side of Rainier then down to the south east corner, then over to Ashford on the southwest side going through Paradise. This allowed us to get a feel for the park, as well as do several of the pull outs and the short hikes to see Christine Falls and Narada Falls. Those waterfalls were nice pull offs with short hikes / walks so it was a good chance to do them. We also drove through the popular Paradise Park and saw how crowded the park could get!
I plotted a course that took us 2/3rds a way around the rim of the park, going from the airport to Sunrise at the east side of Rainier then down to the south east corner, then over to Ashford on the southwest side going through Paradise. This allowed us to get a feel for the park, as well as do several of the pull outs and the short hikes to see Christine Falls and Narada Falls. Those waterfalls were nice pull offs with short hikes / walks so it was a good chance to do them. We also drove through the popular Paradise Park and saw how crowded the park could get!
We got to our BnB, Alexander’s Lodge just outside of the park at about 4:00 PM. We checked in and were very happy that the rooms have window AC unit. It was pretty hot all day during our drive and the heat just drove home the fact to get out and hike early in the day on this trip. We drove into Ashford and got some beers at BaseCamp bar which looks like was the actual base for the guides that take groups up to the 14000 ft summit of Rainier. We talked some with a slightly older couple from Dallas, who recommended eating at Copper Inn which we passed on our way from our Lodge to Ashford. So we went there for dinner and got to sit on their back patio under a canopy of huge trees for dinner. It was a relaxing and pretty atmosphere and the food was good too! We then headed back and crashed by 9:00 PM Seattle time.
Safe Travels,
B&E
Safe Travels,
B&E