I'd only seen Mt. Rainier from Seattle or from the plane, so seeing it up close was... disappointing? That may sound weird, but it took a while for me see the hugeness of the mountain from up close. We drove in from the Southeast side and crossed all the way along the South side of the mountain towards Paradise (yeah, Paradise is a place at Mt. Rainier National Park).
Rainier
Lacey and I at the Longmire trestle bridge
Sally taking in the beautiful views at the park
A blonde fox that wondered through our campsite
We spent the first night in the park at Cougar Rock campground (yeah, second campground with cougar in its name in a row, weird) and had a great time playing cards and dice, enjoying our fire, and drinking a beer or two.
The next day we set out on a backcountry adventure on the Wonderland Trail. We only had a couple options for trails because of more snow (SURPRISE!) and chose the Southern portion of the trail along the Paradise River. The campsite was nice, the hike was nice, but not enough views of the mountain for us. We did hike up to Narada Falls from our campsite, though, and that was pretty nice despite all the tourists who had much easier access from the parking lot above the falls than we did.
Narada Falls
We only spent one night in the backcountry before heading back out and leaving the park. Another time, much later in the summer, we can come back and explore more. Enjoy some more pictures as we head to Olympic National Park!
Our campsite in the woods
Lacey at Narada Falls
Lacey and I enjoying our tiny table from Gavin & Kristi (Thanks guys!)
Rainier, showing us a perfect cloud cap on our way out of the park
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