June 2012

Mount Rainier: Longmire

After all of the rain on the Olympic National Park coast, we decided to head to Mount Rainier (and even more rain!).  It was rainy on our drive in, and Mount Rainier eluded us the entire trip.  We did manage to get some great hikes in before we left though!

Entering Mt. Rainier National Park

First, we drove up to the Paradise area and found SNOW!  It was a nice pretty awesome to leave 100+ degree weather and to encounter snow in Washington!

We quickly realized we weren't equipped for any snow hikes (and were not going to see Mt. Rainier anytime soon with all of the fog, so we headed back down the mountain to the Longmire area.  Instead of camping (in the cold weather + rain), we booked a room at the lodge.

Where we stayed the night

Then we decided to do an evening hike (as it stays light in Washington until well past 9:00 PM).  We hiked a very small section of the Wonderland Trail and then the Rampart Ridge Trail.  These trails totaled about 4.4 miles as we climbed to 4035 ft.  We saw some beautiful scenery and completed one of Aaron's favorite hikes ever!

Me at a viewpoint...normally you can view Mt. Rainier behind me.

Aaron on the trail

After hiking, we headed back to our room to plan some morning hikes and to get a good night's rest.