The purpose of this weekly feature is to share some of the places we’ve been. They are places that stay with us for one reason or another. Our Favorite Place this week: Mount Rainier
I’ve mentioned quite a few times now that I have a real thing for mountains. This is one to send anyone over the top. Mount Rainier can be seen for miles and miles. The closer you get to the mountain, the more impressive it is.
Where is this mountain, you ask? It is east of Seattle in Washington state. It’s approximately 60 miles away. It makes a nice day trip but better yet is a stay of several days or a week or two.
What can you do in Mount Rainier? Besides just the incredible mountain gazing, this is a great place for all sorts of outdoor activities. Hiking is possible on the Wonderland Trail. That is a 93 mile trail that circles the mountain and crosses old growth forests and subalpine meadows with beautiful wildflowers.
No, we did not hike that trail but I do have some pictures of some of their wildflowers. We saw a section of an alpine meadow that had been severely over-used. The area is strictly off-limits except from a distance. It was interesting to see how the plants, grasses and flowers are very slowly coming back to life.
Mount Rainier is a great place to camp with tents or small RVs. Our RV is too big (36 feet long) for any of their campgrounds but Mount Rainier is surrounded by numerous forests managed by the National Forest Service. We stayed at one of their campgrounds, Iron Creek.
If you are on a quest to see the National Parks, put Mount Rainier on that list. The scenic drives, the hiking, the interesting geology makes this park spectacular. I like it for the mountain air.
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NORTHERN CALLIFORNIA
Mt Ranier looks absolutely gorgeous. I forget how beautiful so me places in the States are.
What beautiful scenes. Thankyou for sharing.
The pictures are great. When we went to Seattle, the whole time the mountain wasn’t “out” as they say, until our last day. So I wasn’t even looking and my husband just said, “turn around,” and whoa! There it was! What a sight! Thanks for bringing back the fun memory!
Lovely photos. I miss the Pac NW.
You would get along great with my hubby. He is from the mountains and really misses them. Whenever we’re in the mountains, he’ll say his “soul is refreshed.”
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I’ve never seen a mountain that large and looming – how awesome!