We awoke today to heavy overcast and fog. Our decision was to make our way over to Mt. Rainier NP and seek low altitude and indoor activities. We started at the Stevens Canyon entrance and hiked a couple shorter trails, the Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls; couple miles round trip each. The GoP was a collection of really old and very large trees; Douglas Firs, Hemlock and Cedar. Some of these old boys are over 1000 years in age and over 5 feet in diameter. It was amazing also to see where these behemoths had fallen from wind or being dead. The forest is very moist with many varieties of fungus, moss, and lichen everywhere. It was almost spooky. A couple of pictures follow.
Across the street, on the Eastside trail, was the route to Silver Falls, about 1 mile away. The trail was pretty flat until the turnoff for the falls where it drops to river level. Silver Falls was another cascading falls. The canyon was very scenic, and the falls were pretty.
The mountain is still socked in. There appears to be a real possibility we will visit Mt. Rainier National Park, but not see Mt. Rainier. Have a look at these pictures and see what we mean. Mt. Rainier is over 14,000 feet high with 25 active glaciers. We understand it is more common not to see the mountain due to clouds and fog. Paradise, a location directly south of the mountain, gets on average 54 feet of snow. As you guessed, all that snow doesn't melt at high altitudes thus forming glaciers.
Mt Rainer became a National Park in 1899, the fifth NP. The mountain is an active volcano, having erupted 10,000 years ago. It and St. Helen are part of the "Ring of Fire" that encompass the Pacific rim. It is also the first park to experiment with allowing people to drive their own vehicles. We know how that worked out! The park was a zoo today. No parking to be found at most of the popular areas.
We finished up in Longmire, at the western side of the park. This area was the original entrance in 1899. Longmires were the first people involved with the park and built a Lodge. Unlike some other NPs, the railroads did not have tracks out here and did not build the lodges. They have a museum and restored stuff from the park's early days. Well, we are about to head "home" and now it's clearing.
August 12, 2013 - Monday
It's again cloudy and we cannot see the mountain. So our plan today is to take a drive to Mt St. Helens. Although we were strongly considering the drive to Johnson's Ridge, it's like 300 miles RT. If the clouds don't lift we will be bummed. So plan B, we'll go to Windy Ridge, about 70 miles RT, then back to Rainer if it's clear.
You all recall Mt St Helen blew her top, actually her north side, in 1980 sending ash all over the place. Now, 30 years later, the area is recovering. There is substantial tree and plant growth. The lakes are recovering as well. The devastation is still apparent where trees standing are gray/white. Others are uniformly knocked over in a single direction, from the blast. The blast gas was 800 F. The ash deposited 200 feet thick and devastated 270 sq mi of forest. Spirit Lake, site of Harry Truman's lodge, was filled with first ash, then mud as all 8 feet of snow melted instantly. Some pictures follow.
Off to Mt Rainer for a quick visit. Now that we can see it, this place is beautiful. Being late in the day most of the crowds have gone home. We took a walk to Nisqually Glacier Overlook at Paradise. This glacier is still active and looks more like a big dirt ball than ice.
Headed to the Gorge tomorrow.
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