Monday, August 1, 2011

August 1 – To Mount Rainier


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An fairly easy drive to our campground just outside of Mount Rainier National Park.

On the way we crossed the replacements to the infamous Tacoma Narrows Bridge that vibrated itself to death many years ago. It also gave one of our earliest views of the mountain.

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It was about a 4 hour drive, mostly on easy 2 or 4 lane highways. Not much scenery to look at. There was one section about 10 miles long that was back to a long set of 20 mph hairpins. Ah, memories of the coast highway.

The campground is very nice, heavily forested, good WIFI but no view for our satellite dish so no TV for a week.

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The weather gods are still smiling on us. The forecast is for clear skies all week with temperatures at the campground in the mid 20s Celsius. I was talking to the owner and she said the weather just turned for the better. They had weeks in July where the weather was so bad people never actually got a view of the mountain.

The problem is that since the weather just got warm there is still a lot of snow at the higher elevations. At the main location that everyone goes to, called Paradise, which is at 5400 feet, all the trails are still closed,  buried under 8 feet of snow.

There are many other parts of the park to explore so I am sure we will keep busy.

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