With the wedding approaching fast, we realized we could only squeeze in one more camping trip before the big day. We wanted to continue our impromptu 2016 National Park tour, so we headed to Mt. Rainier. It was too late find reservations for a camping spot in the park, but we found a nice place about an hour south of the mountain next to Riffe Lake in Taidnapam Park. Saturday morning, we drove up to Sunrise Visitor Center and did the Burroughs Mountain Hike, visiting the highest point in the park that you can reach on a maintained trail. The views of the mountain’s glaciers and the White River Valley were unbelievable. (The pictures don’t do justice to just how huge the mountain is. We hiked to around 7460 feet and the summit was still about 7000 feet over our heads.)
The next day, we tried to extend our lucky streak of great weather when we head to the mountains by visiting Mt. St. Helens on our way home. Unfortunately, our luck ran out, and we didn’t get to see the mountain, but we did get some nice views of Spirit Lake and the pumice plain where the forest was completely blown away by the eruption. We made it home late Sunday afternoon and completed another great trip in RC, our faithful Westy.
