Destination: Mount Rainier & Mount St. Helens, Washington

Wrapping up our road trip this summer, my family and I spent the last two nights exploring the natural wonders of two, well-known mountains– Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens– of the Cascade Range. Both visits would be relatively laid back, which was a great way to end our short summer getaway.

Mount Rainier, Washington

Leaving Seattle after our one-night stay, we drove to Mount Rainier National Park, located about two hours away. After entering the park, we stopped by the Longmire Museum which contained a small exhibition of modeled wildlife, e.g. birds, rodents, that we might have the chance to see in the great outdoors. There was also a comparison chart of mountains in the world, including Mount Rainier and Mount St. Helens (the latter which had its own special category since losing some height after its 1980 eruption). Outside of the museum, we came across a large tree trunk on display, its many rings exposed to show just how old it was– can’t remember the exact age of it, but probably no younger than 1000 years!

Our next stop in the national park was at Glacier River, appropriately named for its remnants of glacial sheets resting on beds of boulders near a river source, its water created from the melted ice itself. There was also a wooden bridge with a handrail on only one side– feeling brave, my family and I made the trek cross the bridge, gripping the handrail to prevent an accident of falling into the cold, rushing water. While not as dangerous as expected, nevertheless there was a certain amount of risk to do so!

On a clear day, one can see Mount Rainier from Glacier River– unfortunately, it was rather foggy that day despite some sun, which unfortunately obscured views of the large mountain. We got a small glimpse of it through the wispy layers, but it wasn’t clear enough to merit a good, clean shot with the camera. In fact, we would be spending the entire day in the national park waiting for the fog to clear up, just to see Mount Rainier completely.

In the afternoon, we drove to two waterfalls: Christine Falls and Narada Falls. The former was named after the daughter of a 19th-century pioneer who made the first ascent to Mount Rainier. What makes Christine Falls distinctive, however, is its extensive, two-tiered falls which is almost impossible to capture simultaneously with a photo; that said, most people choose to take a photo of the lower-tiered one with the bridge, thereby making it rather iconic.

Whereas Christine Falls had a rather gentle flow, Narada Falls was absolutely pouring! To access it, we had to hike a little bit downhill to its source. It was somewhat tricky, though, for there was a good amount of snow along the trail– if not careful, one could easily slip! Admittedly, I had a few close calls when going down, but thankfully, I didn’t fully slip. I did see some visitors who did, however, and with the snow carrying some not-so-pleasant grime, their pants got soiled– poor things!

Powerful to the point of soaking, Narada Falls certainly didn’t disappoint with its sheer force– even my glasses got misted over!

We made a stop at Paradise Inn (a tourist info center) to take a break, as well as decide whether it was worth continuing down the road in hopes of getting a clear view of Mount Rainier– after all, we didn’t want to be out too late, since we had to head to our hotel and check in later than afternoon. In the end, we chose to continue forward, and that made all the difference. Views were clearer as we rounded a curve alongside the valley, and we pulled over to take advantage of this great opportunity for photos. Granted, the mountain was still about 25 percent covered, but it was much better than what we’d seen earlier that day.

Once we got our photos in, we turned around to head towards the park’s exit. We made another stop at Reflections Lake, which funny enough was nearly completely frozen over (in June!). We did, however, get glimpses of perfectly-clear reflections from parts which weren’t iced, which added a nice effect to the nature of the area.

Just as we were about to exit the park, my mom saw Mount Rainier perfectly and before we knew it, we’d parked the car and raced over to the viewpoint– lo and behold, it was not covered! Looming over the trees, Mount Rainier looked like something from a painting, and we were happy to have *finally* gotten a good look at it just before leaving.

My family and I left Mount Rainier National Park for good, making a 90-minute drive to Kelso, a small town often used as a base for visiting national parks in the area. We would be staying there for two nights and so we checked in before dropping our luggage in our room, later heading out to dinner. We settled on a Mexican restaurant and, since I hadn’t had Mexican food in ages, I treated myself to some flautas and a *MASSIVE* margarita. Mind you, I didn’t expect for my large margarita to be that large, so I was shocked when it came out the size of a mini cauldron– I’m not kidding! Tasty, though, and quite strong with a cilantro-chili flavor that made it a solid drink. By some miracle did I manage to finish the whole thing, and I surprisingly kept myself together as we headed back to our hotel to rest for the remainder of the night.

Mount St. Helens, Washington

The following day was our last full day visiting Washington: we would be visiting Mount St. Helens which was just an hour away from Kelso. That said, my family and I left later than usual, getting a quick bite to eat at Subway before driving over to the state park in the afternoon.

Much of our afternoon was merely going from one vantage point to another, getting different angles of the famous volcano that blew its top off in 1980, causing significant destruction and dramatically reducing its peak (by as much as 1000 feet/305 meters!). From the guided tour I *inadvertently* joined at Johnston Ridge, Mount St. Helens is unusual in that, since its eruption, it has been undergoing a self-repairing process, so that it has the potential to return to its former height someday– granted, it’ll take years to do so, and who knows if it’ll erupt again sometime between then?

My family and I made stops at several points, including Elk Rock, Castle Rock, Johnston Ridge, and Coldwater Lake for photos of Mount St. Helens. It was nice getting snapshots of the same mountain in different settings, from the lotus pond backdrop in Elk Rock to the sweeping green-tree landscape at Castle Rock. We also did a little hike at Johnston Ridge where we came across remnants of trees that had been destroyed by the eruption– it was that big!

We had an easy day visiting Mount St. Helens; we left at 16:00 to return to Kelso, getting Italian food that night before resting up in preparation for the long journey home the next day. We would be driving back to Portland and catching our flight to Los Angeles that afternoon, thereby ending our week-long summer vacation.

Overall, our road trip this summer turned out to be a enjoyable one. Compared with previous vacations in other parts of the world, e.g. Europe, Japan, where we had busy sightseeing schedules, our time in the Pacific Northwest was a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively. I got to explore a bit of what my “backyard” had to offer within the country, and I was pleasantly surprised by the beauty and calming atmosphere that the region had to offer, even in the big cities like Portland and Seattle. I would love to revisit the area someday, perhaps with friends or on my own, and see how the experience differs (or remains the same).

Alas, my travel series for this summer has ended, but there’s still more traveling to be done in due time! Expect more adventures to follow– until then!

 

— Rebecca