Visits to National Parks
Our plans for today include four hikes on the western side of North Cascades National Park. We began with a drive to the North Cascades Visitor Center. Route 20, the road through the park, follows the Skagit River. The haziness seemed to be increasing. We checked at the visitor center. They said there was a […]
August 4, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 11 – North Cascades National Park, The West Side Story Read More »
This is our last day in Olympic National Park. We took a morning hike on Ruby Beach. The tide was coming in while we were walking so we had to watch how far we walked. Ruby Beach stretches out a long way. It is both broad and long. It had some of the same flotsam
August 3, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 10 – Olympic National Park , the West Side Read More »
We started early today to get to the Hoh Rain Forest. It is a popular location in Olympic National Park that fills up early. In many ways, the Hoh Rain Forest is like any other forest. It has rivers and streams, trails to walk, and lots of trees. In other ways, it is a very
We began our day with a hike to Sol Duc Falls. The hike was a 1.6 mile loop trail. Sol Duc Falls has three parts to the falls. It was a fun hike. After Sol Duc Falls, we headed out of Olympic National Park toward the Makah Indian Reservation. The reservation is located in the
August 1, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 8 – Olympic National Park and Cape Flattery Read More »
Today we did a lot of driving and hiking. We hiked four different trails and drove about three hours to cover 85 miles of winding mountain roads. We entered Olympic National Park on our way to Sunrise viewpoint. We left early because they limit the number of cars each day. When we saw the line
The Washington State capitol in Olympia has gorgeous grounds , gardens, fountains and statues. We were not permitted into the Senate floor or into the gallery today. The House Gallery was open though. The interior walls are primarily white and black marble. There is a lot of outside light used to illuminate the interior. There
Today is our last day at Mount Rainier. On our way to Box Canyon, we saw another view of the mountain filling the sky. Box Canyon at Mount Rainer might better be called Slit Canyon. It is extremely narrow and quite deep for its width. Because it is so narrow, the water rushes through the
July 29, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 5 – Mount Rainier – Box Canyon to Carbon River Entrance Read More »
Before we began our drive to the eastern side of the park, we hiked a trail from our hotel up the mountain to Myrtle Falls. It was early enough in the morning that we found some deer near the trail. Our hike began at about 5400 feet. The top of Mount Rainier is 14,411 feet.
July 28, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 4 – Mount Rainier – The Eastern Side Read More »
Today we began our tour of Mount Rainer National Park. We spent the day on the south side of the park. Shortly after we entered the park, we arrived at Longmire. There was a small museum there. One of the displays was a slice from an old growth tree. A count of the rings showed
July 27, 2023 : Trip 11, Day 3 – Mount Rainier – The Southern Side Read More »
Today was quite a busy day. We traveled to fifteen overlooks and went on three hikes. It was only a twenty eight mile drive on a winding rural road. That testifies to how much there is to see and do in the Badlands National Park. We began the day at Pinnacles Overlook. There was much
June 26, 2023 : Trip 10, Day 19 – Badlands National Park Read More »