3 August 2019 Snow Lake

Anticipating beautiful weather and a weekend crowd from Seattle, we were up early to get to the trailhead before parking became an issue. We hit the entrance gate at 8:15 and were at the Snow Lake trailhead at 9. We got the last parking spot in the small parking lot. The trail would take us to Bench Lake and then on to Snow lake (3.4 miles, 538 feet of elevation gain, 1,317 calories burned). The initial climb was steep but then opened up to a beautiful alpine meadow covered in wild flowers. We came to the split where a side trail went down to Bench Lake. We took the side trail and found ourselves bush whacking through a heavily overgrown and poorly maintained trail. But when we got to the lake, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Mt. Rainer across the lake with an excellent reflection in the water. We could have spent the whole day just absorbing that view! Worth every scratch! We moved on to Snow Lake. We were a little disappointed, expecting something like Avalanche Lake in Glacier NP, but the waters were turquoise blue and so clear we could see fish swimming around. After pausing for pictures, we decided to push on up the trail until we came to the trail end sign. Hoping to get some better pictures, we pushed on beyond the trail end sign, heading for a snowfield whose melt was feeding the lake. We had to do some serious boulder hoping, but eventually came to a waterfall that was fed by the snowmelt and climbed up in altitude enough that we could see the whole lake.  With Unicorn Peak in the background, and multiple waterfalls from snowmelt higher up the mountain, it was a beautiful sight. After a rest and a snack we headed back for the trailhead. The temperatures had warmed up and the mosquitoes and flies had come out in full force. It felt good to get our legs under us again. The hike back was tiring, but exhilarating as at every turn in the trail there was a new view of Mt. Rainer. Getting hot and sweaty on the hike back, Leslie decided we needed a cold beer, so we headed for Paradise Inn. Well it was a beautiful sunny day and half of Seattle must have decided to go to Paradise because it was packed! There were people everywhere! We figured we would not get a parking spot, but we gave it a shot anyway. Leslie said she was feeling lucky. Well, we finally gave up after a half hour of circling parking lots and headed for Narada Falls overlook. We were lucky to get a parking spot and even snagged a picnic table in the shade! The parking lot and overlook trail were packed with people, but we managed to make our way down and were happy to see a rainbow at the bottom of the falls. A good day despite all the crowds. We headed back to the Wanderer, dirty, tired but very happy. Critter sighting: a good size Marmot crossed the road in front of us as we were leaving Paradise. 

Once back at the Wanderer and cleaned up, Leslie pulled out the Mt. Rainer puzzle she had purchased at the visitor center. It looks like it will keep us busy for several evenings since we do not have TV, cell phone or internet for entertainment. 

Mt. Rainer reflected in Bench Lake

Snow Lakke with Unicorn Peak in the background

Narmada Falls (Notice the rainbow at the bottom)

Us at Narada Falls

2 August 2019 Mount Rainer National Park

Being completely disconnected, we had no idea what the weather was going to be. We could see some clouds rolling in between the trees but it did not look bad. We hopped in the truck to begin our explorations of Mt Rainer NP, looking forward to beautiful views of the mountain. We had a 30 mile drive, which would take us over White Pass, to the Southeast entrance to the Park. As we climbed to the pass the cloud became thicker and soon it was drizzling steadily with occasional bouts of heavy rain. When we hit the top of the pass, we found a ski resort that was closed for the season, but more important, we had cell service! Yes! So we pulled over and checked our mail, text messages, and let folks know we would not be easy to reach.

Then proceeded on to the park. We stopped at the entrance sign to get a picture of the iconic entry gates before proceeding into the park. We made our way along the Stevens Canyon Road to the Paradise Visitor Center. As we climbed in altitude, the fog moved in, at times we had to slow down to under 20mph and really could not see any scenery. We climbed through the lower cloud deck and the fog thinned as we got to Reflection Lake, but the only reflection we were going to see was more clouds. When we got to the Paradise parking area, the parking lot was full, but we were able to find a parking spot after one quick circle. It was raining and the clouds were low, so we were not going to see the mountain this morning. At the visitor center we collected our44th Passport Stamp,explored the exhibits, shopped in the gift store, watched the park movie and talked with the rangers to figure out the hiking options. 

 

Behemoth in the fog and shadow pines

Mt Rainer NP Entrance Gate

Christine Falls

Mt Rainer at last!

With the rain and heavy fog, we decided to head for the Longmire Area on the south west side of the park. Even with the rain and fog, there were a larger number of people heading out to hike the trails in the Paradise area. We headed down Paradise Road to Longmire. As we worked our way west and down, the clouds started to break up and the sun eventually poked out. We had lunch at the National Park Inn, a historic structure that dated back to the 1920s but was not much to look at architecturally. We looked through the small museum before deciding to head out of the park to one of the small towns to the east to get fuel and some supplies. We quickly found out these small towns did not have much to offer but were eventually able to find fuel and enough supplies to get by. 

As we headed back into the park, the sun came out and the temperatures began to warm up. We took the time to drive the primitive West Road, hoping to see some wild life, but only saw lots of big trees and got the truck covered in mud again. As we neared the Paradise area, we got our first good look at Mt. Rainer. It was amazing. Still mostly covered in snow and ice, glaciers draping its sides and clouds parting to pass by it. It was a sight! We pulled off at one of the scenic viewing points and gawked at the site, along with about 50 other people. Our first sign of what was to come. As we drove back along the road we had come up that morning in the fog, we were amazed to see we had been climbing along the edge of a deep canyon. In many ways the road reminded us of Going-to-the-Sun road in Glacier, just not as narrow. Once back at the Wanderer, we reviewed the hike materials and came up with our plan.

1 August 2019 Cheney WA to Naches WA

The drive across Eastern Washington reminded us of Nebraska. Wide open rolling plains with barely a tree in sight. The weather was warm, 89 degrees, with a strong westerly wind. We dropped into the Columbia River valley at “The Gorge” and the climb back out was a long climb. Not very steep but very long, so needless to say the temperature of the transmission oil and coolant climbed up, but not anywhere close to what we saw in Utah. At the top of the climb was a nice rest stop so we pulled in to let things cool off and to eat lunch. As we pulled through Naches, we started to finally see trees again. We drove US 12 on White Pass Scenic Highway from Naches to the RV Park. We are staying at Rim Rock Lake RV Resort on the shores of Rim Rock Lake in the Cascade Mountains. We choose the park based on it being the closest RV park from the east to the south entrance of Mt. Rainer NP and east entrance to Mt. St. Helens Volcano NM. The said they had a site we could fit into and had WiFi. Well, don’t believe everything they say. 

When we first pulled up, we could not find the office. So we pulled up the steep hill into the RV parking area, parked and David wandered around to the grocery store/restaurant next door and found the sign proclaiming it was the resort office that was blocked by a gas truck. As he walked up to the door, there was a sign stating there was no WiFi. Hmmm. After checking at the desk, he was told that we were in site 5. They recommended we pull up the hill and then back around the corner and down the road to site 5. David asked about the WiFi and was told that she wasn’t letting guests use the WiFi because she needed it for her office machines. After some discussion she gave David the password, but we later discovered it only worked in the office and on the front porch. It was not in the RV Park. Since we had already pulled up the hill when we arrived. They said we would need to back around the corner and then along the road to the site. We walked the park to checkout how we were going to swing this. From where we were on the hill, it did not look like there was enough room to swing the Wander around the corner. There just wasn’t enough room. But we gave it a try and confirmed, there was not enough room. After walking the loop road around the park that would take us down a steep hill, around a big tree, squeeze between another tree and several big piles of rock, around a corner and another big tree, then up a steep hill that would then line us up to back into site 5, which was curved. We decided that was the only option. We made it, but barely, with only an inch between the Wanderer and those big trees and the Behemoth and the piles of big rocks. We were then able to back into site 5. Luckily, the connections were all on the correct side of the RV. We noticed several other sites that the connections were on the wrong side. Our site was lined with piles of rocks and big pine trees on both sides. But we were able to get set up. Then we found that the Satellite TV was blocked by the big pine trees, there was no cable TV or OTA TV stations, no WiFi in the park, and there was no cell phone reception! We were totally disconnected from our connected world. Leslie was none too happy. We also noticed there was a lot of road noise from US12. But Rim Rock Lake is very pretty and only a 30 yard walk to the jagged shore line. One thing we know for certain, we will never stay here again.

Rim Rock Lake Resort

Rim Rock Lake at Sunset

1995? Really?

30 - 31 July 2019 Cheney WA

It was a quiet couple of days in Cheney, just outside Spokane. David had to work both days and Wednesday afternoon we took the truck into Glass Doctor and got the rear window replaced. It was so much nicer having a solid glass rear window instead of the flapping plastic!

29 July 2019 Osborn ID to Cheney WA

First thing in the morning we called a glass shop in Spokane and made arrangements for replacing the rear window of the Behemoth on Wednesday. We then drove the two hours to our next destination in Cheney Washington, just southwest of Spokane. We are staying in Peaceful Pines RV Resort ($30 per night with GSC discount). It’s another small and run down park. We had fun backing into our assigned site, but made it without breaking anything. The utilities are good (water Pressure 40lbs) and the WiFi was strong and fast. We did find a good Mexican Restaurant, Arturo’s, in Cheney for dinner. Unfortunately it does not have a bar, but the food was excellent. 

Peaceful Pines RV Park

28 July 2019 Dante’s Peak

We backtracked to the historic silver mining town of Wallace Idaho. More silver has been taken out of the mines around Wallace than anywhere else in the world. Many of the buildings in the downtown area date back to the late 1800s. Most of the mines are closed now, but the town has become a destination for mountain bikers and ATVs. We had lunch, shopped and checked out the local brewery in a relaxing Sunday afternoon. Portions of the movie Dante’s Peak, the small town in the movie threatened by the volcano, were filmed in Wallace.

Wallace Main Street with Dante's Peak

27 July 2019 Hungry Horse MT to Osborn ID

After waiting to hear from any of the glass shops in Kalispell, we learned that none of them were open on the weekend. So we bought some duct tape and plastic and covered the rear window and headed down the road since we knew we would be in Spokane by Monday and we would have a better chance to get it fixed there. The plastic flapped loudly when we were in the cross wind (which was most of the time) and we had a new appreciation of how important the rear window is for cutting down noise! The drive was uneventful. We have become used to the climbs in the mountains and watching the temperature gauges. We are staying in Blue Anchor RV Park ($40 per night with GSC discount) in Osborn Idaho. It’s a small, old, rundown RV park. Over half the spots are taken up with old run down single wides or old RVs held together with duct tape. The streets are narrow and we had fun maneuvering into our pull through site. But the utilities were good and the WiFi was strong and fast.