Mount Rainier National Park, WA

After a wild day at the theme park, the girls were a bit wired to sit still for a long haul in the truck. Heidi even noticed that she spent 18 minutes of the final 30 minutes of the ride in time-out! The previous day, she had not even come close to a single warning, but the combination of sugary junk food and a day spent on the verge of vertigo was simply too much for this six year old to handle! Fun times for us all!

When we finally pulled into the La Wis Wis Campground in Mount Rainier National Park, we were all so grateful to get out of the truck and stretch our legs in this stunning old growth forest by a rushing river. The girls played on the massive tree stumps and fallen logs until 10pm. We walked the old campground and gathered supplies like water and firewood to prepare for a night without any services. Everyone slept soundly until 8am the next morning when Mark made a big serving of eggs and bacon before we headed out sight seeing in Mount Rainier National Park.

Our first stop was the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail. We hiked through massive 1000 year old Western Redcedars, Douglas firs and Western Hemlocks. We crossed a small suspension footbridge across the river and marveled at twin trees and enormous root systems lying toppled beside the path. The girls found a banana slug and stretched their legs after yesterday's long trip in the truck.

After a picnic lunch at the base of Mount Rainier, the girls explored the Visitor's Centre and completed their Junior Park Ranger Programs to earn their official badges. They were sworn in by a park ranger and wore their medals proudly. (Heidi was concerned what would be on the test and kept asking while we were hiking if they were going to ask her about all the trees and if she was allowed to ask her parents for help with the answers.) 

We had hoped to hike the alpine meadows around Paradise Visitor's Centre, but they were covered in 10 feet of snow! They were renting snowshoes, but we were wearing sandals so it was not a good match. Nicole kept claiming that this was not HER version of paradise....much too cold! (Apparently, there is no snow in Nicole's vision of paradise!)