The Green and The Gold

Monday, August 29, 2011

The mountain was out in full splendor this morning. We could see it from a couple of spots in the campground, but that wasn’t enough, so we broke camp and headed for the top of the hill. It was still well before the VC opened at 10, but again fixed and ate our breakfast in the parking lot.

We talked to several people that came by. One couple from Florida was quite curious about the campers. They thought something like that could be a good way for them to travel. A biker also stopped to talk a little. He had left the bottom about 5:30 am and hoped to be at the top for the sunrise. He was only a couple of hours late! It is 11 to 15 miles, depending on where he started, and very steep. Throughout our trip we have seen a lot of bikers heading up the various mountains. Some young, and some not so young, but they keep pushing on. 

Using the binocs you could see climbers making the descent from the peak of Rainier. Like one of the rangers told us, “that isn’t for me.”

The sky was as clear as could be, and from the Sunrise viewpoint, you could see all around. It was absolutely stunning. The wildflowers are in bloom everywhere!  But so was the mosquito population. They were very, very thick, and produced a number of bites.  You really didn’t want to just stand around outside just looking at the view. It was hard to keep them out and get them out of the campers. We smashed a good number of them.

After the VC opened, we got our books stamped and then started back down. We had a mifi signal from the viewpoint, so quickly got one day posted on the blog, The Wilderness Information Center at the Sunrise entrance had a stamp we needed, so we stopped to get that. They also had an extra stamp that is a foot print from a hiking boot.

We then went back down towards the Ohanapecosh VC for the last stamp for this trip. There are still a couple to get from the other side of the mountain, but we’ll save those for another trip.  We left the park to fuel up before heading for Yakima, and found there would be up to 2 hour delays for road work on Route 12 that we were going to take, so we backtracked and took the Chinook pass highway. It was very pretty, and a pretty good road. Right at the beginning you get an excellent view of the mountain, so we had to stop and take even more pictures.

Taco Bell in Yakima was our lunch stop. Then we went on to Plymouth, WA, and the Corps of Engineers park we stayed in the first night on our trip. After showers, and then supper at the picnic table, we are settled in for the night. Tomorrow we will head on home.

The terrain this afternoon was quite a contrast from what we have seen the last few weeks. Even this morning the hills had been lush green, and this afternoon they are golden, with the green patchwork of planted fields.

Thanks for traveling with us. Wish all of you could make this trip. We really enjoyed the three National Parks we saw, and numerous national monuments or historical parks or trails. Betty’s favorite was riding the ferries, we all enjoyed the Boeing tour, and Barney and Fred were exceptionally pleased with the salmon fishing. Wilma just loves every bit of it, from the moment the engines start. There’s something about the word “go.”

That’s all from the Bedrock Bunch for tonight.