Day 3 was perhaps our most interesting and fun-filled day.
After sleeping in until 10am, we left our hotel and made the drive back towards Yakima, Washington. Stopped to get gas and lunch in Yakima, because it was still another 100 or so miles to Mt. Rainier, and we weren’t sure how long we’d be out there, and if there was anything on the way there. There was no shortage of fruit stands on the way their however, with many stands selling cherries for $1 per lbs, so we picked up some and snacked on them during the drive. We could have gotten some fresh apples, but wouldn’t quite know what to do with 10 lbs., even if they were only $4.
Once we exited Yakima Valley, and entered into a set of national forests, we stopped at many places along the way to take pictures (many of which you can see on my Flickr Photo Stream). There was plenty of scenic stops along the way and Clint and I both got some amazing distant shots of Mt. Rainier. The roads were quite fun to drive as well, as they twisted up and down and through the mountains with some amazing tunnels that were dug into the side.
Amazingly, even at only about 5,000 feet there was actually snow. And it was only about 65~70³F at that point as well, so the weather was really nice. We were pretty disappointed once we got closer to Mt. Rainier, as clouds had come in during our trip so we were unable to get any up-close shots of the peak anywhere past the visitor’s center. All the snow was understandable however, because the visitor’s center was reporting that Mt. Rainier had accumulated over 50′ of snow, so it’s not wonder a lot of it still had not melted.
After checking out the visitor’s center, we hiked up some trails up the mountain to about 6,000 or so feet where it was still completely covered in snow/glaciers. I would love to do an actual climbing trip to the peak sometime here, if I ever get a chance to. Not only is the view amazing, but it’s fun to say you’ve camped/hiked/climbed an active volcano.
Anyway, Mt. Rainier is amazing, along with Mt. Saint Helens (if you ever get the chance to visit either). Rainier is just more scenic, while Saint Helens is more shock and awe from all of the destruction, even 25 years past.