Camping at Mt. Rainier

Over Labor Day weekend we went camping at Mt. Rainier. We try to go camping down there at least once a year. Usually it's over the 4th of July holiday, but this year we couldn't fit it in at that time. We were actually kind of glad we went later because the weather was so much better! The 2 times that we camped at Mt. Rainier before, we never got to actually see the mountain. It was always covered in clouds--even if it was sunny outside. So we were crossing our fingers this year that the mountain would actually show itself. And boy we were not disappointed. We had clear sunny skies the whole weekend! James was able to get some great shots as you can see below.

We camped at the White River campground close to Sunrise. On the first day we arrived, we took a 4 mile hike to Shadown Lake and Frozen Lake and we saw a bear on our way! On the second day, we went on what we thought would be about a 7 mile hike, but the ranger misinformed us and it was actually a lot longer. 10 miles later round trip we were exhausted and very sore. It was a beautiful hike even though our feet had gone totally numb afterwards. The sky at night was unbelievably clear so we drove up to Sunrise and James got some great pictures of the stars and the night sky. We woke up early the next morning to drive up to the same spot to grab some pics of the sun on the mountain. Gorgeous!

There is something about being in the woods that is just good for the soul. No tv, cell phones, or house projects. Just good quality time and primitive living. Ok so maybe we had a few comforts such as a camp stove and an air mattress. But otherwise we were roughing it. And James has some awesome fire making abilities very reminiscent of this scene from Cast Away.

 

It was a great weekend and a perfect end to the summer. Enjoy the photos!

White River Campground	Setting up camp
Our home away from home	Hot dogs for lunch.  Yum!
View from Sunrise Point	Our very own Yogi Bear!
Frozen Lake	Kumbaya, My Lord Kumbaya
James: "I have made fire!"	The Night Sky
Gorgeous views in the morning	A grasshopper!
Breathtaking!	The view never gets old