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Mount Rainier and Columbia River Gorge Areas

This is what you wake up to every clear day in the Seattle area…..Mount Rainier proudly showing off its year-round snow-covered peak. This image was stolen from Google Images as we were not privy to many clear days while visiting the area.

While in the area we figured to find a number of nice hikes that are not necessarily part of a National Park or Monument.  Our new app for our phone called AllTrails is excellent.  It finds up to 250 trails near your location and gives you the map, statistics and directions.  The gps then allows your phone to track your movements right on the downloaded map.

We wanted to get in a good hike on Mount Rainier as everyday life in the Seattle area finds you staring all day long at its snow-covered summit in the distance.  Unfortunately the weather did not clear up but the hikes were good even with no up close sightings of Rainier.

Hike 1: Packwood Lake

This was the only sign actually telling us we were on the right path! The trails out west are so well-worn that markers are only necessary at trail intersections.
I was wondering where Laurie was? Now I know what kept her.
We had to take a picture of this poor tree that seems to have been struck by lightning and survived.
We found out later that this was the lowest point in the Goat Rocks Wilderness Area but someday we will hike the highest point on the Pacific Crest Trail that winds its way over the peaks of the eroded volcano there.
And finally…..lunchtime on the beach of Packwood Lake. Not a soul there so we had the autumn colors all to ourselves.

Hike 2:  Dog Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge near the border of Oregon and Washington:

Even among all the evergreen trees there are still fall colors that make us think of Autumn in the Northeast.
There is so much rain and moisture in the air in the Northwest part of our country that a lot of dead, and many live trees, grow this wonderfully cool moss all over themselves.
More moss on a live tree but if you look closely, the Columbia River is in the background. It flows all the way from the Columbia Glacier in Alberta, Canada.
Here is a picture of the Columbia Glacier on the Ice Fields Parkway that we took while bicycling by it in 2013. This is the source of that major river that divides Oregon and Washington states.
This picture of the Columbia River was taken in the middle of Washington state as we drove across its barren desert landscape. It is amazing how much water this river carries toward the Pacific Ocean!

 

 

 

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