May 27 - Mt. Ranier

As usual, we woke up early with the light and got an early start heading up the coast along the Columbia River, and over to Mount Rainier National Park. 

Along the way we were surprised to see large sand dunes, and amazed to see how far they went. There must have been 30 miles of continuous, large dunes that attracted all manner of kids and ATVs enjoying the area.

Mt. Ranier makes its own weather and is often shrouded in clouds. But we were very fortunate: the mountain was booming on this clear day, and we were awestruck by the views as we approached. We stopped to charge and lunch in Morton before we headed to the park. 

Mt. Ranier was really showing off as we approached the park.

We drove along the southern scenic road until we reached the first ranger station. However, the ranger was "out to lunch," meaning there was only 1 on duty, we expect due to budget cuts, so we drove along until we reached the next station. This was around 6,000 feet and there was snow everywhere! 

After talking to the ranger, we decided on a waterfall hike near the southeast entrance, so we continued along the scenic road until we reached the trailhead for Silver Falls. 

This was a short 1.4 mile out and back. The second half traveled along the Ohanapecosh River. The river was steep, narrow, full of boulders, and booming with the heavy snow melt. It was a spectacular watch the whole time. It also provided some welcome cooling from the spray off the falls. Even better, we had the trail almost completely to ourselves, a welcome change from the crowded waterfalls in Yosemite.

We made our way back and headed back to the main entrance across the park. We headed into Elbe where we could charge and have dinner. While the charging was convenient, dinner was awful. Overpriced and poor quality by many degrees, with poor service and an unruly nearby toddler nearby made this our worst meal of the trip. 

We made it to our campground about 1.5 hours before dark. This was our first campground in a National Forest, and it showed. The entire area (including our campsite) was thick with vegetation and a dense tree canopy which created a private and somewhat spooky camping experience. All in all, we enjoyed the unique setting and were in bed just after dark after we enjoyed a campfire.