It was a bittersweet feeling leaving Glacier today. It was such a beautiful and surreal place and we didn’t want to leave, but it was time to go see MORE amazing places! We had about an 8 hour drive to get to Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington, so we got an early start to our day. We packed up camp and were on the road by 6:40AM.
We stopped for lunch in Spokane, WA at a place called Maple Street Bistro. We had Panini sandwiches, and they were delicious!
We got to Mt. Rainier a little before 5PM, and it was yet another beautiful drive towards snow-capped mountains! Tonight we are staying at Ohanapecosh campground, and we were lucky enough to reserve a campsite right on the Ohanapecosh River! The ranger that the last few weeks have been really dreary, but today was a beautiful day and we were lucky!
While we were looking around, we saw that there were people swimming down in the river….so of course we had to go down too!
The water was FREEZING..but then again what else can I expect from glacier water?! We climbed some rocks to get closer to the rapids..luckily I didn’t slip on any slick rocks!
After dipping our feet in the lake (that was enough for us!), we decided to hike the Grove of the Patriarchs trail to see the ancient cedars, hemlocks and firs. There was even a shaky wooden bridge suspended over a Ohanapecosh River that you have to walk over…recommended only one person at a time!
It was amazing to see these large trees during our hike. These magnificent giants towered over us, others fallen down where we either had to walk under or over them!
On our drive back to our campsite, we stopped at Falls Creek to snap a few pictures!
Tomorrow we’re seeing more beautiful falls along the Paradise loop towards Cougar Rock, which is another one of the most beautiful drives in this amazing country, so stay posted!