From One Mountain to the Next

We traveled yesterday from Mt. Rainier to Mt. Saint Helens. We first spent the morning hiking in Mt. Rainier National Park. We walked through the Grove of the Patriarchs with huge, magnificent trees! We crossed a fun suspension bridge and continued our hike to Silver Falls. I have never seen so much water, waterfalls and flowing rivers as I have on this trip!

We then continued our drive South to Mt. Saint Helens. It is a spectacular site to see a volcano that just erupted 32 years ago. The land in the blast zone is just now starting to recover.

We then continued southward in the hopes of reaching Crater Lake National Park. We ended up pulling over about 2 hours outside of the park in the Willamette National Forest and set up camp for the first time during this trip in the dark! We found another beautiful National Forest Service campground on guest what? Yes, another beautiful river and towering canyons! It actually feels a lot like the Hoh Rainforest.

I wish we could get back on "Mom's Early Morning" trip plan, but the troops (Steve) are NOT cool with the early wake up calls anymore. It was nice while it lasted. Now I have my mornings to myself (with Little Dog).

Next stop...Crater Lake, then Ashland to visit Brian, Poppy, Shanti & Vashti!

Day 13-376 mountainous miles, total 3844 miles so far