As I pulled away from PT, all 4 gals (Valerie, Heather, Julia and Jess) waved goodbye, and as requested, I honked twice. I headed to say goodbye to I-Kwoan and her family and they also (I-Kwoan waved Ollie's hand) bid me farewell. Rick in Bremerton was the final stop, who gave me the complete series dvds for Curb Your Enthusiasm. Thank you Rick! Thank you to everyone in fact.
I made it to Rainier that evening and set up camp, deciding to do the
mountain the next day. I was emotionally exhausted and had no trouble
sleeping. The next morning I summited Rainier. The mountain itself was a
little anti-climactic - yes it's lovely and snow capped but being so
close to it, made it difficult to put into perspective. I think I'm more impressed from afar cause you just look on the horizon and BAM! there it is, large and in charge!
I set off for a
hike right away to Frozen Lake (3 mi RT). I met a nice couple that told me to
take the Berkeley Park trail after Frozen Lakes. They gave good advice on Mount St. Helen's and the trail was riddled with wildflowers.The hike was pleasant, the weather perfect and my spirits intact.
I headed back after about 5 miles and was thankful at my early start as
I passed throngs of tourists (hiking in flip flops, all decked out with
cameras, etc). I'm glad I made the trek up Rainier, but after my next post, you'll
understand being underwhelmed. The drive there and away from Rainier
were challenging, lots of twists and turns, would be fun in a Porsche. Next stop - Mount St. Helen's.
 |
| Woohoo, Rainier! Still trying to master the self-portrait photo. |
 |
| Frozen Lake! |
 |
| Trail to Berkeley Park - aka wildflower central |
 |
| It's full glory - and on a glorious day |
3 comments:
stunning. so glad you're doing this.
Nice forehead...
aw I'm so sorry you didn't love Rainier! I do think it looks smaller when you're up close... but there's still another 10,000 feet or so to go UP from the Wonderland parking lot if you summit it! But hooray for sunshine and wildflowers!
Post a Comment