Sunrise at Mt. Rainier National Park, Washington – 09.29.07
Last Saturday (September 29, 2007), we decided a make a predawn trip to Sunrise at Mt Rainier National Park in Washington state to take photos of the rising sun on the mountain.
We were experiencing rain showers when we left our home in the early morning. Luckily for us, the higher in elevation we gained, the clearer the weather became.
Once we entered the national park and passed the White River Ranger station, we started to see patches of snow on the road. Once we arrived in the Sunrise parking lot, it was blanketed with several inches of the seasons’ first snow fall. We could clearly see the outline of Mt Rainier through the darkness.
From the main visitors center, we climbed the ridge and followed it toward Mt. Rainier to the Frozen Lake viewpoint, taking photos along the way.
On our way back to the parking lot, the clouds started rolling in and by the time we got back to the visitors center, the mountain was completely obscured by clouds.
All summer long, I had wanted to get up in the early morning hours and make the trip to Sunrise in order to take photos of the sun rising on Mt. Rainier. The wait for this experience was worth it, with excellent lighting, the first snow of the season and clear weather.
You can view the photos taken on this trip at Mt Rainier National Park 09.29.2007.
Categories: Adventures Tags: cascade mountains, cascades, mount rainier, mt rainier, mt rainier national park, national park, outdoors, park, snow, sunrise, washington, washington cascades
Categories: Off Track Tags: alpine, cascade mountains, cascades, mountains, mt rainier, national park, northwest, pacific northwest, paradise, park, sunrise, washington cascades, winter
Deception Pass to Cape Flattery, Washington – Sept 8-9, 2007
Trip report and photos of a recent family road trip from Deception Pass on Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, Lake Crescent and Cape Flattery, Washington from September 8-9, 2007.
Categories: Adventures Tags: alpine, beach, burlington, cape flattery, clallam bay, deception pass, discovery bay, ferry, fidalgo bay, fj80, forest, indian reservation, keystone, kloshe nanitch, lake, lake crescent, land cruiser, landcruiser, lighthouse, lookout, makah, mountains, national forest, national park, neah bay, north beach, oak harbor, ocean, olympic mountains, olympic national forest, olympic national park, olympic peninsula, padilla bay, park, photo, port angeles, port townsend, rain forest, river, seattle, sekiu, sequim, shoreline, sol duc river, state park, tatoosh island, toyota, trail, trailhead, us 101, vancouver island, washington, waterfront, whidbey island
Coweeman River via the Rose Valley Road – 08.31.2007
Since I had to work Labor Day weekend, my wife, daughter and the family dog made a quick overnight trip to visit my 83 year old grandmother in Kelso, Washington. In the past, she had mentioned that she had wanted to drive up the Rose Valley Road and the Coweeman River out of Kelso to see the area she grew up in, but no one has offered to take her for the 20 mile drive from her house. Once I mentioned the idea, she was quick to say yes.
Categories: Adventures Tags: alberta, carrols, coweeman river, elk meadows, elk mountain, fish ladder, grand teton, idaho, kamiah, kelso, lake louise, longview, lookout, national park, nevada, off the grid, oregon, ponderosa, rose valley road, safari, virginia city, washington, waterfalls, weyerhaeuser, wildlife, yellowstone
Northwest Bears
t's almost daily that we see on the news that another bear has visited a suburban neighborhood. The reality is that suburbia has invaded the bears habitat. I always get a kick out of the people who never before left the city and move into the urban-wildland interface area and are amazed and even startled that wildlife such as bears, cougars and coyotes roam their neighborhoods. Well if they only knew that their garbage as well as FiFi and Fluffy make easy pickings for the neighborhood predators.
Categories: On The Web Tags: bear, bears, black bear, camping, cougar, coyote, fish, grizzly bear, national park, north cascades, northwest, pacific northwest, washington, wildlife
Kapowsin-Ohop Valley Backroads
Anytime I'm traveling through Eatonville, Washington to get back to my home in Edgewood, one of my favorite routes to miss the infamous State Route (SR) 161 traffic through Graham and South Hill is to take the leisurely scenic drive through the Ohop Valley, past Lake Kapowsin and into the Puyallup Valley to Orting.
Categories: Adventures Tags: backroads, camp, camp one road, camping, carbonado, clay city, eatonville, elbe, electron, fish, fishing, graham, history, kapowsin, kosmos, lahar, lake, mineral, morton, mt rainier, mud flow, national park, nisqually, ohop, orting, orville, pse, puget sound eneregy, puyallup, railroad, randle, river, sigmond road, south prairie, tacoma, voss resort, washington, wildlife, wilkeson
High Rock Loop Backroads Tour – 06.24.07
Since I worked the night before and my wife's nephew was coming over for dinner, I had to keep the day's adventure somewhat local from my home. Flipping through the book Washington Byways, I found Tour 49 - High Rock Lookout Loop and it fit perfectly into the day's time restraints. I loaded up the dog in the Land Cruiser and headed towards the Cascades in hopes of finding some sun above the low hanging clouds.
Categories: Adventures Tags: 4wd, 4x4, adventure, Adventures, ashford, backcountry, backroads, cascade mountains, cascades, catt creek, cherokee, dnr, elbe, fj80, forest, forest road, forest service, four wheel drive, greenwood lake, high rock, hiking, jeep, kernahan road, land cruiser, landcruiser, lookout, mt rainier, national forest, national park, overland, packwood, park, randle, road, sawtooth, skate creek, snow, snowmobile, teeley creek, tour, towhead gap, toyota, trail, trailhead, trip, washington, wildlife, wrangler
