Mount Rainier

19th September 2008 (Friday)

I went to Mount Rainier Park yesterday and it feels like Paradise! :D Mount Rainier is actually a active volcano with lots of glaciers at its peak, and it is the highest peak in the Cascade Range. Mt. Rainier can actually be seen from UW and is a prominent sight along the southern landscape of Seattle.

We (Me, Cynthea and Noon) joined a 1 day tour (10 hours from 8a.m-6pm) organised by Grayline to travel to Mt Rainier Park. Had to wake up super early and travel to Sheraton Hotel in downtown Seattle to register for the tour and wait for the coach to pick us up. It was also this morning that Seattle receive its first 'blessing' from the sky for the month of September. After 10 over days of clear blue sky and sunny weather, it had to drizzle in the morning. We were quite worried that our trip to Mt. Rainier wld be spoilt by the weather but as the tour wld be ending in September and we have no more free time next week, we decided to go on with it and hope for the best.

The tour wasn't actually a guided tour, but the driver wld introduce the various sights as he drives the bus. At the first resting point in Ashford, we watch a slideshow with pictures of Mount Rainier and hiking trips up to the peak. As the weather was still very cold then, i bought my first cup of coffee in USA. (wanted to save it for the first Starbucks store.. :p)

We then continued our journey and soon entered Mt Rainier Park. It was a nature reserve so as we enter into the park, we could see that the trees there were really much older and there wasn't much overgrowth. Stopped over to take some pictures with some tall tall trees..





As the coach travelled further into the park and uphill, the sun suddenly came out and the ppl in the coach cheered, really cheered!! yay!! we have gotten above the low clouds that was covering Seattle and the weather above was just perfect! Mt Rainier was not even covered in clouds.. the view was perfect..




Along the way to Paradise (the name of one of the visitor centre) we stopped over to see some other stuff and we also got to see the destructive force of nature, the ugly side of the beauty of nature.

Christine Falls:

Cynthea and me!

One of the glaciers caused a landslide that swept everything away from its path, and later on the river that was suppose to run through this path changed course leaving behind bare rocks and debris.

We finally reached Paradise at noon and it was really Paradise!! We followed the Nisqually Vista Trail which leads us through wildflower meadows with views of Mt. Rainier and views of Nisqually Glacier. It was well worth the hike to and fro uphill and downhill to see the sights.. we feel like we were in heaven and the sights were like those seen in Jigsaw Puzzles..

The Paradise Visitor Centre (They wld be closing this centre in Oct and moving to a new centre that is being built down the road. Picture below:)

Along Nisqually Vista Trail:

Me, Cynthea and Noon :)

The Nisqually Glacier

If only we could stay longer.. As we were only given abt one and a half hour free time to roam around, we tried gg for another trail to see the Myrtle Falls (a waterfall) but me and Cynthia got lost and due to the shortage of time we decided to head back to the coach. (also because we were too tired from the steep slopes that was never ending)

Trying to find the waterfall:

After that the coach started to head back downhill, making our trip back to Seattle. But we still got to see great sights and stopover at a couple of places.

Mt Rainier and Reflection Lake:

This picture was taken from the coach but too bad the water was not that still.. if it was.. then it would be like below:

Falls Creek:

Had Huckleberry and Bunny something ice-cream at one of the resting point along the trip down to Seattle.. my first ice-cream in USA and can say it is one of the nicest ice-cream i have eaten.. Unique and delicious!

Finally a picture taken with our driver/guide:

And after such a long tiring day, with legs arching, me and Cynthea treated ourselves to Korean Food along University Way (near UW.. we called it the Ave)

I had Hot and Spicy Mixed Seafood Udon and it was marvellous! super yummy! Taste authentic and i'm definately gg back to try their other food :):) (it must be good cos the store is filled with Korean ppl when we were there.. they just keep coming in)

In all, the trip was wonderful and the weather was unexpectedly nice.. So glad the trip turned out to be so good and hope my trip to San Juan Islands next weekend would be just as good! :D (Do help me pray for good weather! we really need it else we can't see the whales!!)