Day 9 - A full day in Mt. Rainier

Date 6/28

Weather: Cloudy, foggy, and then rainy

Expense
$3 souvenir
$20 lunch
$23 today
$431 for the trip

Mileage: 105 today, 2,016 total

Beer: 1 today, 11 for the trip

Pictures: homepage.mac.com/cenya/PhotoAlbum47.html

I got up early again, so I decided to get in Mt. Rainier early. I was less than twenty minutes away if my memory serves me right. It was a foggy morning. Visibility was not very good. Do what Romans do … I drove slow and kept the day light on.

First on the itinerary was Groves of Patriarch (Giant Douglas firs). Well I missed it somehow. I decided to catch it on the way to Paradise. So I drove to Sunrise. This is the highest of the three established ranger visitor centers. I planned on doing just Nature Trail. It turned out to be quite easy. I took a side path to Dege Peak. I have to say the name was catchy. There were still snow on the trails that obstructed but I just walked over them. It was not so bad. I enjoyed the hike around Sunrise, but the fog made it less scenic. It was also a little eerie because it was early in the morning and no one else was around.

When I came down to the visitor center area, I found this lonely public telephone. I found this very curious, but I used it to call a couple of people. It was refreshing to use a payphone at the top.

I then went to Paradise, and made sure not to miss the Groves trail. It was an easy stroll with huge trees. It was nice. I came to the visitor center/observation deck area. I looked around and looked at two exhibits.

I decided to have a nice meal at Paradise Inn, the only full service restaurant in the park. I ordered the special, which was a Mahi Mahi Club, and a beer. I never had Blonde Ale by Red Hook. The beer had a color between yellow and copper. It was nicely balanced sweet with bitter. Bouquet of hop was evident, although I could not figure out which. It was very refreshing and quaffable beer. The special was grilled fish, bacon, lettuce, and tomato on burger buns. It came with pesto mayo. I enjoyed this lunch so much because I have been eating meals made by me on the go.

The best part of the lunch came about half way through my meal. There was this bus-person, who was clearing the next table. She took the dishes and glasses, and turned right into a pillar. No one laughed harder than the bus-person, but I was chuckling. That made my day.

It was starting to rain about mid afternoon. I still made to the Longmire, which is the last visitor area for me. I was not impressed with this, but I did see three deer. It was all worth a small drive.

I was camping at Cougar Campground. It was horrible to stay in my car for an extended time, but it was raining pretty badly. I read some more of A Farewell to Arms. I took a power nap before a ranger’s talk at nine. I learned that a mudslide sounds like a train coming. After the talk, I went to sleep thinking I need to get off this mountain.