Crater created by the 1980 eruption - blew the top 1,200 feet off the mountain
Coldwater Lake - created by the 1980 eruption
Following morning, drove 2 hours Northeast to the Western entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park. Stayed at a private campsite just outside of the park, and used my scooter that afternoon to see the Southwest part of the park, driving up to the Paradise area. Did a few hikes there, making it up to the snow.
Next morning, drove 50 miles through the park to the Northeast area and checked into the White River campground inside the park. Used the scooter to drive up to the Sunrise area, the highest driveable section. Did a few hikes there, and got some good views of Mt. Rainier's glaciers.
Next day drove two hours West to Olympia, the capitol. Spent an hour touring the capital and walking around the nice grounds.
Spent the night at Little Creek Casino RV park in nearby Shelton. Next morning, drove 2 hours North to Port Townsend on the Puget Sound coast. Stayed in the county fairgrounds RV park and used the scooter to visit the Fort Worden State Park and the town. Was not impressed with the Fort, but the town was nice as it was a hippie retirement area.
Spent the next 3 days and nights seeing the huge Olympic National Park, which takes up much of the Northwest coast of the state. Visited Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Hot Springs, Hoh Rain Forest, and Kalaloch on the West coast. Really nice park with three different environments, mountains, rain forest, and coast.
After a 3 hour drive East. spent the next four days and nights seeing Seattle. Rode my bike 15 minutes to the bus which was then another 20 minutes into town. Was there on the weekend so it was very crowded. Did a lot of walking, saw the sights, went to a Mariners baseball game.
After Seattle, drove 30 minutes North to Mukilteo (Everett), where I took the Boeing tour, which was really great - no cameras allowed. Drove 1 hour North to Anacortes on the Sound. Stayed at a casino RV park. Next day, drove to Deception Pass State Park on Whidbey Island. Did a few hikes on the coast.
That afternoon drove 2 hours East to the town of Marblemount, next to North Cascades National Park. Spent the night there, where it started to rain and continued into the next day. This was the first rain I had seen in 4 months so I was happy. Next day drove through the park and did a few short hikes in the rain. Did not get to see the mountains with the glaciers due to clouds and overcast skies, but the waterfalls and lakes were nice.
Spent the night East of the park in the town of Winthrop, which is an old mining town with wooden sidewalks. Lots of deer in the RV park and signs on the road said they had 147 deer accidents so far in 2013.
Next day, drove just out of town to Sun Mountain Lodge, a cross country ski area in the winter. Did a short hike with great views of the valley.
Drove 2 hours East to Grand Coulee where I stayed the night. The Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest in the world, much bigger than Hoover Dam. Each night, they have a lazer light show on the dam which was pretty cool to see.
Next day, drove 1 hour South to Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park, which is where the world's largest waterfall was many thousands of years ago. Did a hike in the state park around a really nice lake.
That afternoon, drove 100 miles East to the Spokane, Washington's 2nd biggest city. Spent two nights and one day seeing the city whose centerpiece is the Riverfront park which has some nice waterfalls. Also went to Manito Park on the hill, which had nice gardens.
Next morning, September 2nd, said goodbye to Washington, and drove 1 hour Northeast into Northern Idaho.
No comments:
Post a Comment