Day 12 – Mt. Rainier

I woke up today in the parking lot of the National Park Inn. Does that qualify for staying there? Yeah everything in the Mt. Rainier area was booked up but it wasn’t going to stop me. I found a coke in the Yeti and grabbed a KIND bar from my box of treats then started the day. The first thing I did was head to the top of the mountain. Well as far as I could go on the road. I realized on the way up that I was the only one out and about. All of the gift shops and information centers were still closed. This still didn’t stop me. Once at the top of Paradise I noticed I was extremely low on fuel. With the closest gas station about 40 miles away I took off down the mountain. Did I mention it was only 48 degrees?

On my way down I debated on what to do next. Should I head to Montana as planned? Should I fuel up and go back? Well I fueled up and went back. I explored Mt. Rainier for about 5 or 6 hours before hitting the road toward Montana. I was able to hike a few smaller trails to capture some amazing pictures of waterfalls and took a couple videos too.

[themify_video src=”https://youtu.be/A4XeWbJaJpw” ]

[themify_video src=”https://youtu.be/RnJOqfV3ZSk” ]

[themify_video src=”https://youtu.be/1dDnyjWhD1g” ]

These pictures are of Mt. Rainier from a distance and from as close as I go to it. Well and another mountain range on the opposite side of it. I’ve said a handful of times that I’d like to summit Mt. Rainier. After seeing it in person that urge has gotten a lot stronger. I think my next big adventure will be conquering this guy!

I added a couple pictures from the Paradise Visitor Center because I thought they were neat.