Matt July 21, The Last National Park

Today we drove to Crater lake our last national park. But if you are wondering what we did yesterday on the 20th I will tell you. Yesterday it was only a travel day. We traveled from Mt. Rainier to Prospect, Oregon. It was a long trip.


Anyway, back to today. Today we drove to Crater Lake National Park. When we got to the camper and we registered and explored the park. We drove to the look out on to Crater Lake. There was a volcano called Mt. Mazama. After the volcano erupted all the ash could cover all of Oregon 8 inches thick. We explored the gift shop and drove to the motor home. At the motor home we went tot the amphitheater to a junior ranger talk. The talk was about mammals. After the talk we went back to the RV. After a little while we went to the talk about crater lake at 9:00. Soon after the talk we went to the rv and we went to bed.

Leah July 19th, Skiing?

Today we hiked Twin Firs. It was a .4 trail. We didn't know what 2 trees were the Twin Firs. There were alot of nurse logs on the hike.




















When we finished that hike it started to clear up so we went and did another hike. This one was coalled Galcier Vista. Mom and Dad tricked us and said the trail was 1.1 round trip but it was actually 3 miles round trip. We didn't do the whole trail but we stopped at the Nisqually Glacier. I pretended to ski with imaginary skies. It was hard to not fall and slide down on my butt.




We started back down we saw a marmot. The hike down was familiar because the trail connected with the Alta Vista trail.

When we got back to the visitor center we went to the observation deck. We tried to see the mountain but it was covered in clouds. When we went back to the jeep the clouds cleared and we could see the crest of the mountain. It was really cool.

When we got to the last trail we looked at the transportation exhibits. We got to see old gas pumps. When we finally got on the trail we listened to the birds. Then we started the .7 walk. We got to see little springs and Iron Mike's. When we finished the trail we drove to the motorhome. We made the beds after awhile. Then we went to sleep.

Matt July 19, Hikes

We hiked all day. The first hike we did was .4 mile and it was callled Twin Firs trail. It was cool, but we couldn't figure out which trees were the twin firs. Agter we hiked the Twin Firs we drove to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center. At the Visistor Center we hike the Glacier Vistia trail. The trail was steep all the up. On the top of the trail we played in the show. On the way down we took the shiy line trail and we saw two meore marmots.

When we got back to the visitor center we went to the Observation deck. At the observation deck we coudl see the top of Mt. Rainier for the first time. Then we drobe to the RV. On the way to the rv we stopped and hiked the Trail of the shadows. ON the hike we saw a beaver dam and a cabin that was built in 188. After the hike we drove back to the motor home.

Craig July 18, Why we live in AZ.

We were awakened early by the pitter patter of rain on the motorhome roof. Not a torrent, but a steady drumming that continued for the better part of the day.

The campground is a mix of cabins and rv sites set amidst old growth cedar trees. These huge 200’ trees completely screen the sky. They do a great job of filtering out any direct sunlight making midday when partly cloudy seem like twilight. With the dark grey of the rainy day, it felt like we were in a cave. Motivation was almost nil, it was all we could do to get the kids out of bed by 10:00am.

When we finally got rolling, we headed into the park. We explored the “Westside road” which was closed only 3 miles in due to flooding. With the rain continuing to fall, we were reluctant to stray far from the car, so we drive through the park the opposite side to the park village there called Ohanapecosh.

Along the way the rain cleared for brief periods giving us some great views. The low level clouds created dramatic effects surrounding the mountains and filling the valleys. Waterfalls were plentiful and running strong with the added moisture.

When we arrived at Ohanapecosh, we stopped at the ranger station. The kids had completed the requirements and were able to get their Junior Ranger badges. They were quizzed on plants and animals as well as general park info by what had to be the kookiest ranger ever. After taking the Junior Ranger pledge, we headed out for a short nature walk.

We left the park in search of forest road 52 which would bring us back around to the campground without having to go back through the park. Well, I missed it and rather than ask directions, we drove the long way around (only 60 miles, instead of the 20 it would have been).

The rain continued to fall all the way back to camp and through a good part of the night.

Matt July 18: Rain, Rain, and More Rain

There was rain all day. The rain started at 5:00 a.m. and went until 2:15! We drove back to Mt. Rainier National Park today. First we stopped at Christine Falls. Then we drove to Ohanapecosh on the other side of the park. After a while we drove to the RV. At the RV we watched a movie and went to bed.

Leah July 18, driving me nuts

Today we just drove around Mt.Rainer. It was really boring. We drove up along a road until we hit a gate that said ROAD CLOSED. It was closed because it was flooded out.

We drove to Christine Falls. The little trail to the falls wasn’t even a trail. It was only 20
ft. to the falls. It was very cool.

We got in the jeep and drove to a viewpoint. We got to go on a bridge that showed the river. We went on a trail that was .25 one way. It lead us to another bridge.

When we got back to the jeep we drove to the Ohanapecosh visitor center. Matt and I got our junior ranger stuff. After that we went on a nature walk. It was very short. We got to see some hot springs.

When we finished the trail we drove to the motor home. I played a couple games of solitaire. Then mom put in Brothers Grimm. When the movie got over we made the beds and went to sleep.

Matt July 17, Mt. Rainier National Park

Today we drove the jeep to Mt Rainier National Park. First we hiked the Carter Falls, but we didn’t hike full trail. In order to get to the trail we had cross a brige going over the water. After we hiked some of the trail and went back to the jeep.

Next we hiked the Narada Falls trail. It lead to a waterfall. After that we drove to the Jackson Visitor Center. There, we asked about information and we saw a ranger talk. The ranger talk was about the 2006 flood. The flood took out a brige and roads. The talk was done by ranger Ian. After the talk we hiked the alta Vista trail. We saw some of Mt. Rainier, but some of it was covered in clouds. We also saw medows and the skyline trail.

Soon it was time to go on our way back to the RV people were pulled over on the side of the road. We got out and saw what they were looking at. There were two black bear cubs and one mom. We watched them for awhile and then we drove to the RV.