Rainier

MT RAINIER

NOT my pic, it was too cloudy for us to even see the mountain. Just thought it would be good to post a picture of the mountain because it is beautiful!

I flew back to Portland and had to work that night. Not much sleep. I worked six nights in a row. I do not do good with night shift and sleeping during the day, so I really did not sleep much. But I survived! After my last night of work my friend Tiffany flew in to Portland for a short visit. I decided to take her to Mt Rainier area to camp and do some hiking. I knew it would be an interesting experience because she is not a big camper. She was a trooper though. She did great, I was proud of her. She didn't complain about not getting to shower. And the weather was ridiculous. It was cold, rainy, and foggy. We were right at Mt Rainier and she never even got to see the mountain. That's how cloudy and foggy it was. Very sad, its such an awesome mountain!

We got there pretty late the first night, and thankfully the rain cleared up enough that it wasn't raining too hard when we set up camp. It rained all night on us and it was cold, but we managed to stay decently warm. I ended up sleeping until 11 the next morning! I couldn't believe it. Obviously I was very tired and in need of sleep but it had also rained all night long so I was trying to sleep out the rain, but it never stopped, haha. It was also my first day off after working six nights so I was used to sleeping at that time. It was ok though, we got up and went on a decently steep little hike. Unfortunately it was a ridge hike and perfect for the views, but there was no view, it was too cloudy. So a little disappointing. Then we went and got something warm to drink, drove around a bit, saw a couple awesome waterfalls. Still raining so we went back to camp and hung out in the tent a while. It was raining too hard that I didn't feel like attempting to make a fire. It cleared up a little so we went on a little walk around the campsite. Then went back to camp, played a few games and read. Next morning started out much earlier. We were going to camp three nights but since the weather was so sucky we packed up camp on day early and decided it would be nice for Tiffany to see Seaside. So second day in Rainier we did a hike up to a 1000 yr old forest. It was awesome. The trees were so huge! And then coming back was along a gorgeous river with great views and waterfall.

Tiffany and I (a little cold and wet)

I love being out and enjoying seeing and hearing things like this!

These are some BIG trees!

This canyon was amazing. Walking up it sounded like the water was close, then looking down the canyon was so deep. About 115 ft looking down until the water. Not somewhere you want to jump into the river! It was gorgeous!

After Rainier Tiffany and I drove back to Seaside. She liked the area. We attempted to go boogie boarding, but the waves were not big enough. It was fun to get in the ocean though. Always entertaining putting on and taking off the wetsuits! The next day we got to enjoy some gorgeous sunny weather in Portland before she had to go to the airport. It was kind of cool because my dad and brother flew in the same day and about the time I needed to drop her off at the airport. So now my brother and dad are in town, got some good backpacking plans, and then they leave two days before I leave Oregon :( Time goes by so fast. So with only a little over a week left in the northwest, I am going to try to attempt to enjoy every minute of it to the fullest!