June 26th, 2006
Mt. Rainier National Park
The Nisqually Glacier is probably the most beautiful feature of this park, so we drove to Paradise early in the morning to attempt the short, but steep Nisqually Vista Trail. We reached the destination to find the trail still under 4-5 ft. of snow!

Joe and Ben attempted to walk up at least part of the trail, but I stayed behind in the blinding sun and temperature steadily reaching the upper 90s.

Disappointed for not having been able to do the hike, we drove down from 5400’ high Paradise Visitor Center to Ohanapecosh at the bottom of the giants of Cascade Mountains. We took a 10 mile loop that took us over the falls, into the Grove of Patriarchs and back to the Visitor Center.

The Grove of Patriarchs had magnificent specimens of giant old growth cedars, firs & spruces – some even a 1000 yrs old! It was very hot, dry and sunny. We were thankful for the endless glasses of chilled water with our lunch at the Longmire Inn.

The drive through the national park loops along the sides of the mountains through numerous switchbacks, affording wonderful views of massive glacier covered peaks and Mt. Rainier and its accompanying mountains.

We stayed at the rustic Nisqually Lodge run by an old couple. The place was charming, comfortable, clean and very well kept.