Personal - Family trip to Rainier National Park
This particular trip was something I had been looking forward to for a while. My wife and I had set aside the time months and months in advance, and I was so excited to take her and my youngest son to Rainier for the first time. As we got closer and closer to the date, however, the weather started to look more and more sketchy - and sketchy it was. The day we arrived it was pouring rain. So we setup our tent (From DOD Outdoors) in the rain, then got all our bedding setup inside. It was about 37 degrees - in August. So we basically went straight to bed after that. The first day was more of the same, with a low of 34 degrees, and a high of 44 or something. So I picked a hike for us that did not involve big vistas (as you woudlnt’ be able to see them) and we hiked up to Comet Falls - which is a beautiful hike. I told the boys there were likely over 100 water falls on the way, and so the tried to count. They stopped at around 40, because it was taking too long (realistically there may be around 200?). So the first day was complete socked in rain hiking. This let me try some “moody” PNW photos that I don’t normally take.
The next day we did what is quite possibly the most popular hike in all of Rainier - and for good reason. We did the Skyline Trail Loop. This hike was the longest of the ones we did at just around 6 miles, with a little under 2000 feet in elevation - so not the hardest hike but still a nice challenge. The sun was out at the lower elevations, but the entire mountain was still covered in clouds. By today, it was day three and no one had actually seen the mountain yet. I kept hoping that it would show up - and it did. Right when we were at the very tip of the loop, the clouds above cleared and the mountain popped out for us for about 5 minutes. It was actually glorious. It felt like we were floating in heaven with the mountain dominating everything. The clouds would eventually move back in, but the clear up again as we walked down. This was our best sunset of the trip - no doubt.
Our last full day at Rainier National Park involved doing a hike that is one of my favorites because of its views of the mountain. Now, we ended up with no true sunset, unfortunately, because clouds rolled in and blocked it all, but it was one of the best days we had in terms of actually seeing the mountain. This hike - while not as hard as the day before - felt much harder as it was our third big hike in three days. Either way, this one we also had the most time up top, able to eat, relax, build some rock towers, or climb to the very very peak. If you see me rocking a backpackers pack - that’s because I was carrying mostly all the water, food, and everything we needed for the hike. But I was also up there to get some photos of Outdoor Vitals’ Tern Marina Wool Sun Hoodie and their Nebo Windbreaker. Love being able to take my family with me for things like that. Make sure to check out Outdoor Vitals for high-end ultralight backpacking gear.
