Northwest Day 10: Mount Rainier and onward

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Odometer: 1448

Mr. Rainier with Emmons Glacier

After breakfast, we packed up camp and went back into Mount Rainier National Park via the Sunrise entrance station. After a long uphill drive with many scenic views, Sunrise was a typically good National Park visitor center. The ranger suggested a hike that was supposedly about 0.6 miles each way, but which turned out to be a little closer to a mile, which aggravated Celeste’s sore ankle a bit. The hike gave us a good view of the Emmons Glacier, which had receded quite significantly in the 21 years since our last visit. We had hiked from the campground to the tip of the glacier in 1993; that would clearly not have been practical any more.

 After the hike, we drove down to White River campground, which also has a picnic area, for lunch before heading out.

Our drive took us over a couple of mountain passes and by a ski area, and then down to Yakima and then south. It got quite warm, up to about 104° according to the car thermometer, although it tends to exaggerate. When we got to our intended camping spot, Maryhill State Park, it was full, and without much in the way of alternatives, we drove across the Columbia River to The Dalles, Oregon, where we stayed in a very pleasant and quite new Fairfield Inn. Dinner was at a downtown pub where we were able to sit outdoors and avoid being over air conditioned.

Mileage today: 234 miles

This article is part of a series about our recent driving vacation to the Pacific Northwest. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.