Before we left Seattle, Jim suggested some hikes that were near Crystal Mt Resort where our condo is located. We stopped at Noble Knob trail. Jim had warned us the road to the trailhead was very drivable in the car, but would be a little rough, steep, narrow and sharp hairpins... he didn't lie. It took about 40 minutes to cover the 6 miles to the trailhead, but it was well worth it. It had great views of Mt Rainier as well as to the northwest up the Cascade range.
We hiked out almost 4 miles on the trail and then back. It was a great first hike in the Rainier area.
More Photos here....
We checked into our condo at Crystal Mt Resort. It is a nice place for the two of us, but Jim and Heidi had warned us that there wasn't much in the area for groceries or much of anything else. We have a small efficiency kitchen which is working out well along with a community grill. There are very few people here, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves.
Today we did two short hikes in very different parts of the park. First, we hiked the Naches Loop near Chinook Pass on Hwy 123 at around 6000' of elevation. It is a high alpine area with several lakes, great views and large fields of wild flowers.... Oh and a few mosquitoes! Check out the photos link below to see all the flowers.
We drove back down from Chinook Pass to the Sunrise road and into the Mt Rainier National Park. We found the trailhead for the Wonderland Trail near White River. The Wonderland trail is 93 miles long and goes completely around Mt. Rainier. We walked a couple of miles up the trail along Frying Pan Creek through old growth forest up to a set of waterfalls along the creek. Very pretty and much different than the alpine forests we hiked this morning.
More Photos of our hikes today....
Tomorrow, back on the bike for a ride all the way up to Sunrise Lodge.
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