Although my parents and I spent the night at the historic lodge, Paradise Inn, we all woke up very early. Like 4:45 am early. The birds in the eves were making a lot of noise. The rooms at the inn, were small, but comfortable. We all got up.
The plan was to eat a large breakfast, but the dining room did not open until 7:00 am.
We packed up our things and sat down in the main area. It is a grand room flanked by two massive, stone fireplaces.
Fortunately, there was coffee by 5:30 am! For my parents. After breakfast, we stopped by Narada Falls on our way down to Longmire.
It was really cold! The viewpoint was in the shade. mixed with the mist of the falls!
Mt. Rainier Park has a second historical Inn at the base of the mountain called Longmire. From Longmire, it is easy to get onto the Wonderland Trail. We decided to take park of a hike through old growth forests up to a view point.
The trail started through a wet land. It was magical.
This trail was not paved. The forest was Douglas Fir, Spruce and another...
The trees at the base of our walk were hundreds of feet tall.
As we walked higher, my parents and I noticed that the trees were growing out of the rocks. It took us an hour and 45 minutes to get to the top to the view point.
We looked down at Longmire!
I was happy to make it.
The walk back down was faster, but my legs were definitely hurting. The great thing about this trail was that it was much less busy than the trails up at Paradise.
After this hike, we drove home. It was nice to have experienced Mt. Rainier National Park in the morning.
