Cincinnati - Mitchell, SD
August 13th, 2016
Badlands, SD
August 14th, 2016
Hill City, SD
August 15th, 2016
August 16th, 2016
West Yellowstone, MT
August 18th, 2016
August 19th, 2016
August 20th, 2016
August 21st, 2016
Glacier National Park
August 22nd, 2016
August 23rd, 2016
August 24th, 2016
August 25th, 2016
Seattle, WA
August 28th, 2016
August 29th, 2016
Silver Creek, WA
August 31st, 2016
September 1st, 2016
September 2nd, 2016
Crescent City, CA
September 4th, 2016
September 5th, 2016
Diamond Lake, OR
September 7th, 2016
September 8th, 2016
Twin Falls, ID
September 10th, 2016
Moab, UT
September 12th, 2016
September 13th, 2016
September 14th, 2016
September 15th, 2016
Manitou Springs, CO
September 17th, 2016
September 18th, 2016
September 19th, 2016
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Ugh, rain predicted again for this afternoon, but we set out for Mt. Rainier anyway, because it's several inches of snow that's predicted on the mountain for tomorrow.
When we arrived at the Paradise Visitor Center, the kids wanted to do the ranger program so that they could get another Junior Ranger patch.
Of course, Mt. Rainier was completely hidden by the cloudcover but, we set out on the Skyline Trail anyway. I assume that it's called the Skyline Trail, because it feels like you are climbing the side of a skyscraper!
I have to give Gavin a world of props here. He was out in front setting the pace like a mad man cruising up the mountainside in his usual cheerful spirit that is quite contageous. I have never been so proud of both of the kids as they busted out 1500 feet in elevation in just a mile and a half, an average of a 20% grade - that's steep!
It was unbelieveably cloudy. Sometimes you couldn't see any direction more than 20 feet, but sometimes the wind would blow the clouds away and you could see further. It was everchanging and seemed to be getting worse. When we had made it to Glacier Vista, the wind picked up and it began sleeting sideways. We couldn't even see Nisquallly Glacier despite the fact we were right next to it. At this point, the mom in me trumped the hiker and we made the painful decision to turn back. If it had been just Christian and me, we would have pressed on and finished the loop, but I didn't want to be responsible for getting my kids in a precarious situation (you never know what can happen with mountain weather).
Hind sight felt like it gut punched me on this one. About 10 or 15 mintues down the hill, we turned back to see the cloudcover starting to lift. We finally got a glimpse of Nisqually Glacier, but still never were able to see any more of the peak than this. Gavin tried to convince us to go back up, but since the weather prediction was for more rain in the afternoon and it seemed like there were more grey clouds in the distance, mom trumped hiker yet again.
The rain was spotty and began to taper off as we continued our descent down the mountain. We did get to stop and see a lot of marmots that make this sub-alpine region it's home. They are kind of cute.
When we got back to the truck, we decided to try to take a look at Narada Falls. By the time we got there, it began to drizzle again, but we got a beautiful view of it's 188' drop.
By the time we made our way back to the truck, the rain picked up the pace and continued for the rest of the evening.
Back at the campground, we got through our schoolwork and spaghetti just in time for about a half an hour of no rain that gave C a chance to try to fish off the docks (and Roy a chance to go for a walk).
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