Wednesday, September 4, Glaciers!

In the morning we drove to Mt. Rainier, which is covered with 26 glaciers. We drove two sides of Mt. Rainier National Park. Typical winding, mountainous roads with forest on each side. We eventually reached Paradise visitor center and village. Inside the visitor center is a shop and displays about the tectonic origin of the northwest volcanoes and the wildlife surviving the harsh winters. The glaciers are easy to see from there with the eye and binoculars mounted on stands. From here numerous trails leading up to the glaciers, 200 or more feet above. Since it was afternoon, many people were returning to cars, removing packs and putting them into car trunks. Serious hikers are most easily identified because they carry walking sticks that look like ski-poles.

We knew Kyle would be at Mt. Rainier in a few days on a volunteer trip to help with re-vegetating (is that a word?) some of the area. So we, playfully, created a list of all the things she could do when she arrived with the volunteer team. I'm sure they will do other, more appropriate projects and we're proud of her service to our environmentl!

From Mt. Rainier we headed further south toward Oregon. We have made "a date" to meet Kyle there, but we still have some time to enjoy other scenery and places.

Tonight we stayed at Ike Kinswa State Park in Washington. It's on a lake. We really liked the park; spacing of the sites is very generous and there weren't many others there anyway. It is so nice when we find state parks or forest service parks, etc. that have electricity for our C-PAPs. We both really enjoy the more rustic settings, even when it's only for a night.