Mount Rainier National Park - Paradise Hike

"Of all the fire-mountains, which, like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest in form." - John Muir, 1906

We hiked an epic, unforgettable, beautiful (but exhausting) 8+ miles from Paradise, up along the slopes of this incredible mountain. Words just can't describe it. We hope these pictures tell a story...

Hiking Hurricane Ridge

We drove from Sequim to Port Angeles and hung a left to head into Olympic National Park at Hurricane Ridge. Olympic has three main sections: The Pacific Beaches, the rain forest valleys and the incredible glacier-capped peaks above the old growth wilderness. We hiked 7+ miles into the wilderness, enjoying every beautiful step (some of which were on very, very steep climbs and descents). Here's just some of what we saw along the way...

Sand Castles...

We got lucky and stumbled upon the Port Angeles "Arts in Action" Festival, and the North American Masters International Sand Sculptures Contest. Unbelievable!

Crescent Lake, Maryann Falls and Sol Duc Falls

Saturday we enjoyed Olympic National Park by bike and on foot. We started out on the Spruce Trail - which is pretty much the only trail in the Park where mountain biking is permitted. It's a beautiful 24 miles round trip along the shore of Crescent Lake.
After the ride we drove to the Storm King Ranger Station and did a 3 mile hike to Maryann Falls.
Oh Deer!
Today we hiked a 6-mile loop along the Sol Duc River, through the forest...
to the Sol Duc Falls.
Tomorrow is our last day in Forks. Our next stop is just 60 or so miles away, on the other side of Olympic National Park. We plan to do lots of riding and hiking from our base in Sequim, WA. Stay tuned!

The Wild Coast of Olympic National Park

For the next two weeks, we're on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Our first stop is a little town called Forks. Having not read the books or seen the movie, before we arrived we had no idea that this little town was put on the map as the hometown of vampires from the Twilight series. They're absolutely Twilight crazy here! Every hotel room is sold out - and giggling high school girls are everywhere. Wow. Who knew?

We hit the beach today - and explored the beautiful and rugged coastline of Olympic National Park.