Trip to Mt. Rainier

Day 1: Setup camp. Did the Hot Springs nature walk (about .5 miles). Girls met a 4 1/2 year old girl camping with her parents next door to us. They played together like crazy!

Day 2: Spent forever getting everyone up, dressed, fed and cleaned up. Then drove up to Paradise Valley. I missed the turnoff and it took 1 1/2 hours to get there rather than 1/2 hour. The kids slept, so they didn't care, but I felt silly.

This little guy lived in this hole in a tree at camp. We had to watch our food because he was quick!

Up at Paradise, we got out of our car and people pointed us to a bear and her cub down in the valley.

One man we met (standing on the other side of Jason) was from London. He and another lady were touring America, happy to be away from home while the Olympics were going on.

Lily, terrified of dogs, was felt confident enough to pet this very calm, gentle one.

The mountain was being a little shy. We saw a few fairly clear views while driving, but most of our pictures looked like this.

Hiking to Myrtle Falls. One mile round-trip, about 100 ft gain in elevation. The girls did really good, even though they were a little tired at the end.

Different years you visit Paradise Valley different wildflowers will be especially abundant. This year it was Lupin.

Lily posing in front of some lilies (these are called Avalanche Lilies). We told her these flower had the same name as her and she was very excited about that!

Myrtle Falls.

Back at camp.

Day 3: Did Grove of the Patriarchs nature walk. About a mile or so. Some very big, very old trees.

Trees growing out of a 'Nurse Log,' a tree that has fallen down and become a fertile start for new trees that have grown out of it's trunk.

One more stop at the Ohanpecosh Visitor Center before driving home.