Mt Rainier National Park

Reflection Lake

(a little windy for a reflection, but beautiful none-the-less)

Another Johnson adventure to the West Coast aka Left Coast.  Justin has been wanting to climb Mt Rainier for a few years now and has been waiting for the perfect time.  This mountain is a bit different than his past mountains as he was doing a 4 day guided climb - 2 days of training and 2 days of climbing the mountain.  As I understand it, a guided climb like this is a pre-requisite for other climbs - bigger, higher, harder climbs.  Climbs that have not received final approval as of yet.  ;)  He wait-listed himself on 2 weekend climbs for this summer and he happened to get the call for this week.  He will put his experience into words in a separate post. 

Obviously, I am extremely proud of his achievement and glad he had a successful, safe climb.  I was a bit distracted as I waited for the phone call from him that he was down and safe.  My first phone conversation, post-climb, he described his adventure as "good, hard and freaky".  My second question after "how was it?" was "are you going to do this again?" and the answer was YES. 

So, since we have a climber on our hands... here's some crucial info you will need to discuss Rainier with Justin ... you may not refer to him anymore as a "hiker" - apparently, this mountain transitioned him over into the world of "climbers".  "Climbers" are not to be confused with "hikers" - I think it is borderline offensive - so beware.   I learned this the hard way.

We flew to WA on Friday and Justin checked in for his adventure and the girls and I checked in for ours.  We were staying 2 nights in a cabin at Stone Creek Lodge located right at the entrance to the Mt Rainier National Park. This cabin had NO TV and NO INTERNET and NO CELL SERVICE and it was GLORIOUS!!!  As I type this, Spongebob is on in the background (yes, I let them watch Spongebob sometimes, horrible, I know) and I am ready to go back to my cabin in the woods. 

The cabin is run by widower who makes a camp fire every evening and the guests all gather to roast marshmallows or hot dogs and get acquainted.  She's selling the property if anyone wants to run away from the busy, city life and live a slower paced, "unplugged" life in the gorgeous mountains of WA -- I know it crossed our minds!  It requires you live on a gigantic volcano, but it wouldn't really be fun if there wasn't a little risk involved, right?!  Anyway...

The girls and I played for 2 days while Justin did his training for his climb.  We picked him up every evening (we had to plan ahead as we couldn't just call each other - old school style) and had dinner together and returned to the cabin.  While he practiced catching himself with his ice axe in a mock fall down the mountain, the girls and I explored all that Rainier had to offer.  The park is gorgeous and huge.  We drove along the tree-lined highway and pulled off at a few scenic vistas and short hikes.  Our favorites were the hike down to a huge waterfall, Narada Falls, and a snowy hike up from the Paradise Visitors Center.  The trees, rivers, lakes and mountain views were breath-taking.  I think the girls favorite part was the snow - and I got pelted by more than a few snowballs!

I realized at the airport before take off I forgot my camera... and if you know me at all, you know this was devastating to me!  It was like travelling without my right arm.  We picked up a point and shoot and the Hertels had loaned us a little point and shoot as well, so we managed, but the pics are not the same... :(

Narada Falls

Snowball Fight!

Rainier behind us.

Climber and future climber!