Canceled July 17, 2011
To visit the parks in the Pacific Northwest of America we flew to Portland, Oregon. Our plan was to see seven new parks and we drove over 4500 miles to accomplish this task. We stayed in a hotel near the park. It was summer, but there was plenty of snow on the ground. That was picture-perfect and agreeable for the boys.
The highest peak in Mount Rainier National Park is 14,410 feet above sea level. It is still an active volcano and there are 25 named glaciers. We saw plenty of raging rivers, waterfalls, and snowfields. Some of the snow on certain trails were so thick that it limited our hiking. We took refuge for warm coffee and hot cocoa at the Paradise Inn.
We went back to Mount Rainier on Saturday, August 1, 2015. It was a beautiful clear and warm day. We took the long way back to Portland during our last annual family national park summer vacation. Alisa and Bill hiked in Paradise while Luke and Winston relaxed at the lodge and visitor center.
