Mount Rainer, Washington 09/02 – 09/05/2009
Saturday, September 5th, 2009We arrived at Cougar Rock Campground in Mount Rainer National Park on the morning of Sept 2. We stayed two nights. Our campsite was great! We had privacy in the woods.
Mount Rainer was visible from the road near our campsite. On the first day there, clouds covered Mt. Rainer most of the time. We travelled up to the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise on both days we were there.
On our second trip to Paradise, Mt Rainer was quite clear when we started our hike. We chose an easy trail to follow. Then, we switched to the Dead Horse Creek trail to head up the mountain. We switched again onto the Skyline Trail that went to the top of the mountain or close to it. (As far as the hiking trails go) We stopped just short of the top. We were above most of the surrounding mountains at 6400 feet. We went down a different set of trails to get a different perspective.
On the way up, we met another couple from our campground. It turns out that he was a CIA trained and directed scout sniper during Vietnam and he wrote a book about his experiences. He is Robert Boyd and his book is “Codename Litefoot”. We were intrigued, visited them in their trailer and purchased an autographed copy from him.
On Saturday, it was raining heavily as we set out for the Mount St. Helen’s Visitor Center and the Oregon Coast.