Sorry, whenever I hear the word Rainier, I cannot help but think of a beer commercial from my childhood for Rainier Beer! As you may have detected by reading my blog posts, we enjoy visiting the National Parks. Near the beginning of our journey, we passed through Washington state and was able to spend a day at Rainier National Park.
We stayed at the Cascade Peaks campground in Randall, WA. It is conveniently located between both Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. It is a large campground with 500 sites and 80 acres of wooded property next to the Cowlitz River. The area lends to a serene and peaceful experience.
We spent the majority of the day driving around the park for optimal views of the mountain and to catch glimpses of wildlife. This trip we learned most of the national parks do not permit dogs on their hiking trails. Due to this restriction, we are limited on our activities and where we can go within the park boundaries.
Taking a quiet and peaceful drive through nature is therapeutic in and of itself. It allows us to see so much more in our limited time as well. We just take advantage of what we can do and make the best of it.
The Pacific Crest Trail weaves in and out of the park’s east boundary. We are permitted to take the puppies on a portion of the trail as long as it was outside the park. The part of the trail we found skirts along the park boundary. Our hike along the PCT was short; however, we can say we have officially hiked the trail! Maybe we will be able to return and take the opportunity to hike several more miles. Nonetheless, the short time we had, we were able to enjoy a beautiful and picturesque setting of the Cascade Mountain Range.
Definitely Mt. Rainer is one of my favorites love the Mountain pictures last time we were there we saw a bear out in a Valley. Just Beautiful!
I’ve seen Mt. Rainer from a distance and someday would love to get closer. Randle was were my good friend Karen lived. Have not been there either.