SeilerBird
Well-known member
I am watching an excellent documentary on Mount Rainier National Park on Amazon Prime:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U7PC28G/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=iw_prime_movie-20&ref_=asc_homepage
and a thought occurred to me. Three incredible National Parks are located in Washington and they never get any love on this forum so I thought I would pour some love on them. I read about people wanting to visit the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Redwood, Yellowstone, Glacier and Death Valley all the time, but never about Mount Rainier, North Cascades or Olympic.
I will start with Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is the classic image of the Pacific northwest. It is only 100 feet shorter than Mount Whitney which is the highest peak in the lower 48. It is covered in snow and glaciers all year long and it is basically impossible to take a bad photograph of it. But the real draw is a once in a lifetime bucket list event around August 1st every year. There is a wildflower bloom in Paradise that beats any wildflower bloom you could ever imagine.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mount+rainier+paradise+wildflower+bloom&rlz=1CAACAR_enUS803&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj86O7grP_cAhXQrVMKHXmyDNQQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=667
Olympic is three great parks in one. Any one of the three could be a park all by itself. Hurricane Ridge is an alpine meadow full of wildflowers and critters that is to be seen to be believed. Then there is Kalaloch Campground on the beach one of the most beautiful beach campgrounds. But the third one, the Hoh Rainforest will knock your socks off. How rainy is it? Well Seattle gets 36 inches of rain per year. The Hoh rainforest gets 14 feet of rain per year.
http://www.sevenwondersofwashingtonstate.com/the-hoh-rain-forest.html
But my favorite of the three in my book is North Cascades. Three glacier fed turquoise lakes and a pristine forest. Best thing about North Cascades is no one knows about. It is like having your own private National Park.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U7PC28G/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=iw_prime_movie-20&ref_=asc_homepage
and a thought occurred to me. Three incredible National Parks are located in Washington and they never get any love on this forum so I thought I would pour some love on them. I read about people wanting to visit the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Redwood, Yellowstone, Glacier and Death Valley all the time, but never about Mount Rainier, North Cascades or Olympic.
I will start with Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is the classic image of the Pacific northwest. It is only 100 feet shorter than Mount Whitney which is the highest peak in the lower 48. It is covered in snow and glaciers all year long and it is basically impossible to take a bad photograph of it. But the real draw is a once in a lifetime bucket list event around August 1st every year. There is a wildflower bloom in Paradise that beats any wildflower bloom you could ever imagine.
https://www.google.com/search?q=mount+rainier+paradise+wildflower+bloom&rlz=1CAACAR_enUS803&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj86O7grP_cAhXQrVMKHXmyDNQQ_AUICigB&biw=1366&bih=667
Olympic is three great parks in one. Any one of the three could be a park all by itself. Hurricane Ridge is an alpine meadow full of wildflowers and critters that is to be seen to be believed. Then there is Kalaloch Campground on the beach one of the most beautiful beach campgrounds. But the third one, the Hoh Rainforest will knock your socks off. How rainy is it? Well Seattle gets 36 inches of rain per year. The Hoh rainforest gets 14 feet of rain per year.
http://www.sevenwondersofwashingtonstate.com/the-hoh-rain-forest.html
But my favorite of the three in my book is North Cascades. Three glacier fed turquoise lakes and a pristine forest. Best thing about North Cascades is no one knows about. It is like having your own private National Park.