National Park System 100th Birthday

Tom S.

Tom S.

#1
#1
The National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary today. As part of the celebration, admission is free to all 412 national park sites August 25-28.

I'm on vacation this week and couldn't not take advantage of that, so today my wife and I drove up to Mt. Rainier Natl. Park in Washington. Here are some photos.

Do any of you have plans to visit a National Park during the free days?


My little Honda just keeps running and running.



Reflection Lake.



Narada Falls often has a rainbow.





Paradise visitor center.



This neat relief map was the center of attention at the Paradise visitor center.



Paradise.

 
45t

45t

Well-Known Member
#5
#5
One of my favorite places to go when I'm in Washington State. Did you hike any of the trails? There is a spot that is a nice couple hour hike called Panorama/panoramic point where you can see Mt St. Helens, Mt Hood and Mt Olympia all at the same time. Well worth the hike. :thumbsup:

I did the hike to Camp Muir once. Its the highest you can go without a permit. This farm boy from Illinois was ill prepared for the thin oxygen at that altitude and I got elevation sickness that lasted for 3 days. But it was worth it, memories will last me a lifetime.

Camp Muir is the red star on the photo.

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Tom S.

Tom S.

#8
#8
45t said:
One of my favorite places to go when I'm in Washington State. Did you hike any of the trails? There is a spot that is a nice couple hour hike called Panorama/panoramic point where you can see Mt St. Helens, Mt Hood and Mt Olympia all at the same time. Well worth the hike. :thumbsup:

I did the hike to Camp Muir once. Its the highest you can go without a permit. This farm boy from Illinois was ill prepared for the thin oxygen at that altitude and I got elevation sickness that lasted for 3 days. But it was worth it, memories will last me a lifetime.

Camp Muir is the red star on the photo.
Click to expand...
This was a day trip w/a three-hour drive each way, so time was limited. We did hike a couple of miles on a couple of short trails, but we did not go nearly as far as the red star. That looks like a huge climb. How long did that take you? Mt. Rainier is about as different from Illinois as can be. I just spent a week in Illinois and thought I would melt from the heat and humidity. The air there feels thick. :laugh:
 
45t

45t

Well-Known Member
#9
#9
Tom S. said:
This was a day trip w/a three-hour drive each way, so time was limited. We did hike a couple of miles on a couple of short trails, but we did not go nearly as far as the red star. That looks like a huge climb. How long did that take you? Mt. Rainier is about as different from Illinois as can be. I just spent a week in Illinois and thought I would melt from the heat and humidity. The air there feels thick. :laugh:
Click to expand...
Camp Muir is at 10,188 feet and took me around 7 hours to get there from Paradise visitor center. The hardest part was the last 1-2 hours of climbing. I was breathing so hard trying to catch my breath (carrying a heavy pack), that I could only climb 40-50 feet, then stop to rest. I stayed overnight in the stone cabin (very cold night) and it took me 3-4 hours to get down to Paradise the next morning. The fun part was sledding down all the snowfields on the return trip.

Illinois is very different and I'd much rather live in Washington state. But, IL is where my job and family is (sigh). I'll just have to keep vacationing to WA whenever I get the itch.:thumbsup:
 
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