Mt. Rainier National Park
After our somewhat disappointing time at Mount St. Helens, we were hoping for better luck at Mt. Rainier National Park.
The sky was still cloudy first thing in the morning, but the forecast was calling for partly sunny skies near the mountain! We stopped at the Longmire Wilderness Information Center and one of the rangers recommended a hike to Carter Falls. He mentioned that most of the trails near the mountain were still covered with snow and that wasn’t the case in this area.
We followed his advice and were glad we did. We also had to get a picture of Carter “falling” near the Carter Falls sign! Haha!
We all enjoyed the trail as it included some climbing around rocks, crossing over a river, and the majority was through the woods!
By the time we finished the hike, the clouds had started to clear, and we caught our first partial glimpse of Mt. Rainier!
As we made our way up Paradise Valley Road, more and more of the mountain became visible. We circled the parking lot a couple times, and this was the view that greeted us when we finally found a place to park.
The temperature had dropped to 48 degrees, but that didn’t stop us from having a little fun near the visitor center! We all agreed that Mt. Rainier was probably the most impressive mountain we’ve ever seen in person.
Olympic National Park
We knew our day at Olympic National Park was going to be a long one. We only had one day to explore the park and you really need more than that to not feel rushed. It’s a tricky park because the different areas don’t connect to each other.
Our first stop was Port Angeles to drive up Hurrican Ridge Road. It is a 17 mile drive that takes you into the heart of the Olympic Mountain range. The skies were clear and we could even see Mt. Baker and Mt. Rainier way off in the distance.
Olympic National Park almost felt like three parks in one. We left the mountains and went to explore the Hoh Rainforest on the western side of the park. We walked the Hall of Mosses Trail, which was somewhat of an otherworldly experience.
Our last stop in the park was Ruby Beach on the Pacific Coast. This was our first time seeing and putting our feet in the Pacific Ocean!! It was COLD!!! Don’t believe me?? Let this picture serve as proof. Haha!
Ruby Beach was also an extremely beautiful area!!
Oregon Coast
After finishing up at Olympic National Park, it was time for this Ramsey party of five to take on the Pacific Coast!! We would be spending the better part of two days driving down Oregon’s scenic Highway 101. Our first stop was Cannon Beach to see the enormous Haystack Rock. It towers 235 feet above the ocean floor.
During our drive down the Oregon coast, we experienced intermittent fog and clouds. Whenever the sun would come out, the ocean would light up with an amazing aqua color!
Our next stop was at Tunnel Beach in town of Oceanside. It was a very unique experience where a tunnel through the mountainside connected Oceanside beach and Tunnel Beach.
Our last stop of the day was at Whale Cove Vista Point near Depoe Bay. Apparently, this is an area where there are frequent whale sightings. We didn’t see any whales, but we did see our first harbor seal of the trip!!
We started our second day of exploring the Oregon coast at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. It was cold and windy, but the sun was out and so were the sea lions!!
About 45 minutes south of Yaquina Head is a rock feature known as Thor’s Well. We happened to arrive as the tide was coming in, which afforded us some neat views of the water splashing through the rocks!
We found a neat spot to eat our lunch that had an amazing view of Heceta Head Lighthouse!
Our next stop, at Bandon Beach, gave us an opportunity to get up close to some more of the rock formations we have become accustomed to seeing on the Oregon Coast.
We made one final stop at Arch Rock State Park, before heading to our hotel for the night!
Next, we will be heading back into California and visiting Redwood National Park!
Ramsey Party of Five 