Mount Ranier is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Seattle…….unless you are leaving mid-day. We made the unfortunate mistake of leaving later than anticipated. We were on I-5 going south into downtown Seattle when just outside the city limits we hit a traffic jam. The dreaded road closures……which caused a 2 HOUR delay getting through downtown Seattle. This made the traffic jams of Houston and Austin look like childs play. If you experienced the evacuation on I-45 for Hurricane Rita, you would be having PTSD right about now. The good news was that it wasn’t hot (we had 60 degree cool air coming through the windows), and we had good conversations.

Once we made it through Seattle, it was smooth sailing until we got to the National Park, and then another traffic jam occurred, causing another 30 minute delay. Traffic suddenly disappeared when the rangers closed the entry fee station at 5pm. We sprinted through the entrance at 5:08. After that, it was a mad dash on how much we could see in the remaining hours of sunlight, which fortunately for us, daylight lasts until almost 9pm!

Nisqually Park Entrance

 

Finally making it through the park entrance, this was our first sight. Trees on both sides and cool sunny weather. It would take another hour of winding breathtakingly beautiful roads to get to our final destination, Paradise Inn.

First Stop

Our first stop was about a mile or so into the park. There were several places on the side of the road to pull over for photo ops. This was one of those stops and were our first glimpses of this magnificent volcano.

Christine Falls

About halfway between the park (Nisqually) entrance and Paradise inn. David and Francisco took a short walk down the falls to take photos and video while Ariel and I stayed at the top. If you look close enough, you can see the two of us on the bridge. The waterfall plunges 60 feet, eventually flowing into the Nisqually River. The waterfall is named for Christine Van Trump, daughter of P.B. Van Trump, one of the first climbers of Mount Rainier.

Christine Falls

Christine Falls bridge spans the narrow Van Trump Creek canyon between Rampart Ridge on the west, and Cushman Crest to the east. The falls are formed by Van Trump Creek, which passes north to south through the site, eventually flowing into the Nisqually River.

As you can see in the video, Ariel and I walked to the other side of the bridge to see another view of the falls.

Christine Falls

Ricksecker Point

Our last pullover before arriving at Paradise Inn was Ricksecker Point. As you can see, we had wonderful panoramic views of the Nisqually Glacier and the Tatoosh Range. Ricksecker Point is named after Eugene Ricksecker of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who designed the Longmore-Paradise Road.

Animals in the Park

We also came across a few animals while on the trails. The Marmot was totally tame and posing for the camera I might add. He had quite an audience. Marmot’s are also called ground squirrels. Surprisingly, they hibernate during the winter.  The Canada Jay landed right next to me, no doubt looking for some handouts. He seemed quite friendly. Sadly, I had no cheetos to give him.

Doe, a Deer….

Doe, a Deer…..

I’m sure this doe would have eaten right out of our hands if something was offered. She had no fear of humans and even gave us a princess pose for the cameras.

We clearly will have to spend more time in this park the next time we’re in the area. There were several places we didn’t get to explore due to time constraints. Until next time…..

Seattle WA
By July 2022