Northern Washinton – Magical Mountains & Trees in Sleeves

1952 Argosy Travel Trailer

At the jailhouse in Black Diamond

Black Diamond Train Depot

What a surprise -- it's Mt. Rainier!! We both gasped when

we turned around and spotted it.

Mt. Rainier.

Lots of cyclists were doing the climb up to Sunrise Point on

this beautiful sunny day.

Views from Sunrise Point on Mt. Rainier.

Mt. Rainier. The wildflowers were in bloom everywhere.

The green grass on the lower mountains looked like it had

been carefully mowed!!

Mt. Rainier in July.

Lodge at the top.

Mt. Rainier.  14,000 feet of beauty.

Mt. Rainier hangs silently on the horizon, like a painted

backdrop to every scene.

Pigeon guillemots on Puget Sound.

Sailboat on the shimmering waters of

Puget Sound.

View from the hiking trail at Flagler State Park.

Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park, Washington.

Happiness is...traveling and seeing new sights.

Washington coast.

Northern Washington

Jul 28-August 4, 2007 -- From southern Washington, we drove up to the northern

parts of Washington and the woods became thick, dark and damp.  We learned that this

is "old growth forest" with treasured old trees and undergrowth. It is very beautiful, but

after a few days camped in this stuff you long for the sun!!

People camp in all

kinds of rigs, but this

one caught our

attention instantly.

Owner Dennis told us it

took over 1900 hours

of work to restore this

1952 antique to its

modern glory.  He told

us his wife was very

tolerant, letting him

take a year off of work

to complete the

project.

We stopped at the town of Black Diamond, a cute town with a

historic jail and train depot.  But the highlight for us was the

bakery's marionberry pie.  Delicious!

For days we had driven around hoping for a glimpse of Mt. Rainier,

but there had been too much fog.  As we stepped out of the bakery

we turned and were shocked to see the mountain resting quietly on

the horizon.

To get a better look at the mountain we drove up to Sunrise Point.

Others came up by bike.  It looked like a hard but rewarding ride.

The next day 900 cyclists tackled three major mountain passes in

the area -- but they got a cloudy day with no views!!

Mt. Rainier. If you look really closely you can see something of a

trail which is where the mountain climbers hike up to the summit.

40,000 people hike to 10,000 feet every year, and of those 10,000

make it to the summit. You can't do it all in one day -- there is a

camp up in the snow somewhere where everyone stays overnight

on the way up and the way down. It is the tallest mountain in the

US and is the training area for mountaineers planning on

ascending Kilamanjaro and other tall peaks worldwide.

Mt. Rainier. It stands

over 14,000 feet tall. The

tallest point you can

drive to is at 6,400 feet --

which is the same height

as the summit of Mt.

Washington in New

Hampshire.

From Mt. Rainier we

traveled north to Puget

Sound and the Olympic

Peninsula.  The boats and

sea life were inviting, and

the peaks of Hurricane

Ridge in Olympic National Park were inspiring.

From Hurricane Ridge in

Olympic National Park we

made our way to Port

Angeles where we

boarded a ferry bound for

Vancouver Island.