Mt. Ranier RV Trip (183-184)

We have visited the Seattle area many times, and have always been in awe of Mt Ranier, which dominates the horizon. The snow white peak slicing through the blue sky (at least on sunny days!).

On this trip we decided to pay Mount Ranier a visit and stay a couple nights in the historic Paradise Inn located inside the National Park. That would be a first for us, as was leaving the motorhome for an overnight stay while on a trip. I’ll let you know how everything worked out!

We drove north from the San Francisco Bay Area to the Seattle area. It usually takes us about 3 nights to make the trip at our leisurely pace to Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothell, our base camp for the trip. We like a site on the water, and enjoy morning walks around the park or to the nearby coffee shop, and bike rides along the river from Bothell to Redland.

On this trip we also took a beautiful drive to La Conner for some fish and chips along the water, and great ice cream at Snow Goose Produce Market on the way home.

We also visited the Ballard Locks connecting the Puget Sound to Lake Washington and Lake Union. The Ballard Locks carry more boat traffic than any other lock in the U.S., and attract more than one million visitors annually. Here you see three boats leaving the locks, after being lowered up to 3 stories!

Here a larger boat is waiting its turn.

Here it’s just about to leave the locks. Note how the train bridge has raised to make room for it to pass underneath.

Also at the locks is a fish ladder and viewing area for the Sockeye, Chinook and Cojo salmon that move through it.

There were just a few salmon the day we visited, but there can sometimes be hundreds.

We also visited the Port of Edmunds and enjoyed watching the ferries load and unload passengers while we enjoyed a meal at Arnie’s. That’s Mount Baker in the background.

Our favorite day was enjoying a family BBQ. What a beautiful family.

Before long it was time to leave for Mount Ranier National Park. We had prepared ahead of time with a National Park Pass, a timed entry reservation, and kennel reservations for our terrier, Lucy.

The road up to Mount Ranier is fun drive, with lots of twists and turns and historical sites and hikes and waterfalls to visit. Since we had 2 nights at Paradise Inn, we took our time and enjoyed the drive.

First stop was the Longmire Museum, where the James Longmire “discovered” this area found a mineral spring and built a small resort. People would come from all over to enjoy the waters and take in Mount Ranier. We had a nice lunch at the National Park Inn, and then a small hike around the meadow.

Our next stop was to take a small hike across the Nisqually River on the Wonderland Trailhead,

then on to the very picturesque Christine Falls.

and Narada falls. As you near the viewpoint, a beautiful rainbow appears in the waterfall mist .

You keep going up and up and enjoy beautiful vistas.

But the main reason for coming is just ahead. This is the first great view of the mountain.

And at the base of the mountain, at 5,400 feet in elevation, is the Paradise Inn. Paradise Inn is an historic hotel built in 1916 for the huge sum of $91,000, and is included in the PBS documentary Great Lodges of the National Parks. My goal is to visit each of these great buildings.

The logs you see here are structural and were salvaged from a fire in the area in 1885. In fact, most of the building materials, including the rocks for the fireplace and wood for the furniture, are from the surrounding area.

Here is our room with a view. Though there is no air condictioner in the hotel, the big windows let through cool breezes and we were comfortable in the room even during the heat wave.

Note the crowds during the summer can be horrible and completely overwhelm the area. My advice is to bring an ice chest and lots of snacks and not rely solely on hotel or visitor center services. Once you get away from the visitor center, it’s not nearly as crowded and you can enjoy the open spaces.

Right outside Paradise Inn are many trails to enjoy views of Mount Ranier. We explored many of them, but enjoyed the skyline trail the most.

Here is the Skyline trail. Many people climbing to the top of Mt. Ranier will start their quest on this trail.

Such a picturesque setting. You expect to hear Julie Andrews singing The Sound of Music! 🙂

This is a far as we got, but I could just imagine climbing over those rugged ice fields.

We also explored the road on the other side of Paradise. It leads down the mountain on the east side and passes beside some beautiful lakes. Mount Ranier dominates the landscape even here and is reflected in the surface of the lake.

We really enjoyed taking a short detour from RV living to visit Mount Ranier and stay at Paradise Inn. When we returned, we were refreshed and ready to drive down the Oregon coast towards home.