On the 20th (Colin's birthday--Happy Birthday to Colin!), we took a boat ride up Lake Chalen. It was in and out showers, but the result of one of those was this gorgeous rainbow that spanned the lake!
We were headed to a small town at the end of the lake, Stehekin, where hiking trails take off into the backcountry. This lake is a natural lake and at it's deepest is 1500'. It's 400' below sealevel. A beautiful ride!On the 21st we headed into Mt. Rainier National Park. We met up with old high school friends of Jean's and we camped together for two nights. The first morning we took a hike up Pinnacle Peak. Started out in the mist and clouds but by the time it was lunch time this was our scene :-)!
The next morning it was raining lightly so we decided to still take our Carter Falls walk. Well worth it! On the way back we ran into a couple of young folks who were doing the Wonderland Trail all the way around Mt. Rainier. He was having severe knee problems and they still had 38 miles to go so, since we were packing up and heading out, we decided to drive them to their car....so got into the very northwest section of Rainier where we never would have gone. Fun adventure.
After we dropped the kids off, we headed to Nick and Laura's for a couple of days of R&R. On Friday we headed to Mt. St. Helen's with Nick. It was supposed to be a B+ day but started out in low clouds. But not long after we got to the site it opened up and became an A day by the time we left. We'd been here 6 years ago and there has been tremendous change in the regrowth of plants etc. Really interesting.
This morning we're heading out toward Crater Lake in Oregon. Need to get their fairly soon as they close up campgrounds etc early in October....when the snows begin to fall.More details later. God's created a beautiful world out here! Hugs to all!
