While considering summer family vacation destinations, we discovered a direct flight from Des Moines to Portland. Living in a community with a small regional airport, it is frequently easier to just get in the car and drive; the direct flight swayed us to head to the Pacific NW. Further, the combination of outdoor options with some sporting events mixed in appealed to the family. Unfortunately, Owen had to bail out of the trip due to some last-minute work conflicts.
July 6th – Travel Day
Upon arrival in Portland, we took the opportunity to visit Loren’s uncle Jerry and aunt Jackie, who live in the Portland area. It has been a few years since we’ve last visited and we really enjoyed reconnecting over lunch. Following lunch, we drove four hours north to the coastal community of Le Conner, Washington where we’d be based for the first part of the vacation. Arrival in early evening provided the opportunity to seek out a sunset spot and we opted for a short walk into the Kukutali Preserve State Park Heritage Site.
Mount Hood from the airplane seat!
Coming from Iowa, the pines and view of Skagit Bay from our rental house provided a relaxing base.
Kukutali Preserve State Park Heritage Site
July 7th – Sea Kayaking
Our first adventure was a half day of sea kayaking in the San Juan Islands, booking a guided tour from Anacortes Kayak Tours. With three of us on the tour, Becky, Saran, and Loren were outfitted in a three-person kayak. A three-person kayak is very stable, which is nice when you a little rough patch in open water. But, it does maneuver more like a bus that a sleek sports car. Our guide, Ryan, was a bit more nimble and still managed to outpace us with only his single-person power. With the kayaks, you get up close to marine and bird life; highlights included anemones, sea stars, sea cucumbers, bald eagles, and kingfishers. We took a leisurely pace in the morning to explore the water’s edge. Following lunch at the Burroughs Island Lighthouse, the return trip required more effort. There was still enough time in the day for a quick drive up Mount Erie and meal back at our house before seeking a sunset view. Sharpe Park was recommended and exceeded expectations.
Burroughs Island Lighthouse
Mount Erie – Left, Looking South Toward Skagit Bay. Right, Mount Adams In The Distance
Sharpe Park Sunset
July 8th – Seattle
Our main planned activity for Saturday was the Major League Baseball Futures Game and Celebrity Softball Game in Seattle. Loren dropped Becky and Sarah off north of downtown so they could get in a run, then meet Loren somewhere near the baseball stadium. Due to Loren’s struggles to find parking after his targeted lot was already full, Becky and Sarah beat him to the stadium! Once settled into a parking garage and the runners were dried off, we had a nice lunch at The Dough Zone, a dumpling restaurant that reminded Sarah of her January study-abroad program in Japan. After a few purchases at the Asian supermarket and drop-off at the car, it was off the stadium for the games. Not much to say about the future stars games; but celebrity softball was full of home runs and was very entertaining.
Lumen Field and T-Mobile Park:
July 9th – Whale Watching Cruise in the San Juan Islands
A few years back, we had booked a cruise with Island Adventures out of Anacortes. But, the whales were elusive on that grip and none were spotted. Due to a lifetime guarantee from Island Adventures, we booked a return trip. Whales were still elusive; but, the word on the street (or the waves in this case) eventually led us to an Orca pod north of Vancouver, Canada. Although whale sightings were again challenging, there were a few dolphins, porpoises, bald eagles, and amazing views of Mt Adams (Koma Kulshan in native language) along the way. It was a beautiful, sunny day and it was nice just to hang out on the top deck. Following the cruise, Becky and Sarah again sought out a good running option, which turned out to be some trail running at Washington Park on Fidalgo Island. Finally, as is our frequent end of the day quest, we again followed recommendations and watched the sunset from Rosario Head after a brief drive by of the very tourist-congested Deception Pass.
Top Row: Underway with Island Adventures, Patos Island Lighthouse and Mount Adams, Sarah enjoying the brisk breeze.
Bottom: Orcas! and Mount Adams on the return trip.
Top Row: Deception Pass Bridge, Ko-Kwal-Alwoot (Maiden of Deception Pass), Rosario Head
Bottom Row: Rosario Head Last Light
July 10th – Travel Day to Mount Rainier National Park
Off to our next stage of the trip. A mid-morning departure allowed for plenty of time to load up on Raspberries at a local produce stand, stop for lunch and groceries in Enumclaw, and still complete our first hike in the Park. With our rental house located just outside the northeast entrance of Mount Rainier National Park between Greenwater and Crystal Mountain Ski Resort, we focused completely on the Sunrise area of the Park. With the elevation change and a limited amount of time, we made the 3.5 mile Naches Peak Loop our first Mount Rainier hike. Hiking clockwise from Tipsoo Lake, we’d see a few mountains in the distance and say “is one of those Rainier or is it too cloudy?” due to the low-level gray clouds in the area. After the trail turned to the west, we came to a clearing and BAM!, there was Mount Rainier much closer and larger than we expected. Simply a wonderful hike to kick off our time at Mount Rainier.
July 11th – Summerland Trail to Panhandle Gap (almost)
Our first full day in Mount Rainier NP found us at the Summerland Trailhead early enough to snag one of the few parking spots. The hike starts out gradually climbing through a forest full of very tall trees. We were surprised to see a marmot well below tree line shortly before we began the final set of switchbacks up to Summerland Camp. As we neared treeline, meadows of wildflowers replaced the deep forest and Mount Rainier occasionally provided motivation to keep pushing on. Following lunch in the open space just above treeline at Summerland, we went on toward Panhandle Gap. With a few snow crossings behind us already, we were faced with a final snowfield right below the gap. Although many other groups were successfully navigating the section, we were without hiking poles or microspikes and bailed out before trying that final stretch. Overall, an A-plus hiking day of about 11 miles.
Peek-a-boo views of Mount Rainier on a perfectly clear morning!
Working our way above treeline!
You can see a couple of hikers on the final stretch that we did not feel comfortable crossing. It is a steeper drop-off than it appears in the photo.
July 12th – Sunrise and Fremont Fire Lookout
Our next day’s adventure took us up the well-planned switchback road to the Sunrise Visitor Center. Several interesting hikes were considered with snow on the trail again a factor in our decision. We decided the trail reports for the Fremont Fire Lookout were more our level instead of more snow crossings up First and Second Burroughs Mountains. Mount Rainier again cooperated with some amazing morning views, We took a little break to visit with another Marmot near Frozen Lake, the water source for the Sunrise area. The trail to Fremont clung to a mountainside with big valley views and Mount Rainier constantly providing rest opportunities to take in the scenery. After a lunch near the Lookout, we made our way back toward the Visitor Center, taking an alternate return trail through scrub forest and giving thanks for the early start as clouds rolled over Mount Rainier. Total mileage for the day, about 7.5 miles.
Marmots!
Views from the Fremont Fire Tower:
Shadow Lake on the return trail.
July 13th – Glacier Basin
Our final full day in Mount Rainier took us to the White River Campground and the trailhead for Glacier Basin. We were blessed with another crystal clear morning with Mount Rainier in full view. The trail followed a small creek on the way up to the Glacier Basin Wilderness Campground. We had our lunch a short ways past the campground; but, then stopped in the campground for some book time on the way back. Also on the way back, we took a very short side trip toward the Emmons Glacier viewpoint. Thanks to a tip from fellow hikers, we didn’t have to go far before a short rock scramble gave us excellent views of the Emmons Glacier terminus without having to cover the additional distance to the actual viewpoint. Back in the car and heading out from the White River Campground, we hit a pullout for what we thought could be our last view of Rainier. Just a sublime view where we popped the hatch and got the books back out for a long, peaceful read before finally leaving the Park.
Lunch at Glacier Basin:
Some reading time in the Glacier Basis Wilderness Campground:
Side Tour to Emmons Glacier Terminus Views:
The view from the White River pullout.
July 14th – Mt St Helens and Travel Day
Our destination for the day was Portland; but, a recommendation routed us to the Eastern side of Mt St Helens. We had heard both the road to the Johnston Ridge Observatory on the West side and Forest Road 25 that could take you along the East side were closed due to landslides. But, this might have worked to our advantage as we could still access the Norway Pass trail before the Forest Road 25 closure. This trail was HOT after our cool, high elevation hikes in Mount Rainier. The trail did provide views of Mount Adams and Mount Rainier in the distance; but, the payoff was the view of the blast zone of Mt St Helens and the blown down trees still in Spirit Lake below the mountain. After returning to the car, the rest of the day was simply returning to Portland and settling into a hotel for our last two nights.
July 15th – Explore Portland and Timbers soccer
The final day was spent doing a little shopping at REI, visiting the famous Powell’s bookstore, and attending a Portland Timbers soccer game. Powell’s is the largest bookstore in the world and we spent several hours just wandering the aisles. It was probably good that we knew there wasn’t more room in our luggage (carry-ons only). Finally, to cap the trip off, Timbers fans are known to strongly support their home town team and neither they nor the players disappointed. Portland came away with a 3-2 victory, with the game winning goal coming in the 80th minute.
July 16th – heading home
Well, Becky and I headed home. Sarah got up early enough to catch a 5:30 AM flight to Kalispell, Montana for another week of hiking and camping at Glacier National Park with some college friends.