Our trip to the Pacific Northwest

It’s only taken me 4 months to finally sit down and put this post together. haha! But I’ve finally carved out some time to share our trip to the Pacific Northwest with you guys. This trip was a dream of mine for years and we finally decided last January that we were going to go for it and bought our plane tickets….then came March. For months we held this trip with an open hand not knowing if we would be able to go and didn’t really decide for sure until about a month before we left. So most of our planning was done in a pretty short timeframe. Traveling with 4 kids during this year definitely came with a few extra challenges but I would still do it again over and over. If this past year has taught me anything, it’s to seize opportunities to be with those we love and make all the memories(and to photograph them ;)) We did have a few obstacles. Because of the pandemic and all of the protesting in Seattle and Portland, we decided to skip those cities which was a bummer, but we’ll just have to do that next time. We also experienced unprecedented wildfires in both Washington and Oregon while we were there which did curtail some of our plans and gave us a few sleepless nights, but nothing too big in the grand scheme of things.

I’m going to share our trip in detail with photos below but here’s an overview of our trip:

Day 1: Knoxville to Seattle

Day 2: Drive to Olympic Peninsula, Hurricane Ridge

Day 3: Hoh Rain Forest, Rialto Beach

Day 4: Beach 4 at low tide, Kalaloch tree of life and bonfire on the beach, Ruby Beach, Big Cedar Tree

Day 5: Drive to Manzanita, OR

Day 6: Manzanita Beach, Short Sand Beach at Oswald State Park (Shorty Beach)

Day 7: Hug Point, Canon Beach

Day 8: Drive south to Yachats, OR

Day 9: Exploring Yachts, Sea Lion Caves(closed for us because the sea lions were out to sea til December but we heard it was a must see), Drive to Florence, OR, Haceita Head Lighthouse, Cooks Chasm Overlook

Day 10: Tidepooling at Yachats, Hike to Devil’s Churn, Cooks Chasm, Thor’s Well

Day 11: Drive to Newport, OR for breakfast, Devil’s Punchbowl, Played on the beach at Yachats.

Day 12: Back to Cook’s Chasm, Spouting Horn, Drive to Bend, OR

Day 13: Newberry Volcanic Monument, Obsidian Flow Trail, Paulina Falls Trail

Day 14: Drove the Cascades Scenic Byway, Devil’s Lake

Day 15: Drive to Mt Rainier, on the way we stopped by Smith Rock State Park, Horsetail falls and Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge. We would have definitely spent more time here but there was overwhelming smoke from wildfires that made it hazardous to even be outdoors. :(

Day 16: Mt. Rainier National Park, Grove of the Patriarchs, Drive to Paradise via Steven’s Canyon, Hike to Myrtle Falls via the Skyline trail, Nisqually Vista Loop.

Day 17: Rest, Played in the River by our Airbnb

Day 18: Tipsoo Lake, Hike Natchez Peak Loop/Pacific Crest Trail

Day 19: Drive to Sunrise, Hike to Frozen lake via Sourdough Ridge trail, Hike to Mt. Fremont Fire tower, Hike Sunrise trail back to visitor’s center,

Day 20: Seattle to Knoxville

Here’s a map of the route we took over 20 days.

A few things to note about how we planned our trip:

We primarily used 2 guidebooks to plan our trip. I know, I know. We’re old school. We used Fodor’s Pacific Northwest and Lonely Planet Washington, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest guides. It was fun to have maps to look at as well as plan our route with these guides and share them along with pictures with the kids. We also used suggestions from a lot of travel blogs, which I found so helpful, and is really the reason I’m sharing our experience in this post. Just FYI, we did not even scratch the surface of all of the things you could do and see in this part of our country. The diversity of the landscape was just incredible and you could really do this trip a million different ways and still have a great time.

We also packed really light. We flew to Seattle from Knoxville in order to save several days of car travel and rented a minivan for our trip through Costco. (Did ya’ll know about this? It can save a lot if you have a Costco membership.) So we wanted to keep things really light+I didn’t want to have to keep up with a million things. I packed all 4 of my kids in 2 carry-on suitcases. Yes you read that right. I feel like a deserve a trophy for that so this is not a humble brag, but a regular brag. lol. I kid but for real! We stayed in airbnb’s the whole time so we just made sure to book one that had a washer/dryer in it. We stayed in 5 different airbnbs along our route and planned the locations so that we could make easy day trips from each location, rather than moving around every couple of days. For simplicity, I packed the same thing for each of my kids: 1 pair of pajamas, 1 swimsuit, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 2 tees, one long sleeve shirt or sweat shirt, one pullover fleece, one raincoat, one hat, 4 pairs of undies and 2 pairs of shoes (a sandal and sneakers or hiking boots). My husband and I packed similarly for ourselves. For the plane and car rides we packed each child a backpack with a book, some markers and drawing paper as well as a couple of card games. We didn’t bring any electronics for our kids. I only mention that because I just want to note that it is possible. Although I will humbly admit we were freaking out when we got on our 6 hour plane ride to Seattle and realized there were no tv’s on the aircraft and we had half charged phones. That was an interesting ride. Let’s just say I have so much grace for parents of fussy little ones on planes after that. haha!

For the photographers: Almost all of these photos (with the exception of a few iPhone photos that are noted)were taken on film. The majority of these are taken with my rolleiflex 2.8e, all the square frames. I also took my Canon 1v and Pentax 645n. I shot all the film stocks as I like to have fun and experiment on vacation. Included are Portra 160 rated at 320 and pushed one stop, Ektar, Portra 400, Portra 800 rated at 400 and pushed a stop, Tri-X400 and Kodak Colorplus 200.

Alright! Let’s get to the good stuff!

Mt Rainier at sunset as we flew in to Seattle. Pretty amazing!

We got into Seattle really late the first night. This was poor planning on our parts fyi because it was after midnight eastern time when our plane touched down and we still had to drive to Tacoma and get settled into our hotel. None of our kids slept a wink during travel, so that was fun. Insert the crazy face emoji here. But it did make for an easier transition to the time change the next day when they slept in while I photographed a family in Tacoma. After that, we loaded up the minivan with groceries and headed to the Olympic Peninsula.

At the visitor’s center for Olympic National Park in Port Angeles, we gathered maps and tide charts and talked to the rangers about the best spots for tide pooling and signed the kids up for the Jr. Ranger program. Then we set off for Hurricane Ridge. We hiked the High Ridge trail to Sunrise point and then took the loop via the Cirque Rim trail back to the visitor’s center. It was a beautiful day when we were there and the skies were clear, so we were able to see expansive views of the Olympic mountains and across the water over to Canada.

By the end of our hike we were thoroughly exhausted from our travels the day before, so we left for Forks where we stayed for the next several days, and made day trips to explore the rest of Olympic National Park.

All of the airbnbs we stayed in were simple and affordable. This was a great fit for our family because we made most of our meals and packed lunches and snacks for the day each morning before we left. The Olympic Peninsula is pretty remote so you won’t find lots of places to eat out there, which was fine for us.

The next morning we drove to the Hoh Rainforest. Friends, this place is amazing! Giant moss covered trees, nurse logs and banana slugs, there is so much to see! Hoh rainforest is one of the largest temperate rainforests in the US and it truly felt like we spent the day in an enchanted forest. Even my kids kept saying they felt like we were in a fairytale. We hiked the popular Hall of Mosses trail (0.8m) and the Spruce Nature trail(1.2m) that follows the Hoh river. It was pretty hot when we were there and the kids dipped their toes in the river at the end of our hike.

That afternoon we hit up a Mexican restaurant in Forks and after a little bit of begging, we talked Aaron into driving us to the coast to see the ocean before sunset(even though we were spending the next few days there.) We just had to see the Pacific! So we grabbed our coats and drove to Rialto beach. This was such a different experience for my kids. They’d never seen so many surfers and such rough and rocky waters. It’s just a totally different kind of beauty than what we have in the ocean on the east coast and the gulf. The best part was the driftwood. There was TONS of it and there were lots of make-shift forts and beach bonfires. The most perfect natural playground. This seriously excited my kids for the days we had ahead of us.

The next day was probably the most memorable day of our trip and is still the day all of our kids say was their favorite. We got up early and headed to Beach 4 for low tide, thanks to the recommendation of the ranger and our tide charts. Our kids had been anticipating seeing a tidepool since we started planning our trip so this was a big day for us. When we first arrived, we walked on the beach and didn’t see much, a few dried up anemones and some mussels was all. I could see the disappointment creeping onto my kids’ faces when we decided to keep walking north on the beach towards some big rocks when we finally hit the tide pool jackpot. It was incredible. Tons of brightly colored sea stars and anemones clung to the rocks as we spent the next several hours exploring until our fingers had turned to prunes.

After we’d had our fill at Beach 4, we drove south to Kalaloch. As amazing as the tide pools were that morning, it was our day spent at Kalaloch that has had my family talking for months about their favorite day on our trip. From the time you get out of your car, this area is breathtaking. The campground that sits near the parking lot is what camping dreams are made of. We weren’t camping but those ocean side sites among the twisted ancient forest made me wish we were. A short walk down the beach, we could see the Tree of Life. This tree sits between the rocks with all of it’s roots exposed, yet somehow remains very healthy and alive. I assumed we’d leave after seeing the tree, but we stumbled upon a driftwood fort with some warm coals from a dying beach fire. Aaron stoked up the fire while I went to get the cooler for lunch. For most of the rest of the day we just played on the beach. The kids played in the sand and the water until they couldn’t stand the cold any longer, then they came to the fort to warm themselves. Reid and Corinne collected crab parts that were all over the beach while Beck made a new fort nearby and Ellie drew huge pictures in the wet sand. It was simple but sweet.

After a good long while, we left and headed to Ruby beach. This beach was PACKED. Because of that, we didn’t spend a ton of time here. It was really beautiful, but we definitely prefer having places a bit more to ourselves, so we only spent a little time walking around and seeing all the different rock formations. Something to note though was that this was a rock beach. No sand but instead smooth rocks and it made a really pretty almost singing sound as the waves crashed ashore then crept back into the sea. It was actually my kids that brought that to my attention.

I’m sure by now you would think we were dead on the floor from exhaustion but wait, there’s more! lol. On our drive home, we saw a sign for The Big Cedar Tree and I mean, come on, who can pass that up. Not us. So we made one more stop and it didn’t disappoint.

The next morning we packed our bags and headed south down highway 101 to the Oregon Coast. We took our time, stopping back by Kalaloch beach one more time and honestly any place that caught our eye on the drive.

That afternoon we arrived in Manzanita, OR. Our airbnb was perfectly situated 1 block from the beach so of course we had to hit up the beach at sunset. It was incredibly windy and a little foggy and basically the perfect place for the 3 big kids to burn off a little energy before bed. Oregon felt like it was giving us an epic welcome.

One last stop at Kalaloch Beach

The wind was so strong on the beach the first night we arrived in Manzanita.

Manzanita was one of our favorite spots on our trip. It was the perfect quaint little beach town and a great launching point to explore several spots along the Oregon coast, not to mention it was just gorgeous. There were plenty of restaurants and a great local grocery store. Because we came in the off season+the pandemic however, most restaurants had amended hours of operation so we ate most of our meals at home, which worked great for us, mostly because that meant charcuterie on the beach and that’s basically heaven to me. Everything in town is pretty much walkable and there are several great coffee houses.

Our first morning there, we walked to a local store for some beach toys and foraged blackberries on our way home for some berry pancakes. yum! We spent the rest of the morning just playing on the beach and purposely stayed close to home so that our youngest could get in a nap. It was important for us to schedule rest into our trip every few days for our kids sanity and our own. haha!

After some much needed rest, we drove about 20 minutes north to Short Sand beach(Shorty Beach) in Oswald State Park. Park in the parking lot on the side of the road on highway 101 and it’s a short and beautiful walk to the beach. This is a popular spot for surfers and we loved watching them as the sun dipped towards the Pacific. This was also a great spot to see more tide pools. The kids enjoyed climbing all over the rocks and catching crabs. One thing that surprised me was how much diversity the landscapes held here. Every beach we went to was different and held it’s own special kind of beauty.

The hike to Shorty Beach

The next morning we packed a picnic and drove a little further north than the day before to Hug Point. A short hike takes you to a large sandy cove beach surrounded by sandstone cliffs, caves and waterfalls. Yes, I’m serious. On the north end of the beach, there is an old stagecoach road that you can walk at low tide. There are still wagon wheel ruts carved into the rock from pioneers hugging the coast at low tide, hence the name. I can’t imagine how hard and terrifying that must have been!

Again, my kids had a heyday climbing rocks, digging in the sand and exploring this incredible landscape.

The previous night there had been an intense windstorm in the middle of the night and we had no power for most of the day. The worst of that storm was that it stoked up all the wildfires burning in the Cascades, which ended up being one of Oregon’s most devastating wildfire seasons on record. That evening, we went to Canon Beach to check out Haystack Rock and have dinner at the Ecola Seafood Restaurant and Market. On the drive in, we were surprised at the change in fog but we quickly realized it was smoke! We had never experienced anything like this. It was difficult to be outside at all but we ate and went down to the beach for a few minutes before heading back to Manzanita.

The next morning we were traveling farther south to our next destination, Yachats. But because of the smoke the night before, we decided to give Canon beach one more shot to see if some of the smoke had cleared.

The rest of our day was spent in the car traveling south. And honestly, it was terrifying. This was when the fires had really ramped up and we drove through some pretty intense smoke. We had to detour our trip by several hours due to road closures from fires and you better believe we were so thankful when we got to our place in Yachats.

Yachats was really different from Manzanita. For one it was chilly and foggy the whole time we were there but honestly that was what I had expected from our trip so it felt just as I had anticipated the Pacific Northwest to feel. Again, we chose Yachats as it was a perfect launching spot for our day trips as well as it’s rugged beauty. The town itself was pretty small but had everything we needed. A grocery store, several great coffee shops, and even some really great restaurants. On our first full day there, we had lunch at Luna Sea Fish House which we highly recommend! After that, we drove south to Florence, stopping on the way at the Sea Lion Caves. Although a bit touristy, we had heard from several that this was a must see. A huge cave that harbors several hundred sea lions. However, when we were there, the sea lions were out in the sea feeding until December. boo. Between that and the smoke that still lingered and the uncertainty of some of the rest of our destinations for our trip, moral was low among the Sams crew for the first time on our trip. So, we consoled ourselves with coffee and pastries with a gorgeous view at River Roasters in Florence, followed by a trip to a local book store across the street. On the drive back we stopped by Heceta Head Lighthouse for a hike to the lighthouse with some blackberry picking along the way.

Docks in downtown Florence, OR

Beautiful rugged Oregon coastline just south of Yachats

The next morning we stayed close to home for a bit and explored the tide pools just a short walk from our place. We stayed near where the Yachats River meets the Pacific and there were plenty of sandy beaches as well as rocky tide pools teeming with life. Honest to goodness, this place was heaven to my kids and they could easily have spent the entire day here just having the time of their lives getting as dirty as possible.

After a morning exploring, we packed a lunch and drove south to Cook’s Chasm and hiked to Devil’s Churn. Devil’s Churn is a narrow inlet where the rough sea has churned against the rocky shoreline, carving out the rock. It started as a deep sea cave that eventually caved revealing the inlet. While this was really a spectacle to see, we were clinging to our little ones hands very tightly, as the drop offs are steep into very cold and tumultuous waters. Aaron is not a fan of heights so he was a nervous wreck the whole time we were there. After this, we walked south on the coast to explore Cook’s Chasm more and spent the rest of the day here. I would definitely plan a full day here because there is so much to see. In fact, we came back again on our way out of town and spent a couple more hours here because it had so much to see!

At the trailhead for the Devil’s Churn trail

A view of Devil’s churn

Everyone is smiling but slightly terrified at the waves that are crashing just below us. lol.

Again, tide pools are everywhere as well as deep fissures in the rocks causing ocean geysers to shoot water high into the air like a whale’s blowhole. Really amazing! One of our favorite things to see here was Thor’s Well. Thor’s Well is a collapsed sea cave that has formed a hole in the rocks. At high tide, waves rise and fall creating a circular waterfall and sometimes shooting water up violently from the well.

Just to note, we had also wanted to go up to Cape Perpetua which is in this same area just on the other side of highway 101 to a scenic viewpoint but it was closed due to forestry staff putting all their resources towards fighting the fires in Oregon during that time while we were there. There was also pretty intense fog making visibility pretty much none but if it was a clear day and had been open, we wouldn’t have missed it.

Thor’s well

The next morning we drove north to Newport to check out the Devil’s Punchbowl(I know, lot’s of Devil themes, haha!) and have some breakfast out. While we were traveling, a lot of restaurants that we had read about were closed or had very limited hours so when we found a few gems open, we were thrilled. We had driven to Newport to check out a bakery that ended up being closed but found another little gem with some pretty incredible marion berry pancakes with LOTS of whipped cream which definitely boosted moral as we were beginning to scramble a bit during this portion of our trip on what to do next. The fires all over the state had only gotten bigger and although the coast was clear of smoke for now, our next destination, Bend had hazardous air quality from smoke. Not to mention, when we got to Newport that morning, the fog was so thick that we couldn’t really see the Devil’s Punchbowl. But we all learned a few good lessons about being flexible and having good attitudes even when things don’t go exactly as we had planned. We kept telling our kids(and ourselves) that that’s all part of having an adventure! You never know exactly how things are going to turn out.

On our drive back home we did stop in Waldport at Pacific Sourdough, which was amazing! We had to order ahead for a Saturday pickup but holy moly was it worth it! We loaded up with their sourdough and Boursin cheese as well as several pastries and scones. Really, you can’t go wrong here.

The only view of the Devil’s Punchbowl we saw due to the fog.

We spent the rest of the afternoon between the beach near our house and the hot tub, which felt like a great way to spend our last evening in Yachats.

The next morning we packed up and headed to Bend, stopping by Cook’s Chasm one last time to savor the coast before we headed inland. I’m so glad we did because we were able to see a harbor seal which was a huge highlight for my kids!

The drive over the Cascades was definitely a little scary due to heavy smoke. The fires in Oregon had gotten even worse and we had to go another route to avoid road closures. We had planned to stop at Cougar Hot Springs and the Blue Pool at Tamolitch Falls, both located in the Willamette National Forest on our way but that area was actually on fire. :( So heartbreaking. Our hearts were truly broken for Oregonians who were losing their homes and businesses in these devastating fires.

When we got into Bend, the smoke was really bad and the air quality was hazardous so we stayed in for the night. The next morning we decided to venture south and hopefully escape some smoke by heading up in elevation to see the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. We were relieved to see much more clear skies and got to hike the coolest trail at the Big Obsidian Flow. At 1300 years old, this is the youngest lava flow in Oregon. It looked other worldly there and the kids kept saying they felt like were were in a movie set in outer space. Make sure to wear closed toe shoes because the obsidian is basically black glass and is very sharp. There’s also tons of pumice here which is lava that dried with lots of air bubbles in it. So they thought it was so cool how they could easily pick up huge boulders that were much lighter than they looked.

After we finished at the Obsidian Flow trail, we did the nearby Paulina Falls trail and I highly recommend it. The trail ends at the base of the falls where my kids played in the water. These two falls cascade down the cliff surrounded by huge boulders that have fallen over time.

Paulina Lake

Bend is probably the part of our trip we would definitely want to do over. Although it was still great, the air quality was hazardous while we were there, think, so smokey that you had to drive with headlights on during the day. yikes! So we for sure didn’t feel like we got to experience this funky little city. For starters we’ve heard it’s gorgeous with amazing views of mountains all around but we couldn’t see any of that. It’s also a great town for food and while we did get to experience a little of that, we would have loved to do more so we will for sure be back! We met a Bend family on the beach while we were in Yachats and they shared a few favorite restaurants with us which we tried and LOVED. El Sancho for incredible Mexican street food, Wild Rose Thai and HOLY MOLY do not miss an ocean roll and or an almond croissant at Sparrow Bakery

Breakfast at the Sparrow Bakery

Unfortunately, the next day was still very smokey in Bend. We had planned on a day trip to Crater Lake National Park but fires had closed the north entrance to the park which would have added over 2 hrs to our trip there and thanks to the webcams at the national park, we were able to see how smokey it was there(it was bad) so unfortunately we decided to strike Crater from our list. This was a hard decision but thankfully, the same family that we ran into in Yachats told us not to miss driving the Cascades Scenic Byway and spending some time at some of the mountain lakes. We were a little discouraged at this point in our trip and thought about staying in and watching movies but instead we decided to jump in the car and head for the Byway. I am so glad we did. Like the day before, as we ascended to the higher elevations, the air quality got much better. We couldn’t see the expansive views you normally would on this drive but it was still amazing for our crew. We started out driving past Mt. Bachelor, which is pretty amazing! And made our way to Devil’s lake(I told you there were lots of Devil themes here. haha) We’ve heard this area is normally packed but I think with the pandemic and the wildfires, we had the place to ourselves. Devils Lake is a 23 acre shallow lake, the deepest it is is 10 feet but most of the lake is around 3 feet deep, so perfect for littles. It was formed by a lava flow and has a pumice bottom so it has a vibrant blue color. And let me tell you, it is COLD. My kids peer pressured me into jumping in after they did. It was freezing but I earned some cool mom points. score! We had packed a lunch and ended up spending the entire day here. The kids splashed in the water, dug in the dirt and played on fallen trees in the lake. It was one of those perfectly simple days that felt drained of all the hurry and rush of normal life, so basically perfection and just what we needed after a few stressful days trying to decide how to adapt the rest of our trip with the wildfires.

The view of Devil’s Lake just a short walk from the parking lot.

These Yahoos talked me into diving in after they did!

Our kids loved hopping from log to log on these fallen trees. Beck found some rope and tried making a raft.

The next morning, we decided to pack up and leave Bend a day early and make our way back north to Mt. Rainier for the last leg of our trip. The smoke wasn’t forecasted to clear out of Bend for a couple of more days and things looked much better in Rainier. The drive was long and even smokier than we had seen. We were honestly questioning our sanity! What were we about to drive to? We had planned to spend a day at Smith Rock State park but again, air quality conditions were hazardous but since it was on our way we did stop for a bit. I am so sad we didn’t get to explore here but it’ll just have to go on the list for our next trip. :)

Hide and seek. haha!

As we drove north, we drove through the Columbia River Gorge to see Multnomah Falls. We had planned on seeing lots of things here but again…smoke.

I joke that we breathed in the equivalent of 2 packs of cigarettes to see this and definitely wasn’t sure it was worth it at the time. But now, I’m glad we did. I will say when we were there, the parking lot was closed and you had to park at another lot that was literally in between the interstate and go through a walkway under the interstate. This made absolutely no sense to me but a lot of things this year have felt that way am I right?

The rest of the evening was spent driving to Packwood, WA where we spent the rest of our trip. You cannot know the relief we felt when we got there that night and got out of our car to look up at a clear sky, seeing stars for the first time in a week and breathing in fresh clean air.

Packwood was such a great launching place for our days spent in Mt. Rainier National Park. Ashford is the other popular town to stay in but we chose Packwood because we felt it would be easier to get to things on the East and Northeast sides of the park. There’s not a lot in this little mountain town but we loved it’s rustic beauty and charm. There’s a grocery store, a handful of diners and an excellent coffee house Mountain Goat Coffee Company.

Our airbnb was a perfectly situated cabin near the Cowlitz River. The river was just a short walk through the woods and my kids would have been perfectly happy to spend all our days there playing in the river. But alas, we were about to blow their minds in Mt Rainier National Park. haha!

Mt. Rainier is an active volcano and is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous USA. It’s stunning up close, massive and this park is just unreal and full of beauty. But our whole family agreed that seeing this giant peak from a far distance is what really takes your breath away. On the first day of our trip in Tacoma, which is two hours drive away from Mt. Rainier, our mouths were gaping open when we first saw the mountain dominating the landscape from that distance. When you’re close to it, it’s surrounded by other mountains, making it seem a bit smaller but at 14,411 ft. elevation, it’s definitely not small.

Our first morning in Mt. Rainier, we hit the ground running. After a full day in the car, everyone had lots of energy to burn and we were ready to do some hiking.

Since we were staying in Packwood, we entered the park through the Stevens Canyon entrance and made our way to the Grove of the Patriarchs trailhead. This is an in and out easy trail that’s about 2.2 miles round trip. Near the end of the hike, you cross a swinging bridge over a river to a little island filled with thousand year old Douglas fir and Western Cedar trees.

While the smoke was much clearer than where we’d come from in Bend, our first day in Mt Rainier was still a little bit hazy. After we finished up the Grove of the Patriarchs hike, we got into our car and drove through Steven’s Canyon to the south west corner of the park to the Paradise area. The drive through the canyon was pretty stunning, even though visibility was lower due to some lingering smoke. But honestly, after the smoke we had seen for the past few days, it didn’t take much to wow us. But man oh man were we wowed! The Paradise area of the park was honestly one of the most beautiful days of my life. I kept telling the kids that I think God knew I had to see that day through a thin veil of smoke because my heart couldn't take all the beauty if I had seen it in it’s full splendor! Truly it was stunning. This is one of the most popular areas in Mt. Rainer National Park but we had the place to ourselves for most of the time we were there. I guess there were some advantages to the obstacles we had during our trip. We ate lunch at the picnic area right before you get to the Henry M. Jackson Visitor’s Center with an incredible view. After that, we headed over to the visitor’s center and got the kids signed up for the Jr. Ranger program and talked to the ranger about what hikes they suggested. Thankfully we were able to catch the Paradise area at the tail end of it’s wildflower season and goodness was it stunning to see the vibrant colors with the icy mountain close behind it.

A smoky view of Mt Rainier from the Skyline Trail in Paradise.

We decided to hike the Skyline trail from the recommendation of the ranger. This is a 5.5 mile loop trail that climbs through the subalpine wildflower meadows of Paradise. What’s great about this trail is that you can do it all or part of it. It’s a heavily trafficked trail and the first half mile or so of it to Myrtle falls is paved. We didn’t hike the whole trail but pressed on as far as our 4 year old could handle. lol. Although I would have LOVED to do the whole thing. Honestly, all my kids really wanted to do was find a stream to play in. So after hiking for a bit, we did just that.

After hiking part of the Skyline Trail we hiked the Nisqually Vista Loop (1.2m). This trail is easy and offers a lot of bang for your buck. It originates near the parking lot of the Visitor’s Center and offers incredible views of the Nisqually Glacier as well as more beautiful wildflower meadows.

The next day the weather was calling for rain, so we took advantage of that and had some much needed rest. Our air bnb was a short walk to the Cowlitz River so we did head there for the morning to do some exploring and playing. Heaven to my kids. The rest of the day was spent watching movies, taking naps and drinking hot chocolate.

The rain continued the next day but we decided to put on our rain coats and head into the park. We made our way through the mountains to Tipsoo lake, hoping the weather would clear. When we got there, it was still raining but we decided to go for a hike anyway. We did the easy Tipsoo Lake trail (0.8 miles) which normally offers beautiful views of Mt Rainier with reflections of the mountain on the lake but I think you’re getting the theme here. lol. We had no views due to the rain and heavy fog BUT we did have a different kind of beauty. We decided to keep going and do the Naches Peak Loop(3.2miles roundtrip) which follows the Pacific Crest Trail(which goes from Mexico to Canada!). We’ve read that it’s best to hike the trail clockwise for outstanding views of Mt. Rainier. We didn’t have expansive mountain views but we were still ooooing and ahhhhing the whole hike at the beauty around us. I would highly recommend this hike if you have some clear weather and even if you don’t like us!

One of our favorite stops on this trail was this beautiful mountain lake. The kids loved running around it yelling like maniacs since no one was anywhere near. lol. The water was crystal clear and just gorgeous.

The last day of our trip was gorgeous and beautiful and clear and we planned to squeeze out every drop of it. We even prepped the kids that morning that we planned to go hard all day so prepare your hearts. haha! We set out that morning for the north eastern corner of the park to the popular Sunrise area. The drive through the thickly forested mountains was incredible as the lingering fog from the rains the day before began to lift. That morning as we drove, the song “Surrounded(fight my battles)” by Kari Jobe came on in our car and my kids were silent. I think it was the song+the beauty we were seeing out our windows that had us all in AWE. Every time my kids hear that song they all still say, “Mom! It’s the Mt. Rainier song!”

Even before we left for this trip, I had my sights set on hiking to the Mt. Fremont Fire tower(5.7 miles roundtrip). Every picture I had seen was just incredible and I wanted to experience that with my family. So we set out for this trail via the Sourdough Ridge trail. This was our first clear day in Mt. Rainier so it didn’t take much to wow us! This was really the first time we got to see the mountain fully up close.

The base of Mt. Rainier with the summit in the clouds.

Views from the Sourdough Ridge Trail.

The hike to the fire lookout has a 1,151 ft elevation gain and unfortunately as we climbed, we started getting up into the clouds. I was really hopeful that it would clear as we reached the summit but alas it did not. It was still super cool to see the fire tower but I would be lying if I said it didn’t take some wind from our sails. But that’s part of it all I guess. The hike back down was pretty incredible though as we came down out of the clouds. Well, except for the part where the baby of our family(age 4) had completely refused to walk. But BESIDES all that, it was a great hike! lol.

Making our way back down the mountain towards Frozen Lake.

When we were back at Frozen Lake, I begged my fam to hike about 5 more miles to the Burroughs Mountain Trail because a volunteer ranger had highly recommended it for great views of Mt. Rainier but it was a no go for my crew. They were pretty tired and cold and felt a bit burned by the cloud cover at the fire lookout. lol. Plus there was the matter of the 4 year old who I think had just hit her road trip limit by this point. So we opted to eat lots of snacks and head back to the visitors center via the Sunrise Trail which was still 2-3 more miles. but did offer some beautiful views and we saw a fox. Pretty cool!

View of Mt. Rainier from the Sunrise Point Lookout.

The next morning we woke up early to drive back to Seattle and make our way home.

If you’ve made it this far, you get a gold star! haha! But honestly, I wanted to share our trip like this because I gained so much from reading blogs from other families and hope that our experience will be helpful for some one like so many were for me. Not to mention, my family and I loved reliving this trip again by putting this post together. They’ve helped me remember details as well as spent several nights piled on the couch reminiscing with Aaron and I over the HUGE bank of memories we collected. We still talk about this trip on a regular basis and dream about trips we can do in the future together as a family. I know that trips like these are not necessary to bring your family closer together but that was one of our catalysts and truly I believe we did grow closer. There is just something about traveling together, learning to be more flexible together and having these collective experiences of nature and seeing God’s incredible creation that change you. I am so so grateful that we got to have these experiences together this year and I hope they encourage you to take a trip yourself. Blessings!

Morning views of Mt. Rainier as we traveled away from the park on our last morning.