We haven't needed a National Parks Pass for a long time. When we visited Joshua Tree in
February, the first trail was a freebie, and for the second, the rangers hadn't been sent the day passes yet, so that was also a freebie. When we head down to Great Basin later this year, we won't need one because that whole park is a freebie. I have researched why that is so, but can't find the answer. I'll have to remember to ask a ranger when we're there. What isn't
a freebie is the park in our own backyard, Mount Rainier. We figure the $80 yearly fee is a small price to pay for visiting three of the national parks this year, and this post is about the first of many hikes we have planned in "our" park.
You have to arrive early in the day to get a good parking spot in this small lot. We got there just after 0700, and there were only a few more spaces left.
There were a few choices, but TBGuide finds the one we want. I'm guessing that the Chenius Falls bridge has been out for quite some time and will remain so due to the permanence of the sign indicating such. Bummer for us since that's one we'll have to scratch from our list.
The first three miles of trail aren't. The way is the old original gently-graded road. Despite the cars at the trail head, we didn't see another soul until the return trip.
The temps started out in the 40s, and we started out in our cap and ear-warmers, but the sun tried its best to burn off the low clouds. During one of the few actual sun breaks we would get, I tried the old arms-as-clock-face-to-locate-direction trick. Do you know this trick?
You're supposed to use a real analog clock face, but arms work just as well, if not better. Plus, you don't have to take off your watch, although you do need to know the time. First, find the sun. Then, with the watch laid flat in your palm, point the hour hand at the sun. The halfway
point between the hour hand and the minute hand at the noon position is South. Really. Go try it. I'll wait.
TBGuide mixing it up with his trail-indicating. That wooden structure is a bike rack for those
who wishes to bike up the road to access the trail heads.
This is where the more classic type of trail not only starts, but climbs.
It's never too drastic, but it is steady and, therefore, sweaty. Many instances of nature stairs have been installed to aid hikers along the way.
The TBG is having fun with his new camera. He took most of this post's photos, which means
there are a lot more of me. Yay?
At a mile in, I took a turn at being a trail guide. I think I nailed it.
Ranger Falls were pretty cool in both senses of the word. This photo reminds me that TBG said I'll have to start wearing my backpack instead of my waist pack for the rest of our hikes this summer for more conditioning. I just got my waist pack a few months ago, and I love it, so this makes me sad.
After another .8 miles, we reached the terminus and namesake, where we had our snacks while a couple chipmunks zoomed around us and the logs, wishing we would share. I really, truly did accidentally drop a peanut. TBG didn't believe it was an accident, and you
probably won't, either, but I know the truth. The chipmunk who got it doesn't give a rip if it was an accident or not.
Green Lake and trees and bushes and ferns and moss.
We were chilly after lunch, and for the descent we re-donned our warmies.
I was comforted by the fact that had this tree fallen while I was where I was, it would've missed my head. It probably fell, however, before I was even born. We began to encounter other hikers on our way down, many of them taller than me and more in danger of being hit on the head by a falling tree. Sorry, tall people, I have my own struggles.
This bridge crossing prompted a discussion on the difference between the words "sliver" and "splinter."
TBG's favorite photo.
While we saw quite a few people on the way back(I think that's a cyclist near the vanishing point in this photo) they were spread out enough that we still felt the solitude. The parking lot was another story, and we were glad to be heading out rather than trying to get in. Of course the small formal lot was full, with more cars stalking returning hikers, and the roadway in was lined on both sides. It was fun to make someone's day by vacating our space. Happiness is 9.6 miles and home with half the day to go.