About 4 hours or so West of Spokane past the Columbia River gorge is the Cascade mountain range featuring some of the best out door recreation activities in the country including hiking, fishing, camping, sight seeing, skiing and wildlife spotting. It's also an active volcanic area with five major ones including Mt. St. Helens that exploded in the early 80's, Mt. Hood near Portland, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker to the North, and Mt. Rainier that you see from Seattle or the drive to Seattle.
Mt. Rainier National Park is a great vacation getaway and offers some amazing trails for beginners or experts. You will get to see lots of wildlife, waterfalls, old growth forests, hot springs you name it! There are many campgrounds and also a lodge / hotel at Paradise. From Paradise is an amazing trail that heads up to the base camp for the expert level climb to the summit around 14,000 ft.
I went over to the park with a friend of mine from New York, who loves coming out here to hike and see the western mountains. He plans to return next summer and wants me to climb the mountain with him so I've started training now to be in great shape by then. It's a very challenging climb and unless you're an absolute pro at this you will want to go with a team and an expedition leader. On the trip when this picture was taken, my friend and I walked up to a vantage point from Paradise lodge. We climbed approximately 2000 feet where the wind was blowing, it got cold, and there was snow all over the place. If you plan to hike any of the trails that ascend make sure you are prepared with good hiking shoes and extra clothing because it does get cold up higher and weather conditions can change rapidly.
If you camp like we did with a tent and a few supplies stored in the trunk of a sedan, you will probably want wood for a fire. Some camp grounds offer the wood for sale in bundles for around $5.00. If you stop at a town just outside the park somewhere and see wood like this for sale, it might be a good idea to buy a bundle or two just in case it's not available at the campground location you choose. Gathering fire wood is prohibited so you need to bring in your own. If you plan to cook brats like we did, all of the fire pits have grates perfect for that or a fry pan for fish or whatever...If you get into your campground of choice early enough you probably will be able to find a spot particularly on weekdays, but on busy weekends reservations are recommended.
The last eruption was back in the 1800's. This picture was taken in late August and look at all the snow and the glaciers! This place is simply spectacular! We left the park early Friday morning and stopped for breakfast at Mel's Diner in Yakima and enjoyed our relaxing drive along I-90 back to Spokane where we arrived in the early afternoon.
If you are considering relocating to the Spokane area, I would be happy to assist you in finding a great home to live. I also have connections to agents outside of our area and would happy to refer you to another agent as well.
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