Mount Rainier National Park

One of the things on my Washington Bucket List has been to go to Mount Rainier. So, in July I booked one of Jesse's good friends who is an Eagle Scout and avid hiker/camper to be our guide for a weekend adventure on September 11-12. John brought along his gal, Kiara, and voila! We had a double camp date!

Wilkeson, WA is the last town before entering the park so we took a cute picture at this caboose.

We're in the park!

See?

The boys made it to the park too.

Probably my new favorite picture of Jesse and me (with Carbon River behind us).

While John was our group expert, he still got some advice from Ranger Joe at the station.

Packs on--we're ready to hike! We hiked 5 miles (only 600 feet gain in elevation) to our campsite.

And the rear view...

Pretty Mount Rainier National Park

Our lunch spot (bagel sandwiches with salami & muenster cheese--yum!)

The boys started blabbing about video games, so Kiara and I took off ahead.

We made it to camp!

After setting up camp, we took off for an 8 mile (round trip) hike to Carbon Glacier. This was NOT for the faint of heart. Here I am with the river we had to cross on these teeny little bridges.

Clouds in the mountains

At one point, we were afraid we might run out of water on the hike. John pondered what to do...

Jesse found the perfect solution! We could fill our bottles at the falls!

Jesse & me at Ipsut Falls

Can you find me in the picture?

John is the photo bomb champion. I had NO idea he did this until I looked back at our pictures later in the evening.

But apparently, one photo bomb wasn't enough.

Crossing one of the teeny bridges.

Suspension bridge! So scary!

Jesse and I made it to Carbon Glacier! So dirty it doesn't look like a glacier!

This mossy stuff was both cool and creepy.

After 13 miles of hiking, we were tiiiiiired. So we settled in with hot cocoa. Wait, who's that guy without a headlamp?

Look at my beef cake pumping us some filtered water from the river...so dreamy.

Group shot at Chenuis Falls on the 5 mile hike back in the next day. These falls were much more beautiful!

Jesse and I at Chenuis Falls

I was a little sad to not see the actual Mount Rainier from our spot in the park (blocked by mountains, oh the irony). John, Kiara, Jesse, and I are already planning to go back next year and hit up another part of the park closer to Mount Rainier, like Sunrise.