06232012 Mt Rainier Expedition

Mt Rainier has five hot spots accessible by car. More are available if you are willing to hike a lot but we will skip this due to time constraint. We will also skip the 4th and last hot spot 
as the road is still closed until mid July.

600am: Leave Hillsboro (meet at Nick's place) to Longmire, WA. Reach there about 9.30am, it opens at 9am. It is mainly a museum and a wilderness info center. But on the way to the other we have the following:

View from Longmire

Christine Falls - Located 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Longmire, a short walk from the pullout offers a classic view of the falls below the rustic stone bridge. Be aware that parking is limited. For your safety, do not walk or stop your car on the bridge.

Christine Falls

Glacier Bridge - 5 miles (8 km) from Longmire heading towards Paradise, look up the valley when crossing the bridge for a view of the Nisqually Glacier.


Ricksecker Point Road - This one-way road begins 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Longmire and offers fantastic views of Mount Rainier, Nisqually Valley and the Tatoosh Range. (The Ricksecker Point Road is open summers only.)


1200am: Reach Paradise. We can makan here, there's an Inn. Plus another Visitor Center. Won't spend a lot of time here as we have. Not sure if we have time for this: 
Nisqually Vista Trail (1.2 mi/1.9 km) - Views of the Nisqually Glacier. 2km would take 40mins (walking speed)

Nisqually Glacier Viewpoint

Our "chor kong" datuk-datuk era to our era now (10 years ago)...

Paradise Valley Road - Start next to the Paradise Inn to follow this one-way road through a beautiful meadow filled valley.


Reflection Lakes - Drive 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Paradise on Stevens Canyon Road for a possible glimpse of Mount Rainier's reflection in these subalpine lakes.


Inspiration Point - Just east of Paradise Valley Road on Stevens Canyon Road, this large pullout offers spectacular views of Mount Rainier and the Tatoosh Range.

From Paradise

400pm: Reach Ohanapecosh. Another Visitor Center.
Box Canyon Loop Trail (0.5 mi/0.8 km)
Hike the loop trail around a deep, river carved gorge. Box Canyon is located 12 miles (19 km) west of Ohanapecosh.
If not we do this below:-
Box Canyon - Located on Stevens Canyon Road 12 miles (19 km) west of Ohanapecosh. From the bridge, gaze 180 feet (55 meters) below at water rushing through a narrow slot canyon carved by the Muddy Fork of the Cowlitz River.

(suggest to skip) Inspiration Point - This large pullout is 20 miles (32 km) west of Ohanapecosh on Stevens Canyon Road. It offers spectacular views of Mount Rainier and the Tatoosh Range.

Going back after we are done here would take ~3hrs. Depending on what time we can kaotim we can have dinner on time or starve a little first.