Mount Rainier

We had no cell service, no internet access, and no hook-ups.

Was it stressful? Definitely.

It was the hardest back up spot yet. There were trees and huge rocks in our path, but we did it. The campsites were great because of how much privacy there was. Our spot backed into the woods. Not bad for $20 a night.

We were there for two nights so it wasn’t a long stay but still, there were no hook-ups. We made sure not to use the awning and tried to fix it as best we could but we didn’t have a ladder to use our handy dandy duct tape. So, we just left it alone.

We pulled in around 6PM and decided to hold off on dinner until later so that we can could the Grove of the Patriarchs before the sun set.

The grove is in an old growth forest that has trees that are a thousand years old on an island in the middle of the Ohanapecosh River. Interestingly,  Redwood National Park has about 500,000 visitors annually while Mount Rainier has around 1.2 million.

The trees were big but they weren’t as big as the redwoods. Jared took about 30 steps around this tree.

Every grove has its charm and this one had Douglas Firs and flying squirrels. (We didn’t get to see flying squirrels, but we’re sure they were there).

We headed back to camp and waited for the sun to go down and the stars to come out. We definitely saw more here than in Sacramento.

The next day, we realized we made the mistake of not getting gas when we came into the park. The nearest gas station was about 15 minutes the way we came in, so Jared ended up driving to get gas and I stayed behind to make lunch for the hike.

On our way to the Jackson Visitor Center, we had to stop for some pictures!

We were excited by the time we reached the visitor center! We got a great view of the mountain and were ready to see it up closer. There were a lot more people here than the other National Parks.

We decided on the Skyline Trail because it’s the most popular in the area and had some great reviews. It promised of wildflowers, glaciers, and views.

We can definitely agree that this has been our favorite hike yet!

We didn’t do the entire 5.5 miles of the Skyline Trail because we were not ready for all the elevation climbs. We cut through the Golden Trail which brought us down a lot faster.

Our legs were exhausted so we were excited that we were back with Aljo.

We were not excited for the low battery in the trailer when we got back. The lights were dimming in the trailer and the water pump wasn’t working as well with the battery so low. I was also afraid that the slide out would not come in because of how much power was left.

We kept the lights off in the trailer so that we could preserve energy. We brought in the big battery and hooked up our camping light and called it a night.

But that wasn’t the end of our problems.

The refrigerator started making some noises and the check light came on. That’s the scariest thing, especially when we have no internet connection or cell signal. We had to consult our manual. And guess what the manual said?

Turn it off and then on. Try it about 3-4 times and if it doesn’t work then go to your nearest dealer.

That didn’t really work because we were in the middle of a forest and had no idea where to start. We opened the outdoor hatch and checked inside to see if there was something obviously wrong but our knowledge of trailer refrigerators is not much. So we closed her back up and said we wouldn’t open the fridge until our next stop because by this time, it was too late to go anywhere.

The next morning, we grabbed some more gas and a bag of ice for the things that need to stay cold – milk, yogurt, cheese, etc – and continued on the road. Everything was still pretty cold so we weren’t too concerned. Well, we were concerned but we drank the milk anyway!

When we got to Olympic National Park, we had cell service, internet services, and hook-ups. We hurriedly got set up and Jared started his Google searches.

Find out what happens in the next post!