Our first stop, however, was to exchange our San Jose-to-Portland rental car for a Portland-to-Portland rental. If you have ever rented a car, you probably are aware that one-way rentals cost more than roundtrip rentals. We ended up getting a Subaru Forester for 11 days out of Portland for less than the Chevy Sonic we had for the first 7 days from San Jose to Portland. We had planned for a compact car, and when Budget didn't have one we lucked out with the Subaru Forester upgrade (and thankfully were not stuck keeping the Chevy Sonic).
From the Portland airport, it was a quick ride up to the main visitor center at Mt. St. Helens. Thinking we would be better off driving to the visitor center on the back side of the volcano, we ended up driving almost 2 hours for a view we could have seen in about 30 minutes. It was the only real mistake we made on our journey, and the day still turned out just fine, even though we would have preferred more time on our hiking expedition later in the day.
If you ever go to Mt. St. Helens, I recommend driving the main route to the Johnston Ridge Observatory on route 504 and not going to the entrance on route 99, unless you don't mind driving a long time on very curvy roads. We actually got so sick of driving (and thankfully did not get motion sickness), that we didn't even go all the way to the end of the road. We still managed to get a good look at the volcano and the damage it caused back in 1980. There are many trees that have fallen or remain barren from the damaging lava and ash the volcano emitted more than 30 years ago.
Mt. St. Helens from the northwest (rt 99)
Tree damage visible on the right side of the picture
After our long detour to Mt. St. Helens, we were anxious to get to Mt. Rainier so we could get out of the car and enjoy some hiking. We were rewarded with beautiful views of the mountain all the way up to the hiking point. The road climbed to 6,000 feet, where many hiking trails started from the Sunrise visitor center. From there, we were able to hike the moderate 1.5 mile trail to Mt. Freemont with plenty of time to explore other trails on our way back down.
View of Mt. Rainer as we drove to 6,000 feet
The starting point for many trails in the area at Sunrise Visitor Center
Looking back down on glacial water and mountains
from almost 7,000 feet after climbing 1 mile
from almost 7,000 feet after climbing 1 mile
We literally felt like Mt. Rainier was at our fingertips
Look closely - can you see the little cabin that is our destination
at the top of the second peak on the right side of the picture.
The rocky trail as we approach the ranger's cabin
The former ranger station and stunning views north of Rainier
A nice view of Rainier through the ranger station on a nice day
Mt. Rainier from Mt. Freemont
Looking out to the Northern Cascades
As it approached evening, we decided to take a different route down the mountain and had some fun with photography. People told us about several photography contests going on, so we kept trying to get photos that would be contest-worthy. It was actually a lot of fun until we came upon a group hiking into the woods that told us that a family had been scared away from their dinner by a bear not long before. Once we heard that, we continued photographing, but maintained a heightened sense of awareness of our surroundings. I had a whistle in one of my first aid kits that I kept close at hand just in case. Thankfully, we did not see any bears, and made it safely back to our car with a tad bit of daylight left.
Some of the many wildflowers at Mt. Rainier National Park
Sun setting on our path back down from our hike
As we exited the park, we caught a glimpse
of the last bit of daylight on Mt. Rainier
The full day of driving and hiking left us tired as we approached Seattle, but since we are not ones to rest much while on a sight-seeing vacation, we managed to get downtown for a bite to eat after checking in to our airbnb room rental.
Stay tuned to hear all about our fun adventures in Seattle, the non-rainy city during our trip!
If you've ever been to Mt. St. Helens, where did you see the best view?
If you've been to Mt. Rainier, what hike did you do?
The 14,000 ft high Mt. Rainier still towered above us at 7,000 feet. What's the highest you've ever hiked or climbed?
It's so cool that you travelled so far to see our little neck of the woods. :-) really enjoyed seeing the pictures.
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