WA 2009 Day 2, Oct 9 - Olympic National Park

Took ferry from Edmonds to Kingston. First time to drive car to ferry, kind of excited. when we arrived at ferry, there were already long line of cars waiting at the ports. amazed how organized they were, no traffic, everyone followed the instructors: people get on the ferry first, then bikes and motors, then cars. it took times but moved smoothly.

WA reminds me of my city in many way, ferry is one of them, except that our ferry cross Yangzi River, theirs cross ocean. Hawaii also had SuperFerry, but before got the chance to take it, it stop operation. only remember all the fuzz it caused. Inside the ferry we found a sign saying:
            New Tariff Begins: On Sunday, October 11, the newly-approved 2.5% far increase goes into effect. This saffects all fares.
Oct 11? that's the day we'll be in San Juan island...hmmm, not a good news. but at least it's not increased today.

arrived at Kingston, it's SR104,  friend began driving, i got chance to relax and enjoy the view on the road. when bypassed a town, the colorful foliage impressed me, that's one of the reason i came during this season. The tree there are obviously more colorful than other places, so our guess is their residents choose them carefully to color their little town.

We missed the entrance to Hurricane Ridge twice, and finally got in. at some scenic piont we've already seen some nice view.

Hurricane Ridge is so different from Mount Rainier. the color is bright, and the ridge curve is so soft and gentle.

we had a simple lunch the Hurricane Ridge. the birds there were aggressive. friend bought chicken and chips and eating outside. birds just welcome themselves to the table, and without my friend's permission. took some chicken and flew away :)

next stop is Lake Cresent, that's the name of my friend's boss. it's just so big...., so blue and i guess so cold..

 

WA 2009 Day 1, Oct 8 - Mt. Rainier

Picked up the car at enterprise, drove to Mt. Rainier.I didn't realize it's just such a long way. we left around 9:30am, only arrived there around 1pm. The whole driving is about 300 miles.




the national park is beautiful as i expected, love those tall and straight pines. there are so many nice spots to stop and take pictures, only that we didn't have enough time, still got some snapshot of some rivers, falls on the road. As driving along the winding road, we always got chance to see the Mt. Rainier, friend said that's the super model, the whole park is mainly about her, all wer were doing was just take picture of her from all different angle. hehe.

finally we arrived at Paradise(5400 ft). it's nice to see the different color of those trees. we had a short hike to get a closer look of Mt. Rainier. it says the plants are fragile, people are suggested to say on the trail. Though it's chilly, still saw a group of people wear shorts and shirts running down the trail. on our way we saw a mom deer and her baby enjoying their day at the meadow.





before we enter the park, we asked if Sunrise was still open, since it's usually closed during winter time. Lucky the answer was Yes. next stop is Sunrise(6400 ft). Bypassed lots of lookout, scenic point, we arrived at Sunrise at sunset. the information office was closed and raven flying around. not many cars there, we saw the sunset brush the mountains with her golden shine, everything was so peaceful. so cold out there. wish the hike finished soon so can go back to the warm car, but the same time wish this moment stop, frozen as the ice on the ground.






There were so many trails, friend took me to the one which is said to have a good view of a lake. but after couple of minutes' walking, friend realized it's a wrong trail, so we had to gave up, but got to see Rainier even closer. there was always clouds around Rainier like a wig. we waited hoping it went away so we can get a good shot of Rainier but failed. we ended up with Rainier with wig.






before went to WA, googled about Mt. Rainier Nation Park, there are four loops in the park, had planed a route to finish all routes, but only then realized how impossible it was. eventually we finished only one loop, the loop #1(147 miles).

driving back home was kind of scary, it's dark, it's so long. when got back to friends' place, could not believe i made it. this is definitely some experience don't get on hawaii island: driving for around 300 miles for about 9 hours.