I’ve spent a very pleasant couple of months in Washington, but now it is time to resume my Journey Across America.

My vehicle is a slightly upgraded version of the Winnebago Revel in which I started this journey, now equipped with All-Wheel Drive.

Washington Interlude

My last two months have been spent with my daughter Jenny and her family who live in Mountlake Terrace, just north of Seattle. Washington State is beautiful at this time of year, and we have enjoyed great weather this summer, so we have had quite a few nature-related adventures (I’ve been in a forest, virtually every day). But only a couple have touched upon the National Parks.

Mount Rainier National Park

The first of these involved a visit to Dege Peak, my favorite spot in the Mount Rainier National Park and one that I have visited at least a couple of times in each of the 37 years that I lived in Maple Valley, WA.

The Park now has a timed admission system, requiring those without reservations to arrive before 7 AM, so we left Mountlake Terrace at 4 AM and arrived at Sunrise Point, shortly after sunrise.

There were already quite a few people greeting the sun on this Saturday Morning (Aug 10).

We immediately started for Dege Peak:

This trail provides some classic views of Mount Rainier:

This is, of course, quite breathtaking. However, since I have been here so often, my attention tends to focus on the constant parade of flowers, which changes from week to week.

Over the years, I have come to know each of the (30 or so) more prominent plants quite intimately—the only place on earth that I know so well.

Finally, we reached Dege Peak and took the obligatory picture with Mt. Rainier as a backdrop.

year-old granddaughter has been doing this climb (~900 ft elevation gain) unassisted for more than a year—a source of considerable pride, especially for Mathias, her father.

We also stayed for a couple of nights at the Staircase Campground of the Olympic National Park. This was in the rain forest, which is one of the three main ecosystems of the Park; next year, I will do a comprehensive job of visiting all three areas; meanwhile, as a “teaser” here are a couple of pictures from that trip:

Next, I will visit Crater Lake National Park!