Tag: weather Page 1 of 2

One Day in Mt. Rainier National Park

On November 21, 2022

On our last day in Washington, we had to be out of our AirBNB at 10:00 am, but our flight didn’t leave until 11:00 pm, so we had a full 12 hours to kill. So, we decided to do what any National Park chaser would do with a day in Washington and we headed to Mt. Rainier National Park. Mt. Rainier is a three-hour drive from Port Angeles and an hour and a half from Seatac, so this was definitely a good way to kill time.

Our foggy view of Mt. Rainier

At over 14,000 feet above sea level, Mt. Rainier is the tallest peak in Washington State. Mt. Rainier is an active volcano and with its proximity to Seattle, it is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. Near Mt. Rainier, I saw a volcano evacuation route sign for the first time. Mt. Rainier became the nation’s 5th National Park in 1899. Popular activities in the park include hiking, biking, and mountain climbing.

Like most of our time in Washington, the fog was so thick on our visit to Mt. Rainier that we couldn’t see it! With limited time to explore the park, we entered the park through the Nisqually entrance and drove to the Henry Jackson Visitor Center, and walked around the historic Paradise Inn (left). Once again, I was blown away by the amount of snow still on the ground in mid-June. There were still feet of snow up there at 5,400 feet above sea level! The Paradise Inn is a beautiful building, built in 1917. The Parkitecture-style of the building reminded me a lot of the Old Faithful Inn. Obviously, with such a short time to explore the park, it barely counts as a visit. I will have to come back later in the season so I can actually see Mt. Rainier!

After leaving Mt. Rainier, we still had extra time before our flight. We didn’t want to head back to downtown Seattle and have to worry about getting in and out of the city so we did some digging and found Kubota Garden in Seatac. It’s not in the nicest part of town and there are signs in the parking lot to keep an eye out for “car prowlers” but there was no one else around when we were there. There are a lot of trails to explore throughout the beautiful garden. It would be a great place to walk around on a sunny summer day. The parking lot is currently under construction and some of the trails are closed which did cause us to get a little lost, but we made it out of the garden and to the airport in enough time for our flight!

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to stop by next week for my final recap of our summer trip to Alaska and Washington! To read more about this trip check out my Planes, Buses, and Boats Trip Report. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Wordless Wednesday: St. Maarten from St. Kitts

By Ashleigh

On June 8, 2022

In Cruise, Travel, Wordless Wednesday

Glacier National Park: Two Medicine

By Ashleigh

On October 25, 2021

In National Parks & Places, Travel

Sinopah Mountain in the Fog

In the summer of 2021 Glacier National Park, instituted a reservation requirement to drive the ever-popular Going-t0-the-Sun Road during the day. These reservations were very difficult to get and many people chose to postpone their trips to Glacier. Those that did not were able to get to the road early in the morning or in the evenings. Another option was to explore the other areas of the park that are not on Going-to-the-Sun Road. Two Medicine is one of these areas.

Historically, the Two Medicine Valley has been one of the least visited parts of the park. Parking was much easier to come by than Many Glacier and the road was not under construction. The drive to the Two Medicine Valley was probably the most breathtaking in the park outside of Going-to-the-Sun Road, although it still had some nail-biting turns! And the view, once you get there (top), is pretty great too!

Boats on Two Medicine Lake

By the time we got to the Two Medicine Valley for our boat tour, the rain we had been anticipating all day finally came. We contemplated canceling our boat ride, but the tour boats are enclosed and there’s not really another dry option in the park. This boat ride can be used to cut the hike to Upper Two Medicine Lake in half, but with hail coming down, we opted to just relax and stay dry on the boat.

I highly recommend taking one of the boat tours in Glacier National Park. They fill up early, a few weeks in advance, Two Medicine was the only one available for my time in Glacier. Assuming the Going-to-the-Sun Road reservations continue into the future, boat tour reservations on St. Mary Lake and Lake McDonald get you access to the road for the day of your reservation. Check Out GlacierParkBoats.com for pricing and to purchase tickets.

Aside from the boat tours, there are miles of hiking trails to explore in the Two Medicine area of the park. After our boat tour, we enjoyed walking around the Two Medicine Store, which was built in 1914 and is a National Historic Landmark. The 100 site Two Medicine campground is in this section of the park and offers first-come-first-served campsites (10 sites are able to accommodate RVs up to 35 feet) with no electricity but flush toilets.

Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Epic National Park Road Trip. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Two Medicine Pin

Yellowtone National Park Overview

By Ashleigh

On August 31, 2021

In National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Travel

Bison in Yellowstone

Yellowstone National Park was the world’s first national park and was signed into law by Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 to protect the otherworldly landscape that is Yellowstone. Located in northwestern Wyoming and spanning into Idaho and southern Montana the park encompasses 3,400 square miles, and is larger than the state of Rhode Island. It is separated into distinct geological areas formed by geothermal features unlike anything I had ever seen. From the sprawling Yellowstone Lake to hot springs and geysers and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, you could spend weeks in the park and not see everything. Ever since we were driving around Yellowstone, I have been trying to figure out how I am going to recap this enormous park!

We only had three days to see as much of the park as we could. Of course, I wanted to hit the highlights: Old Faithful, Grand Prismatic Spring, Mammoth Hot Springs, and Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Surprisingly, in such a short time, we were able to see everything we had hoped to and more.

Staying in the park helped us tremendously. Driving in and out of the park can take away 2 or more hours of your time and when you are battling the record number of visitors that are coming through the gates in 2021, you need all the time you can get. While exploring the park, we heard many people say that you cannot get a room at the Yellowstone Lodges unless you book a year in advance. We managed to get our room at the Old Faithful Inn two weeks in advance. Just keep checking and it helps to subscribe to the Yellowstone National Park Lodges newsletter. They sent out a newsletter that they were opening up more rooms for the 2021 season and I was able to snatch one up before they were gone.

Staying at the Old Faithful Inn (above) was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. The Inn was built in 1904 from locally sourced materials including lodgepole pine. We stayed in one of the Old House rooms that has walls made of logs. Staying in that (admittedly small) room, you really got a sense of the history of the place. The GyPSy guide called the Old Faithful Inn the only building in the park that feels like it belongs. The Disney Nerd in me understands now where the idea for the Wilderness Lodge came from. Probably the best part of staying at the Inn is sitting out on the Mezzanine and watching Old Faithful erupt without having to be crowded around strangers and enjoying a drink.

Walkway at Mud Volcano just before the rain

Another trick we learned when visiting the park in the summer was to leave in the middle of the day. The parking lots filled up and it got hot, so we headed to one of the towns outside the park for food and air conditioning. Then, we headed back into the park as the day guests were leaving for the day and we explored until the sun went down. We also got lucky with the weather. Our first day in the park was forecasted to thunderstorm most of the day and I think this kept some visitors out. We managed to time it so we were driving when the worst of the rain was coming down and we managed to see most of what we wanted to on that first day.

Now that I’ve given you a little overview and some tips for making the most of your time at Yellowstone, next week I will begin to recap the highlights of the park! Thanks for stopping by! To read more about this trip, check out the Epic National Park Road Trip. To read about some of our previous trips, visit my Trips Page. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page and follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my updated Gear Page.

Pin This:

Yellowstone Pinterest Graphic

Flashback Friday: Foggy Pier

By Ashleigh

On July 24, 2020

In Uncategorized

Flashback Friday: Verazzano Fog

By Ashleigh

On May 29, 2020

In Flashback Friday, Travel

Mainely Acadia: Schoodic Drive

By Ashleigh

On August 23, 2019

In National Parks & Places, Road Trip, Travel

On our first trip to Acadia, we didn’t have time to explore one whole section of the park. The Schoodic Peninsula is the only part of Acadia National Park located on mainland Maine. Schoodic is not as developed as Mount Desert Island, but there are some hiking trails and it also has a drive-able loop road. It is not nearly as crowded at Mount Desert Island. If you are looking to get away from the tourists during your time at Acadia, head over to Schoodic.

The Schoodic Peninsula is about an hour drive from the Hull’s Cove Visitor’s Center and is an easy day trip from Mt. Desert Island. To save on gas, you can catch a ferry from Bar Harbor to Winter Harbor on the Schoodic Peninsula and the Island Explorer bus can take you around the Schoodic side as well. We decided to take the drive on a rainy day and that resulted in an even more deserted experience than I was expecting, but made for some interesting photos!

At the end of the Schoodic Loop Road is Schoodic Point (above). Schoodic Point is a great place to watch the surf pound the rocks, but be careful not to get too close to the edge! Big waves can come up seemingly unexpectedly!

If you have the time on your trip to Acadia, I recommend a jaunt to the quietest part of the park. You can really get a feel for natural Maine at Schoodic and get away from the crowds. The Schoodic Woods campground is the newest campground in Acadia and can be easier to get into than the other campgrounds on Mount Desert Island.

Thanks for stopping by! Read more about this trip, visit the Mainely Acadia Trip Report! To read about some of our previous trips, click here. If you like my photos be sure to “like” my Facebook Page, follow me on Instagram! You can purchase prints on Etsy and Fine Art America. To see inside my camera bag, check out my Gear Page. For information about our new Guided Photography Tours, visit GuidedPhoto.com.

Pin This: