August 29, 2021

Getting to Mt. Rainier was more fun than we had expected. We stopped in at Ex-Nihilo, Latin for something created out of nothing, for a geocache and had a great time exploring four acres of “Recycled Spirits of Iron”. Sculptor Daniel Klennert started collecting material (junk) at about eight years old and began welding at 22. “I do not form shapes,” he said. “I collect shapes to create my forms.”

As for the Mt. Rainier National Park itself, we could spend another week there! Let’s start with the mountain. It is one of the volcanos in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and its first eruption is thought to have been 840,000 years ago.

We visited several waterfalls.

The upper part of Christine Falls drops 32 feet; the lower part 37 feet. The bridge over Van Trump Creek was built in 1928.
Narada Falls drop 168 feet along the Paradise River.
For another cache we hiked into Sunshine Point, a former campground.
Moss-covered trees
A Pacific storm in November 2006 dropped 18 inches of rain in 36 hours and washed away five and a half acres of the campground.
The campground was built in the 1930’s as a Civilian Conservation Corps base.
Dave is standing where a road washed away. One third of the campsites, a picnic pavilion, and rest rooms were also lost in the flood.

The Park hopes to restore and reopen the campground one day although Park facilities are always vulnerable to events like the 2006 flood.

Categories: Travel

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