Rainier View #1155

Yetiman had a couple of days off, so we decided to do some car camping and day hiking in the Corral Pass area Sunday and Monday. We got to the top of the annoyingly bad Corral Pass road at 11 am Sunday, nabbed a campsite with no one else nearby, and immediately took a couple of hours ""rest break"". Then motivation set in, so the three of us (Yeti, me and Daisy the wonder dog) hoofed it back along the road aways to the Rainier View trail head.

It's nice to start out at over 5,600 ft, and soon we were at 6,000 on an exposed, rocky area with a great view of the mountain. Some kids came by and started throwing rocks at each other and using bad language, so we continued along the trail towards Castle mountain. We reached a rocky mini-summit at 6,400 ft, where I photographed some goats from, and set up a nice picnic to enjoy along with the views, which were stunning. There were lots and lots of flowers along the whole trail, really a wonderful show. We hung out up there for quite a while, killing a few mosquitoes when the breeze died down, and killing a few frosty beverages as well. Then it was back to the Corral Pass campground for a bonfire, barbecuing, music, more beverages, a fine sunset, and then star gazing and satellite spotting. Pics are posted at www.flickr/photos/slugman