My favorite hiking partner and I drove past the ""road closed' signs at the turn off for Hwy 123 north at the Hwy 12 jct. The drive up was'nt too bad until the last mile or so. Then you better have a 4x4 or you'll be parking in the middle of the road like this Honda from Oregon did !@#/#!!!!.... We went through the forest on the way up and visited the hot springs( cool stuff) and met our first obstacle at the Laughingwater creek bridge. The snow is piled high but crossable. When we reached Silver Falls the view was just incredable. The bridge was passable even with a fallen tree across it. The next two bridges were too dangerous to cross because of fallen trees and snow pack. We found safer ways of crossing. When finally reaching the bridge to the Patriarchs I was lucky enough to see the back end of a Bobcat go up the trail. Crossing the bridge here also was not the easiest. The snow was packed above the hand rails and very dangerous. After a tour of the giant trees we forded the stream to the east and climbed to the the Hwy. and made our way back to the car. All in all a very nice trip!

As with the other hikes I did in the area today, the fall colors here are amazing, the vine maples ablaze in yellow. The trail to the grove along the Ohanapechosh River is dotted with fall color, particularly around the bridge. And I was surprised at the amount of color in the grove itself. The old growth cedars and firs, some of the largest I have seen, are surrounded by yellow vine maples. I am amazed at this place every time I visit.

The Eastside trail pretty much parallels Highway 123 on its north-south route through the eastern side of Mt. Rainier National Park. You'd never know it, however, as the highway is on the other side of the Ohanapecosh River and Chinook Creek and is never visible or audible from the trail. The trail itself is well-maintained and snow-free, an excellent early season bid with some nice side trips like Grove of the Patriarchs and Silver Falls. We hiked from the Ohanapecosh Ranger Station, where you can park your car and acquire permits, 9 miles north to Deer Creek Camp, where we were picked up by a friend after working our way along a half-mile climb back up to the highway. Be advised that due to a wilderness restoration project, there are currently only two available campsites at Deer Creek - you may want to call the Ranger Station about reservations.

Was checking out Highway 12 and decided to swing by this trail. I was suprised it was accessible, but it was...barely. SR-123 was closed just past the Stevens Canyon entrance, and the Stevens Canyon road was closed just past the trailhead. This trail is about 25-50% covered in snow, but nothing more than a few inches deep. There is a boardwalk being built on the actual Grove loop, to save the trees' root systems. It makes any photography other than snapshots almost impossible, though, since the boardwalk goes right up the the trees. Sacrifices...

Spending the day with the in-laws, my husband took us to the volcano which is called Mount Rainier, but which he insists is called Tahoma. Driving up to Paradise, we saw snow along the side of the road about five minutes before the top, and it continued down the other side well towards two lakes, the first of which was still over half frozen. We arrived at the trailhead at 10:00AM, grabbing the very last parking spot. The trees were incredibley big, but the trail is very short; not too much excercise. Only dangers/annoyances were the mosquitoes (I wouldn't go back until late September) and a very talkative ranger. Driving back over Paradise (and below, the parking lot was full), we stopped to play in the snow (about six feet deep). In retrospect, it would have been better to just entered the park from highway 12 and crossed the park only once (a long drive back and forth). The mountain is much lower than Popo and Ishta back home, but still very impressive, alone and surrounded by the thick forest of the park.