The newly remodeled Sunrise Visitor Center opened yesterday, for the first time in 2 years.

It’s gorgeous with new exhibits that will take your breath away.  The original Visitors Center was built in the 1930s and is a gorgeous log lodge (the kind you wish you could live in).  The 1970s era gray painted floors were replaced with beautiful Douglas Fir flooring.  The old information desk and sales area were replaced by cabinetry and counters built from cedar.  The old exhibits from the 1970s were replaced with wonderful, informative exhibits the complement the building’s architecture.

Summer ranger programs and interpretive… Read Full Story

Crystal’s new Mt. Rainier Gondola is now pet-friendly, so we decided to take advantage of an absolutely gorgeous day and take our dogs for their very first gondola ride!  We grabbed their leashes, a water bottle, a plastic bowl and zipped up the road a quick 10 minutes from Alta Crystal.

We were actually a little surprised at how easily the dogs got on the Gondola.  Georgia hopped on like she was a pro, and Jebbie just took about 15 seconds of coaching.  (You could tell he was trying to get the timing right—kind of like the first time a… Read Full Story

We were up at the White River Campground a few weeks ago with our nephew who was visiting from out-of-town and thought, at that time, that we might hike the Wonderland Trail up to Sunrise.  A little too much snow to do it then, but we had seen a lot of melting in 2 weeks, so on Father’s Day, we decided it would be a fun adventure to try again.

What a difference 2 weeks make!  There was virtually no snow at the White River Campground (!!) and the Park had done a nice job marking the Wonderland Trail so… Read Full Story