In an effort to squeeze in as much fun during these last sunny Seattle days of summer/fall, we decided to head to Mt. Rainier National Park this past weekend.

Although the park website says you  can make a reservation at the two campsites that were open, I called Recreation.gov (the only way to make a reservation) and they said the park was First Come First Served and would be closing for the season on October 8. No biggie, we’ll just try it and see.

We entered at the Nisqually Entrance and drove a little ways to Cougar Rock Campground (no hook ups) where we saw this sign:

This was promising, however, what they don’t tell you is that there are only a limited number of spots at these lengths — most of the spots are for tents.

Our Airstream is 27ft and with the truck, we’re probably about 35ft or a little more. We drove through Loop A and there was only one spot that we thought would work, so we headed to Loop B. After going the whole way around we realized we weren’t going to fit in any spots, then at the last one, a pull through, it looked like we might make it. We pulled it and it was good!

Although, when we left, we definitely scraped the side of the trailer with numerous branches and possibly knocked a few down.

We’d read about the Skyline Trail, and how this time of year, it’s a great way to see the mountain and a great selection of leaves turning for the fall.

I didn’t really look up any specifics about the trail (how long, what altitude, etc) but we’ve hiked before — we took some water, dressed in layers, so we’re good.

I’d say we should’ve taken double the water and added a layer — it was cold up there! We made it up to about 6500 ft before calling it a day. We spent the rest of the night at the campfire (which we haven’t been able to do in Seattle because of the wildfires).

The next day, someone stole our firewood. Which was weird. And we didn’t have coffee! So we drove to The National Park Inn and bought two coffees in the dining room.

Hike #2 began right outside the Cougar Rock Campground, at the Narada Falls Trail. The coolest part of the hike is when you get to cross the river!

The trail follows the falls and is a mix of easy and difficult, and all of it is really beautiful.

Check out time was noon, so after our hike, we headed back. And maybe knocked over some branches.

[slickr-flickr tag="rainier"]