Speeding ticket & Mount Rainier

Thursday, 5.7.

Sun! We have breakfast and already need a baggage cart for the "little" luggage! My big bag now weighs 25 kilos, the small one 15...

We head north, passing a sunny Portland, which we recently didn't see anything like. Mount Hood has emerged from the clouds in the distance - unimaginable just a week ago! In our sunny drive, we lose some speed, so suddenly we have a policeman on a motorcycle next to us, who cheerfully points out that we were traveling at 72 miles per hour, which is 12 more than the allowed 60 mph. Costs $93! However, he does not collect cash, but G. is supposed to "send" the money.

So our path leads us somewhat unplanned to Longview, where we look for a bank. The helpful teller explains to us that in the USA, this can only be done by mail order or by personal deposit in the district, for example, at the mayor's office where we were caught. But now we are about 30 miles north of where we were caught and now need this mail order. This is available at the post office or at the supermarket!? So we follow the description to the post office in Longview, and the three boys there have their fun with us...

The procedure is that you pay $93 + $1.75 processing fee there, the $93 is printed on a kind of receipt, which you then put in an envelope together with the ticket (!!!) and send it to the district's office. They can't transfer the money somehow.

Freed from this civic duty, we continue, and we bid farewell to Exit 68 and turn right onto Hwy 12. A country road that leads east. A brief stop at a bakery that has amazing pies and off we go. Shortly afterwards, there is a sign with “Harms Road” at a cross street. 

Quick photo stop and on towards the mountains. Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier can always be seen. It is not until half past two that we roll through the Nisqualli Gate from the west into the Mount Rainier National Park, which is a bargain at $15 for 7 days. 

The landscape is wild and beautiful, an enchanted forest with tall firs is our first impression, and then shortly afterwards the Nisqualli River roars next to us, which has lost some of its winter width but is still on the move thanks to the snow melt. 

Trees, carried away stones, and huge boulders are lying for kilometers in the riverbed. At the first photo stop, Mount Rainier is almost free of clouds, and at the second stop at the Longmire Visitor Center, we manage to take pictures without clouds - a very rare spectacle! 

We are now back in Washington State.

A short drive takes us to Paradise, where we stand in the snow in front of the backdrop of the sublime Mount Rainier. In the visitor center, we watch a film about the mountain, which is a volcano that has erupted multiple times. About 6,500 years ago, its lahars (lava flows in the form of a mudslide) flowed to the coast.

Up here, there is still quite a bit of snow, but where the sun shines, small white flowers called Avalanche Lilies grow. We follow the tips of a ranger who tells us about three great viewpoints. It is after 6 pm when we set off. A beautiful mountain road along dreamy mountain flowers and the panorama behind it is our path. 

Shortly afterwards, we discover a gorge over 60 meters deep and walk along a short trail along it. 

The third stop at the giant trees will be postponed until tomorrow, as it is already 7 pm, and we arrive in Packwood just after 8 pm. The room is huge and beautiful and also cheap. 

We find a pub that is still open and eat a few hamburgers hungrily. In addition to breakfast and a piece of pie, we had nothing today. On the short drive back to the hotel, we pass a grazing herd of deer. I quickly check my emails at the front desk of the hotel, as only there the WLAN works, and we are in bed just before 11:30 pm.

Driving distance: 226 miles