Washington is Way Cool!

By Guest Blogger, Emily McKenzie

To be honest, this trip wasn’t my idea and I never would have suggested it, if asked where we should vacation next with our friends. But now I’m practically BEGGING to go back. “Where?” you might ask – None other than the stunningly, beautiful state of Washington! 

There’s a lot to cover, so this trip will be covered in two posts. Stayed tuned for Part 2!

Now, let’s get to the fun part!

Day One – Travel Day (Wednesday, June 26th) 

On Day 1, we took an evening non-stop flight out of Detroit and into Seattle. No rest for the weary and after being surprised with a rental car upgrade, we were off!! (‘We’ being myself, my boyfriend and 2 of our close friends – with more friends to join later in the trip).

Our destination for the evening was our cozy cabin in the woods in Ashford, WA, about a 2 hour drive from Seattle. We arrived to our cabin at 12 a.m. in rain and immediately lit a fire, which we soon discovered would be our only heat source for the evening. However, it was a welcome sound throughout the cabin, falling asleep to a crackling fire; we soon discovered this area of the state was COLD for June – low temps into the 40’s at night. 

Day Two – Mt. Rainier National Park (Thursday, June 27th)

We were up early to pack backpacks, fill our Camelbacks and layer up for the chilly weather. The forecast had looked like 50 degree temps and thunderstorms for the day but we ended up staying dry! We packed the car and were off to Mt. Rainier National Park! We decided on the Nisqually Entrance to the park and the goal was to complete the Skyline Trail, a 5.5 mile round-trip loop trail. Unfortunately parts of it were still snow-covered (in June, if this gives you an idea of how cold it was), so we did an ‘up and back’ hike as far as we could go with the snow! Although cloudy, it was still an amazing hike with plenty of foliage, breath taking views and plentiful marmot sightings; for those of you not familiar, a marmot is large, squirrel-like rodent and they’re SUPER cute! All in all, we hiked for about 4 hours. 

We ended the day with a late lunch at the Copper Creek Inn, right outside the park entrance. I HIGHLY recommend stopping here if you’re ever in the Mt. Rainier area – They’re known for their blackberry pie, but ALL the food was amazing. We even took home a frozen pie, which we  baked in the cabin and ate for dinner later that night with vanilla ice cream! 

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Day Three – Mt. Rainier National Park (Friday, June 28th) 

Some friends had joined us at the cabin late the night previous, so now there were 6 of us total and it was back to Mt. Rainier for more fun! The weather was warmer, brighter and much more conducive for mountain hiking! Since we knew the views would be better and our friends hadn’t experienced any trails yet, we headed back to the Skyline Trail and hiked a little further up than we had the day before. There were numerous groups of trekkers who were headed to the summit of Mt. Rainier, snow piles galore and even more marmots! Today’s hike was about 3 hours and then 4 of us headed back to Copper Creek Inn for another round of tasty lunch and a big slice of blackberry pie. Our other friends stayed behind for a little more exploring and to pick up some more friends who were flying in to Seattle that night. 

After our group left the restaurant, it was back in the car and off to Leavenworth, WA, a tiny German town tucked in the Cascade mountain range, about 2 hours directly east of Seattle!

Day Four – Leavenworth, WA (Saturday, June 29th) 

The first half of this trip was VERY hike heavy and today was absolutely no different. I picked and planned this hike, not knowing what I was truly getting our group into. Funny story as to how it all came about, I saw a picture of Colchuck Lake on Instagram and was DETERMINED to hike there during this trip. It’s not the easiest place to get to, starting with the 40 minute drive on unmarked roads to get to the trail head. Then from there, it’s a 5-mile hike up, up, up and, at times, very rocky and steep trails. The trek up to the lake took us about 4 hours. Then, after spending a relaxing hour at the lake, it was back down, down, down the same steep and rocky trail we had just conquered a short time prior – and yes, another 5 miles. Obviously faster and much easier, the trip down took us just over 2 hours. 

After some afternoon rest and showers, we headed into downtown Leavenworth for a true German dinner – beer, sausage and German style potato salad, of course! We sat on picnic tables at the cutest open-air, order at the window type place. Good food, good beer and good friends – What more can you ask for??

We all crashed that night in our cabin – yes, we were staying at another cabin in the woods. This one was adorable and perfect for our group of 8 adults! Would highly recommend this rental company if you’re ever out this way! 

There’s one more day of fun to come in Leavenworth when Part Two of the blog drops! It’s not hiking but it is definitely an outdoor adventure! Stay tuned to find out how we spent the last day in Leavenworth and then it’s on to Seattle for the final part of our trip!

Mt. Rainier Accommodations: Rainier Cottages – http://www.rainiercottages.com/index.html

Mt. Rainier Restaurant: Copper Creek Inn & Restaurant, Ashford, WA – http://www.coppercreekinn.com/restaurant.html

Mt. Rainier Hike: Skyline Trail – https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/skyline 

Leavenworth Accommodations: Destination Leavenworth –  https://www.destinationleavenworth.com/

Leavenworth Restaurant: Sausage Garten – http://www.viscontis.com/sausage-garten

Leavenworth Hike: Colchuck Lake Trail –https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/colchuck-lake