Everything has a last time. Most often we don't know these last times are happening. At some point there was a last time you took your kids off your shoulders but didn't know it would be the last. At some point you tucked then into bed for the last time but didn't know it would be the last. This trip did have a feeling that it could be the last family trip of such magnitude, the kids are getting older. As always we hope we have given them experiences that allow them to grow. This last day of the trip gave me time in our travels to remember this. It was a busy day with an early start due to flight changes. The drive to SeaTac was easy and dropping off the Tank was smooth. I reminded the kids again to empty their water bottles so TSA wouldn't take them and Amy reminded me that I had told them a dozen times and they weren't children. Seattle airport was the most chaotic poorly designed and laid out airport we have been in. Agents were hollering, TSA was telling long lines of people about to miss their flights that they should have planned better, passengers were cutting in line and throwing laptops out of their bags on to screening... Stress and disgruntled travel was permeating the air. The older two asked to use the restroom at this point, I was miffed having suggested it when we dropped off the Tank.... Slightly more irritated when I learned it was to empty their water bottles. Grace was thinking that when the 'kids' move out then the three of us should fly first class. The flights themselves were smooth and we had great food during our layover in MN. It was about 2:30 am before we pulled into the driveway and officially ended what could be one of our last.
Minimal hiking and a different summit as well, as a different type of summiting. Our start was later too and we filled our bellies (a phrase Amy came to loath) with breakfast sandwiches and hit the road to take a gondola ride to the top of Crystal Mountain and see Rainier from the north east vantage. The gondola ride didn't do anything for Amy's fear of falling but was an easy 15 min ascent that offered great views. We grabbed some drinks and pretzels at the top and wandered around a bit checking out the ski slopes that we all agreed were quite steep. Back at the base of the hill the girls all "panned" for minerals and Merrick and I checked out the store before we headed back to the cabin in 95 degree heat. The plan was for an early pizza dinner in Packwood, but we opted for an air conditioned bar advertising burgers. We chose wrong, but at least the food was so bad that it was comical and the pool table was open. We passed around some pull tabs quickly turning 7 dollars into four and then zero while we waited 4 min for our food to arrive...yes four min. That was our initial sign of how bad it would be. We had access to a pool, but there was snafu and we weren't allowed in so we headed back to our cabin. Back at the pad we walked up the river a ways with plans of maybe getting in to cool off from the heat, but calf deep wadding was all that was needed in the glacial run off.
Another early start but that is the only way to get around, or out in front, of the parking issues of the NPs. We made the hour drive from the pad to Paradise to hike the Skyline trail on Mt. Rainier. Along the way we interrupted a weird photoshoot with a purple mermaid in a glacial falls and morning fog. Skyline is a loop and an endless debate rages on about whether it should be hiked clockwise or counterclockwise. We went clockwise and the initial trail is topographically tough. The trail portion is paved so there are no switchbacks and the altitude gain is a steep climb. The wild flowers were in full gorgeous bloom and the cold drafts of air from the glaciers were refreshing. A few times we even heard the crack and moans of the shifting glaciers. We were seldom out of sight of marmots, including a prurient rodent in the restroom at Panoramic Point. We noshed on some lunch and rested a bit. A chipmunk hopped into Ella's lap to investigate her cliff bar. Merrick spotted a "chicken" walking across an ice field, which must have been a spruce grouse. The views were amazing and the smells were wonderful but neither of them could be captured adequately on film.
