PNW Mountain Top Sunset, Blue Hole, Recovery Day

We planned for today to be a recovery day from The Enchantments, so we drove 3+ hours to Packwood, bought some more groceries, found the Blue Hole swimming hole, and did a sweet sunset hike up to High Rock. But first, we grabbed some yummy breakfast sandwiches in Leavenworth before shoving off.

Our drive to Packwood was uneventful. Truth be told, I slept a little (but I am known for nodding off in the car). Washington is surprisingly dry in the rain shadow of the mountains. We drove through several mountain passes and soon after crossing White Pass, we got our first real glimpses of Mt Rainier. It is stunning!

Our first sighting of Mt Rainier since leaving the Seattle area.

Dan had looked for swimming holes along our route and found one called the Blue Hole at campground La Wis Wis. It was another 100+ degree day so it did not take much convincing to go in the frigid water. There was a fun cliff off of which to jump. Unfortunately, while we were there, a kid jumped off and dislocated his shoulder which meant he could not swim to shore. A few of his family members jumped in to help him get to shore safely.

Dan is airborne!

Dan taking the plunge into the chilly water.

Kara did a smaller jump.

A little swimming hole love

After checking into our motel (which was a bit of a dive), we did a little research for a good sunset hike and what we would hike tomorrow. Dan was not too excited about doing a sunset hike, getting back late, and then waking up before 5am to do a bigger hike the next day. It wasn't too difficult to convince him that it was a really good idea to do both. So, we set off to hike High Rock in the evening (the temps were still in the 90s though). Needless to say, it was sooooo worth it to see sunset from a summit in the Cascades.

Here is the profile of High Rock

The trees are so straight, tall, and covered in lichen.

Bear-grass!

The layers in the cascades :)

Bear-grass with the setting sun

Way in the distance, you can see Mt Adams

On the summit of High Rock with Mt Rainier in the background

There is a HUGE cliff right behind Dan

So worth hiking up!!!

We had to be careful because there is a HUGE cliff behind us.

Sitting on the mostly disassembled fire tower.

Ahhhhhhhh...

Rainier catching the last rays of the sun for the day.

Dan standing near the top of one of the cliffs on High Rock.

Goodnight sun

Bear-grass with the sunset in the background.

We boogied down from our sunset hike, drove an hour to our motel, packed what we would need for our hike the next day (including our trusty PB&Js), set our alarms for 4:45am, and slept like nobody's business.