We stayed in a (very) small town outside of Mt. Ranier called Morton, WA. Our Air Bnb was a renovated apartment above a coffee shop. It was very cute and cozy. The town itself, although tiny, was charming and everyone we encountered was very friendly. Adelie declared it the town that she is going to live in when she grows up. I'm not putting stock in that, however, since she declares most places we go on vacation her future home. But who knows...she may end up with a summer home in Morton.
We ate dinner at Papa Bears Restaurant, which was just across the street from our rental. It was a local diner, but we were all starving, the food was good, and our waiter was very friendly.
We were only in this rental for one night, but it was clean, cozy, and comfortable...and it came with a gift card to the coffee shop downstairs.
The kids liked their bunk room, although Briggs' moving around in his sleep made Staley abandon her spot next to him and instead finished up her sleep on the sofa.
We REALLY enjoyed the Rivers Coffeehouse and Bistro, where we used our gift card to enjoy breakfast the next morning. It was owned by the same people who run the Air Bnb, so it had the same charming, cozy air about it. The food and smoothies were fantastic, and we enjoyed a good breakfast before heading off on our Mt. Ranier adventure for the day.
Our initial plan for our day in Mt. Ranier was to hike the Skyline Trail in the Paradise area of the park. That plan was quickly kiboshed by the first ranger we met as we entered the park as that specific trail and area of the park was still under about 9-10 feet of snow.
Instead, we stopped at the Longmire visitor center and, after speaking with the ranger there, decided to hike part of the Wonderland Trail to Carter Falls and Madcap Falls. There were two options for our hike: driving up to Cougar Rock Campground and starting the hike there for a shorter duration or starting from Longmire and hiking the 5.9 mile out and back hike. The first part of the hike was just a wooded trail according to the ranger. And although Staley noted, "I can just walk in the woods at home", we decided to tackle the longer hiking duration and enjoy some walking in the woods to start our trek.
The first part of the hike was very pleasant. It was shaded and quiet and we saw very few other people along the trail. We had encountered a school bus full of kids on a field trip while at the restrooms at the visitor's center, so we were very pleased that our hike did not intersect with them.
Once we reached the Cougar Rock area, we found some breathtaking views of Mt. Ranier as we crossed a wooden bridge over this river and headed on a steeper ascent towards the waterfalls.
Carter Falls was our initial destination.
However, Madcap Falls was right there as well, so we got two waterfalls for the price of one on this hike. Just as we were getting close to the falls we began to encounter some snow on the trail. I'm glad we reached the falls when we did, because the trail became fully snow covered not far past where we stopped.
After hiking back to Longmire, we then took a quick pit stop to hike the .1 miles to the view point for Narada Falls. This was made slightly more difficult by the fact that, although only .1 miles, it was fully covered in snow and quite slick in places.
However, the falls were very impressive.
After our pit stop, we continued up the mountain to the Paradise Visitor Center. And although we couldn't do the Skyline Trail hike that we would have liked to, the kids still had a great time playing in the massive amounts of snow. And for as snowy and wintery as it looked, the weather was actually quite pleasant with sunshine and temperatures in the 50s.
We played and explored in the snow for a bit, enjoying the majestic views of the snowcapped mountains.
We finished off our Mt. Ranier day heading back down to Longmire and walking the Trail of the Shadows. It is just a flat .75 mile trail through the forest and marshlands with some historic landmarks and educational placards along the way.
It was a sweet little trail, although it took Zach and Adelie longer to hike it than the rest of us since they took more time to stop and read all the placards along the way...as well as to admire the skunk cabbage, which Adelie quickly deemed her new favorite plant.
We enjoyed a fun day of hiking and exploring in Mt. Ranier, but it was time for us to get back in the car and make the 4 hour trek to our next destination: Forks, WA and Olympic National Park.
