July 4th at Paradise

Bad Idea, or the Best Idea?

✍️ • 🕑 July 3-4, 2023 • Tags: Mt. Rainier National Park • marmots • mountain goats • lakes • Places: Reflection Lakes • Box Canyon • Cougar Rock Campground • Paradise, Mt. Rainier National Park

July 4th, Early Morning, Mt. Rainier National Park
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There is a “sell-buy” email list at work, which acts as a very dysfunctional corporate Craigslist. Dear lord, it is inefficient to get 100 emails a day about cellphones and cars. But, another ‘c’ category piques my interest: campsites.

Colleagues in distant departments frequently re-sell campground reservations, and I almost always see them immediately after they’ve been snagged. (Getting a campground reservation in the first place in the high season is often a massive challenge.)

In late June, I happened to see one, one night reservation for July 3rd to 4th at Cougar Rock campground in Mt. Rainier National Park. I was eager to return to Paradise and its surroundings, and I felt like having a tent site would give me a great opportunity to actually explore and take in the park better.

Also, I roped a friend into camping with me. (His response to the initial invite was “I could be convinced” to come camp with you.) I still wasn’t feeling 100%, and it seemed like a good idea not to be alone in these extremely popular woods.

Read on for an excessive quantity of pictures…

In Health And In Sickness

May 2023 in Review

✍️ • 🕑 May 2023 • Series: Month in Review • Tags: Eurovision • Eurovision 2023 • scrambling class • illness • collisions • State/Provincial Parks • bald eagles • & 3 More Tags • Places: Bellingham, WA • Larabee State Park • Cama Beach Historical State Park • Camano Island State Park • Guye Peak

Does the green flare go well with the green vines?
Does the green flare go well with the green vines? open_in_full   info

May did not go as I expected. I expected that I would end the month, perhaps without getting this “Month in Review” post finished in time, because I’d be traveling, enjoying myself, celebrating a friend’s birthday.

Instead, I didn’t get the post finished or published because I was lying in bed feeling like shit. As my mother says, when I get sick, I get really sick. (Apparently.)

But hey, I did get to do some things before I got really sick. I watched Eurovision, visited Bellingham and Camano Island, went on my first scramble, and finished a book. And, then everything stopped.

This post is a look back at that time.


Growth and Decay
Growth and Decay open_in_full   info