Olympic & Rainier itinerary -- please suggest changes
 

...and help me fill in details.

Sat: 2PM drive from Seattle airport to Red Lion, Port Angeles
Sun: morning - Sol Duc Falls; afternoon - Hurricane Ridge
Mon: morning - rafting on Hoh; afternoon - beaches
Tue: morning - drive to Paradise Inn at Rainier; afternoon: hike around Paradise
Wed: drive to Sunrise and back (Grove of the patriarchs + hiking trails along the way)
Thu: more hikes around Paradise (e.g., Christine Falls, Narada Falls)
Fri: early morning drive to Mt. St. Helens; reach Seattle airport by 9PM

We are going to be there next month. Is the itinerary above practical? We have 4 kids in our group ranging from 9 to 16, all fairly enthusiastic about hiking.

What place/places would you recommend for our time in coastal Olympic? I would also appreciate hike suggestions for both parks. Is our last day (drive from Paradise to Mt. St. Helens; explore Mt. St. Helens; drive to Seattle airport) too tight? Would it be a better idea to visit Mt. St. Helens on Tuesday when we are driving from Port Angeles to Paradise Inn?

Thanks in advance.

Your itinerary raises quite a few questions.

Where are you spending Sunday and Monday nights?
Why do you bypass the trail to Marymere Falls to go, instead, to Sol Duc Falls?
Where will you go to raft on the Hoh?
What route will you take to Mt. Rainier on Tuesday?
Will you stay at Paradise Inn on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday?

On Friday you will have plenty of time to drive from Paradise Inn to the visitor center at Mt. St Helens and to then drive to SeaTac by 9:00 p.m. However, interesting as the visitor center is, the drive there and then to the airport is not a joy-inducing way to end your stay in Washington.

HTtY

I would do the beaches when there is a Low Tide. Tidepooling there is really neat.
Are you not going to walk/hike at Hall of Mosses trail in Hoh?

Sol Duc Falls isn't a long hike. Maybe 2-3 hours round trip at the most. It was my favorite waterfall there. Much better than the photos.

I thought the hikes around Paradise were much better than on the mountain above the lodge than anywhere else. Mt. Rainier is stunning.

HTTY & Spiro, thanks for your replies.

We are staying the first three nights at Port Angeles for Olympic and the next three nights at Paradise for Rainier. We did not find a room at Crystal Lake.

The rafting trip on Hoh will be through raftandkayak.com. We should be doing the Hall of Mosses trail. I am guessing it would make sense to do that immediately after the rafting trip in the morning (I am unsure which part of the river does the rafting trip cover). Are we being too ambitious in trying to combine a trip to the coastal area the same day?

Other places such as Sol Duc and Hurricane Ridge are placeholders, and open to change. Among Sol Duc, Crystal Lake and Hurricane Ridge what should we do in a day, or day and a half? Considering the kids that we have, we are not planning to do hikes longer than 4 hours.

Based on HTTY's comment, I will be cutting out Mt. St. Helens.

Spiro, I am confused by your very last sentence. Will you please clarify?

Spiro, I meant that I am confused by the following sentence:

"I thought the hikes around Paradise were much better than on the mountain above the lodge than anywhere else."

Are the hikes above the lodge better than hikes elsewhere?

Sorry, That is confusing.

I meant that I enjoyed the hikes right out the door Paradise Inn and up the mountain the best(better than Sunrise).

Grove of the Patriarchs is a short super easy trail that leads to some impressive trees. They are not nearly as impressive as those at places like Yosemite, Sequoia, or Redwoods. If you are in the area, it is a nice visit though.

Narada is a very impressive waterfall that doesn't take but 10-15 minutes of your time.

The premiere hike is usually considered Skyline Trail/loop to Panorama Point. It's 5 miles. Can get chilly once you get a little high in elevation. It is tougher hike going up, but then its downhil on the return.

Comet Falls and then optional continue on to Van Trump Park is another good hike.

Here is a map/link below. You can pretty much make up your own loops of what you want to do. Wildflowers are amazing in this area. Amazing at Sunrise too, though. Hope you are going in like late July or August as early July or June things might not be blooming. I'm not really sure when or how long they bloom.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisi...ails-Aug11.pdf


Your kids might like to soak in the pools at Sol Duc. I liked it. My wife thought it was dirty acnd crowded.

Here is a link to my trip report and photobook from last year. My wife teaches and daughter was taking some summer college course(she just graduated HS) and so we took seperate trips. I got to go twice, which was good for me.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...e-watching.cfm
Click on the link about 4 posts down for just the photos. The photobook is small now, for some reason.

Olympic National Park is a little confusing because it is encircled by Highway 101, which you will drive to get to various places within the park.

With a good map in hand, I would call the people who are organizing the rafting experience and try to figure out where you meet up for the adventure, where you get into the water, and where you get out. I would then find where these places are in relation to park highlights:

Hurricane Ridge
Lake Crescent
Marymere Falls
Sol Duc Hot Springs and Falls
Forks
Rialto Beach
Ruby Beach
Hoh Rain Forest

I think three nights in Port Angeles is good but that three nights at Paradise Inn may be one too many. (Perhaps others will disagree, and explain why.) I would plan to spend one night someplace else.

For instance, on Tuesday, if you plan ahead by making a ferry reservation, you could visit historic Port Townsend and from there take a ferry to Whidbey Island where you can explore historic Coupeville and beautiful Deception Pass.

You could then spend Tuesday north of Seattle (or in Seattle) and the next two nights and most of Friday enjoying Mt. Rainier and vicinity.

HTtY

I think HTTY hit all the highlights just about right

It all depends on how much hiking you want to do at Rainier as to how long you stay

My only question regarding the time and activities at Rainier "next month" is, what if the weather's crummy or there's too much snow still on the ground? As of today there's still 74 inches of snow at 5400 feet (Paradise) and as of 90 min. ago it's already rained half an inch today. Not exactly hiking weather, but not at all uncommon for the mountain. Summer comes quite late at the higher elevations, and good conditions are not something you can always count on.

I guess my point about staying that long (and staying on or near the mountain) is, how flexible are you?

On the Olympic Peninsula, there are numerous alternatives if the weather or conditions aren't to your liking in any one place. Move around to the "banana belt" in the Olympic rain shadow (around Sequim) and see the lavender fields, or head to Port Townsend for some antiquing, or over to Victoria for the day or, or...

On Rainier you also have options (head over US 12 to Yakima and more reliable warmth/sunshine) but it's more of a schlep and more challenging.

Just sayin' - I'd strongly recommend having a Plan B in your pocket.