Mt. Ranier: Camping at Ohanapecosh

At the end of June we went camping. The Hovanski's had planned a trip and then let all of their friends know what campsite they had reserved in case anyone else wanted to join in and reserve a site near them. There were five families total that came.

When Mt. Ranier came into view we had to pull over for two reasons. First, we wanted to get pictures and second, we needed a potty break.

We took just a few pictures and then the potty break was our first priority.

Sadly, the little bathrooms you see behind Liv in this picture were locked. So up into the deep snow we went looking for a private spot next to the highway. Fun! It reminded me of our Shenandoah trip a few years ago where every bathroom had a "Facility Closed" sign. 

Now back to the pictures of Ranier!

After we arrived at the Ohanapecosh campground and set up camp, we started our Junior Ranger program. We walked around identifying plants and walking down to the hot springs.

Dutch Oven Deep Dish Pizza for dinner.

Steve is very into hammock camping these days. In fact, he made both of these hammocks with my sewing machine. He was very excited for me to sleep in a hammock, hoping that I would love it as much as he does. I was a little nervous, mostly because the kids would be sleeping in a tent on the other side of our campsite. It would either be really awesome because I wouldn't wake up every time a child moved or groaned in their sleep or my children would kick off their covers and freeze and/or pee in their sleeping bags. It was definitely a big risk.

Turned out to be a great idea. I slept great and so did the kids.

Making Raspberry Double Dutch Babies for breakfast. 

Playing chess on the tablet. Good old-fashioned camping fun.

Right next to our campsite was a tiny creak. Just enough water to make every change of clothes we brought muddy and wet, but not enough water to worry about kids drowning. Perfect!

All the kids we knew would always stop by to play in the hammocks.

the kids played lots of games with friends and cousins.

Hiking to Silver Falls

Silver Falls.

On the other side of the road from our campsite where the Havanski's camped was a little cliff trail that lead down to the river.

We spent a lot of time near the river. Not in the river. Near.

It was freezing!

Turns out a little patch of sand surrounded by a cliff wall and freezing water created a nice natural barrier for the children to play and play.

Even the cliff divers spent more time in the air than they did in the water. Once they hit the glacier water they were swimming turbo-style to the shore.

Simon and Steve

Steve jumping

The whole group: Hovanski's, Cramer's, Gallup's, Fowers, and Martin's.

After checking out of the campground we headed into the National Park to do the Grove of the Patriarch's hike to see all of the giant old trees.

On our drive home we stopped to get a few more pictures.

And stretched our legs for a minute at the Box Canyon Wonderland trail.

So glad we went!