Mount Rainier
Seattle is a fairly easy place to get around by car, and it probably isn't worth guests hiring one while here. However, there is one unmissable activity that is a lot of hassle without driving: hiking on Mount Rainier. It's too far to get to by bike, there's no public transport from Seattle, and the only private bus tour we know of charges a lot of money for a trip that involves several short photo stops where you won't be able to get away from everyone else who was on the bus. So I had a better idea.
Even between only two people, it's cheaper to rent a car for the day and drive to Mount Rainier, plus that way you get to spend as long as you like hiking, and it will be much easier to get away from the crowds. If we arrange it such that there are 3 or 4 people per car, the whole trip works out pretty cheap (about $30 for the car plus $25 or so for fuel). I can organise the car hire and can probably also come along myself (bringing a car). If I can come (it depends on whether there is much last minute fire-fighting to do for the wedding) it would either be Monday August 28th or Wednesday the 30th; the Monday would suit me better but I think fewer guests will have arrived by then.
If you would be interested in coming along, please comment on this post, and also mention which day would suit you better and whether you'd be up for driving. There's no hard deadline, but it would be better to reply sooner rather than later because car rental costs might go up if we leave it too late to book.
Even between only two people, it's cheaper to rent a car for the day and drive to Mount Rainier, plus that way you get to spend as long as you like hiking, and it will be much easier to get away from the crowds. If we arrange it such that there are 3 or 4 people per car, the whole trip works out pretty cheap (about $30 for the car plus $25 or so for fuel). I can organise the car hire and can probably also come along myself (bringing a car). If I can come (it depends on whether there is much last minute fire-fighting to do for the wedding) it would either be Monday August 28th or Wednesday the 30th; the Monday would suit me better but I think fewer guests will have arrived by then.
If you would be interested in coming along, please comment on this post, and also mention which day would suit you better and whether you'd be up for driving. There's no hard deadline, but it would be better to reply sooner rather than later because car rental costs might go up if we leave it too late to book.
11 Comments:
We get in Wednesday night — so, I'm guessing thursday during the day or saturday would be good.
Olga and I are up for it, we get there much earlier and Monday or Wednesday would be good (though don't forget we are taking Eg out on Tuesday so might be a bit hungover on the Wednesday). I'm happy to drive.
I also HAVE to go to Snoqualmie at some point (because of Twin Peaks, but also it does look nice), so any takers for that?
v: Thursday or Saturday wouldn't work for me, but if anyone else expresses an interest I will put you in touch with each other, and I'd be happy to arrange [a] rental car[s] for you.
Herr Kapitän: If it ends up being just the 3 of us then I'd rather go on the Monday, and we wouldn't even need to book a car. I'm expecting at least a couple more people to reply now that I've emailed out about it though.
I could go Monday or Wednesday, but I think i'd rather be jetlagged than hungover when I walk up mountains, so monday.
A thought about jetlag: everyone who's coming from out of town will have come from the East, so the jetlag will have you waking up early rather than falling asleep early. That probably means that a trip to Mount Rainier would work quite well, but you might not want to be the driver on the way back, or go out that evening.
I'm a taker for snoqualmie - in fact I also HAVE to go there
Yo, me and disa are up for mountain attacks. We can do earlier dates like Duncan and generally haven't scheduled anything in for the week (apart from some wedding or other). NB of the 2 of us, only disa drives - but she might crash and kill us as she's only driven in the desert for a few weeks 2 years ago.
Snoqualmiewhatnow? Sounds fun...
Also, E, is Vancouver a doable day trip (by train, natch) or realistically out of the question?
Vancouver is probably too far to be worth a day trip (3-4½ hours each way by public transport), but it is doable, and if you spend one night there then it's definitely worth the amount of travelling involved. Train travel there is rather limited—one train a day in each direction (the Amtrak website lies - most of the services listed there are a crappy bus from Seattle north—but if you decide those times work (early morning departure from Seattle, 6pm departure from Vancouver) then it's likely to be the nicest way to get there (tracks along the shore for much of the way). There are a number of competing bus operators, which should hopefully mean that service will suck less than on most US intercity bus routes (avoid Greyhound if possible - the reason I don't encourage booking bus travel through Amtrak is that I think they contract it out to Greyhound). Here is one example: Quick coach; I'm sure there are others, and I haven't done the trip myself, but I just know that they have reasonable fares and a choice of departure times.
Snoqualmie is doable by city bus. If you're a Twin Peaks fan, then it's a must-see. Otherwise it's not all that exciting, though there is a big waterfall, and I need to take my parents there because we tried once before but there was fog so thick that the viewing platform felt like it was hovering in space and we could only hear the water.
I'm up for Rainier. My flight gets in Tuesday night, so I vote for Wednesday.
Kris and I are in... Tuesday through Thursday or Saturday morning (gotta leave at 2) would be diggable...
If anybody wants to go on Saturday, I'd be up for it! And I can drive! :-D
stef
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