Day 96 - Tuesday, October 21, 1997Packwood RV Park, Packwood, Washington - Boy was it cold last night!! Jim woke up a 4:30 to pee and found that the engine had stopped running. So much for that idea!! Anyway, the temperature was a balmy 26º. Jim said his nipples were as hard as diamonds!!We took a day trip to Mt. Rainier today. What a scenic park!! We stopped at Reflection Lakes where Jim attempted some artistic photos of the mountain reflecting in the smooth lake. He also got a shot of Marci and Buck playing in, get this, snow!! Yep, we hit snow while on the mountains. Our best guess is that we were about 5,000 feet up. In case you were wondering Mt. Rainier's peak is 14,410 feet - the highest in Washington. After a picnic lunch at the visitor's center, which was closed, we drove the loop around Paradise. This area is supposed to be covered with wild flowers. Maybe it is in the summer, but not when there's scattered snow on the ground!! We then hiked down Narada Falls on the Paradise River. At one point we could see two rainbows in the mist of the falls. Later we took a hike up Kautz creek, which is fed by (take a guess) Kautz Glacier! We stopped along the way and toasted the family with the tin cups given to us by our brother-in-law, Mark. The water was very cold. We hear glaciers are like that.
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