We drove all the way up to paradise at first to let Alden play with the snow a little bit before we went back down to Longmire to hike were there wasn't tons of snow that we had to traipse through. We ended up doing a 1.7 mile one-way hike to an overview point. Almost the whole hike was switchbacks, which we didn't know starting out, but we made it and Alden hiked the whole thing on his own.
It was an amazing day for a hike and the viewpoint was very nice. It was clear and there were no clouds blocking your view, which is a rarity in Washington. I am so glad that we got to do one last hike there before we move thousands of miles away so that is not a feasible day trip. I know both Drew and I are sore today but it was worth it for the hike.
Alden had so much fun throwing snow around at Paradise. We didn't have snow shoes so we didn't go exploring too much because we would have just sunk in the snow, but we had fun just playing around the edges of the parking lot.
Alden had fun throwing "snow balls" at me.
We went inside the visitor center at Paradise so that we could get a better view of the surrounding area from the upstairs windows.
Alden had fun looking around in the visitor center while we were there.
These were a couple of the views from Paradise. It was beautiful to see the snow capped mountains with the sun peeking through between the clouds.
Alden always thinks this model of Mount Rainier is really interesting.
The pictures do not do this view justice. It was spectacular! On the drive from Paradise back down to Longmire you go over a bridge and this is the view off of the bridge.
Going down the mountain, you drive by views of the river and beautiful hillsides.
It was a beautiful day to be out exploring nature and enjoying the first signs of spring.
There were nice little streams along the nature trail near Longmire.
Alden kept wanting to pick up big sticks to throw in the streams. They were a little too big to easily throw them in the streams but he was very determined.
We started hiking up the ridge trail and Drew took off to go hide ahead of us so that Alden could find him.
Alden walked right past Daddy's hiding place but thought it was really fun when he finally found Daddy.
Alden wanted to always have a stick in his hand so that if we came to a stream he had something to throw in it.
Anders was very happy riding in his backpack!
It was a beautiful day with the sun out and only a few clouds in the sky!
Alden finally found a place along the trail to throw a few rocks in the water.
This was fascinating to see! The tree had grown in a circle shape!
We finally reached the top of the ridge and Drew found a giant rock to stand on, but even there the view was obstructed so we kept hiking along the ridge to find the viewpoint.
This is where we started to find snow covering parts of the trail but we just hiked over it. Alden actually thought that it was a lot of fun hiking on the snow. He kept smiling and laughing when he would slide a little bit but he did a good job of being careful.
We finally made it to the viewpoint and it was beautiful! I loved being able to see out across the valley with the river running through the middle and the snow capped mountains all around.
We sat down to eat lunch at the top and Alden found his own little rock to sit on and eat his food!
I just love family outings and enjoying the outdoors with my kids! I really want my kids to see lots of different places and enjoy family time, no matter what we are doing!
Drew and I have always loved to hike and be outdoors (our second date was hiking) and so it is fun to continue in that tradition with our kids.
Anders liked getting out of the backpack to stretch his legs a little bit. He really liked walking along the edge, holding on to the logs, but it made me very nervous so I held very tightly too him and did not let him move more than about 6 inches.
Alden loved trekking back down part of the hike on snow too!
On the way back down we found these birds that were singing and eating right along the trail. They did not seem to be scared by us at all and were happy to let us just stand close to them as they ate.
Alden was so excited to get to see these birds up close because he had been asking us all day when he would get to see animals.
There were a lot of beautiful views of mountains as we hiked back, but many were obstructed by trees. I love watching my boys hike together. I am so glad that Alden has a wonderful Dad who is a great example to him and from who Alden can learn.
We found this very interesting tree right off of the trail on the way down and Alden had fun finding places to throw rocks in little streams again.
I actually loved seeing all of these little streams coming down the hillside at different places. I think they are really pretty!
Once we got to the last half mile, Alden was done. That was a ton of elevation for Alden to do in a day (over 1000 ft elevation gain), so it was understandable that he was tired and done hiking.
However, once we got to the bottom and Alden had a place to throw rocks in the water again, he was all smiles.
Alden was laughing as he threw rocks in the water and it was really cute!
As we were getting ready to leave, Alden found one last stick that he wanted to carry with him all the way to the car. I was just glad to see that Alden had a good time hiking and exploring with us and we had so much fun as a family! This was a great day trip and I am so glad that we took advantage of living so close to this national park one last time before we leave.
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