Summer in Seattle 2022 - Where is Kyle Miller?

It was time to head back home to Seattle after 4 years of being in Finland. Finally my wife and I had the option to go visit my Mom, friends and the mountains. The plan was for my wife to be there for 3 weeks and I would be there for an additional 3 weeks to help my Mom remodel a room in her house. With a new direct flight to Seattle from Helsinki it would cut our travel time in half and all was good until we stepped into the airport.

While waiting for the flight one of the luggage cars barely scratched the plain so they needed to inspect it before flying, the problem with this was that the inspector was in Helsinki. 5 hours later we were on a plane from Rovaniemi to Helsinki. Once there we had missed our flight and they put us in a hotel for the night and we would get a new flight to the states.

The next day we flew to New York which took the same amount of time for a Seattle flight but they flew every other day. Once in New York our second flight was delayed another 5 yours and soon enough we finally made it back home and drinking coffee downtown.

If there is one thing I don’t miss about traveling it is the airports.

After an afternoon of walking around the city my wife started not feeling well and the next morning it was official she had sought Cornoa. 2 days later I had caught it as well. Luckily it wasn’t that bad as we rested in the rooms and waited for the tests to show negative.

Back to Mount Rainier visiting Paradise

Finally after being in Seattle for 2 weeks were we feeling good enough to go out for a hike. Wanting to make the most out of it we went up to Paradise in Mount Rainier National Park as my wife had never been there before.

Knowing the trail from Paradise was easy going we made our way up to Glacier Vista with my Mom before she hiked back down and Jenni and I made our way for the Skyline Trail

While Jenni had visited the West and North sides of the Wonderland Trail it was her first time heading up to Panorama Point. Wanting to get away from the people we hiked to the high point just below the Muir Snowfield.

Once our lunch was done we walked back down to the trail and made our way east into Edith Basin crossing snow patches along the way.

Wanting to make sure she could get the most views possible for the trip I persuaded her to walk little bit further down Mazama ridge Rainier offered different perspectives around every turn.

Wrapping into lower Edith Basin it had been a few hours and we made our way back towards Paradise keeping on the upper trail to stay away from the road.

Before long we started to see a lot of people in the distance. Making our way up to Myrtle Falls for one final view my wife was happy and it was great showing her an area we have come to take for granted in the PNW.

Mount Pilchuck

If you had only one overnight backpacking mission to show someone the beauty of the Cascades what would it be? I was looking for something relatively easy with great views. In the end I decided we should go out and camp on top of Mount Pilchuck. It would allow her to get a good view of the North Cascades and I would see how busy the trails were.

With the day being hot we decided to get there starting at 9 A.M. to beat the heat of the day and get the single camping spot for the night. Arriving at noon we set up the tent and hid under a shaded rock with a breath taking view for the next few hours.

Throughout the day we could hear that the lookout was crowded so we waited until just before sunset. By now there were still probably 15 people so everyone had there little spot and took in the light show.

For the next 30 minutes I gazed at Glacier Peak and the surrounding mountains thinking of past trips and the stunning beauty of the North Cascades. A few years earlier I had taken Jenni hiking from the Suiattle River to Holden Village and showed her the pass that we could see in the distance.

Finally the last rays of sun were hitting the Puget Sound and people were starting to leave the Lookout Tower one by one.

Before long it was just Jenni and I standing in the lookout tower watching the area glow before heading to the tent for the night.

Throughout the night we could hear a few groups hiking up the trail before we finally got up a few minutes before sunrise. After making a cup of coffee we made our way back up to the tower to watch the morning sunrise over the Cascades.

We had scored with the weather as it was a beautiful clear night with little wind. Below us to the west Mount Pilchuck cast its shadow into the Puget Sound Basin.

Off to the South we watched the morning alpenglow over Mount Rainier and before long made our way back down to the trailhead and made plans for her final few days.

Summerland in Mount Rainier National Park

For my wife final hike in the Cascades we met up with our good friends Boot and Maggie and decided to show Jenni Summerland on Mount Rainier. After going though some of the best old growth forest in Washington we were finally making our way up into the alpine.

The forecast was calling for morning clouds but we were hoping that they would burn off like the forecast had called for.

For the next hour we hiked in clouds and got pelted with rain in our shorts and decided it wasn’t worth it to go further as the weather was worse and wouldn’t see anything at the pass. Making our way over to a gorgeous canyon we sat around for a while before heading back down.

Once again I was in a valley I had spent so much time in but my wife was seeing the whole area with fresh eyes. She was happy and in turn I was happy as well. With only a week to make the most out of her time in the Cascades we were able to see some good views as well as spend time with my mom.