Trip Reports

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Hiking The Sunrise Rim Trail in Mt Rainier National Park

Beginning from the famed Sunrise area of Mt Rainier National Park, the Sunrise Rim Trail is an incredible loop through stunning alpine terrain.  Sunrise is the highest point in the park cars are able to access, and the trail goes up from there!  You’ll hike through alpine tundra, over huge drop offs, and past wonderful alpine lakes.  This hike has just about everything! Miles/Elevation: 5.5 miles 1,115 feet vertical gain About Mt Rainier National Park: Established as a national park...

Summiting Shriner Peak In Mt Rainier National Park

Mt Rainier, the iconic mountain of the Pacific Northwest.  Climbing it is a multi day mountaineering ordeal, but just visiting the national park without climbing something feels like a waste and is just disappointing.  So what’s one to do?  What if there was a prominent, yet hikeable mountain nearby.  Maybe one that has incredible views of Rainier itself, and is doable as a day hike.  Well, turns out that mountain exists, and it’s called Shriner Peak! Shriner Peak is relatively...

Summiting Paulina Peak in Oregon’s Cascades

Towering over Newberry National Volcanic Monument, Paulina Peak is the dominant feature of the whole place.  The highpoint of the Newberry Caldera, Paulina Peak is a nearly 8,000 foot high volcanic Cascade Summit, and while the peak itself isn’t as visually prominent as many of the other Cascade Volcanoes, the actual volcano is massive! The Newberry Volcano fills basically the entire national monument, and lava flows from this volcano stretch for miles around!  This may not be an iconic Cascade...

Hiking The Big Obsidian Flow

One of the most unique trails you’re going to find, the Big Obsidian Flow Trail in Newberry National Volcanic Monument takes you through an incredible volcanic landscape.  Sculpted by molten lava flowing across the surface only 1,300 years ago, this is one of the newest landscapes you can find just about anywhere! Because the rock here is so new, and the lava flowed here so recently, the landscape is still incredibly barren and alien.  The rock is all black, almost...

Exploring Paulina Falls at Newberry Volcanic National Monument

On my day exploring Newberry Volcanic National Monument, I made a quick stop at a great little waterfall, Paulina Falls.  This waterfall doesn’t have the height of Yosemite Falls, nor the volume of Niagara, but set in the lush pine forest of the Pacific Northwest, it makes a great introduction to the park!  This is a perfect spot to stretch your legs on arrival to Newberry before heading to the other attractions! Miles/Elevation: .8 miles 118 feet vertical gain About...

Exploring Lava River Cave: The Largest Lava Tube in Oregon!

While most of my adventures involve going up, I decided I had to check something out that would involve going down!  Oregon is a land sculpted by volcanoes and volcanic activity, and in Newberry Volcanic National Monument, you can explore the largest intact lava tube in the state! Formed by an underground river of molten lava, this cave is explorable to about a mile deep.  Newberry Volcano isn’t nearly as recognizable as the nearby Three Sisters or the iconic Mt...