NACHES, WA.  Wednesday the 29th.  Drove to Squaw Rock RV Park, situated beautifully on the  Naches River.  All our sites were right on the river, but the bad news was that the health dept does not allow sewer dumps at each site.  Thus we could not empty tanks while there unless one could situate one's motorhome near the central dump site.  This was unlikely, since this is an old campground with tight back-in sites and challenging roadways leading to them.  We had quite a time getting 16 rigs in there. And every two of us had to share a single water faucet with a Y adapter and a single power pedestal with one 50 amp outlet and one 30 amp outlet; thus, the first one there got 50 amp while the second one got 30 amps.  An interesting trade-off between convenience and beautiful location.

There was no Verison or wifi service, so we had to drive toward Naches to get service. We drove into Yakima to shop at one of their two Super Walmarts.  That night we had a group supper at the campground's eatery.

Thursday the 30th.  As a group we drove to Mt Rainier National Park.  It was not covered in snow as it was 4 years ago in June when we last visited.  Mt Rainier itself was covered in clouds as it was last time.  They say the west side is constantly shrouded, but we tried other sides with no success.  Apparently someone in the group got a good shot by following a trail she read about in some book we never heard about.  We even went to the official viewing site on Rt 12 and waited a long time for it to clear.  As in 2014 when we were at that place, it only allowed a peek at the peak.  I had a better chance in 2014 shooting it from Seattle Harbor.

Hazy Skies at Mt Rainier National Park

Four Years Ago I Shot Mt Rainier from Seattle Harbor

Along the way back to the campground on Rt 12 we stopped at an RV park to take photos of Tieton Lake that is fed by the Tieton River.  The water level had dropped to the point that two islands were now accessible on dry land.  We walked out to one of the islands and along the way saw footprints of various people and animals that were preserved in hardened mud.  The view from the island was wonderful, and there were signs of campers' fire rings.  Hard to say whether they got to the island by boat earlier in the season or walked there as we did.

Dried Mud Leading to Islands in Tieton Lake

Hardened Footprints in Mud

Getting Closer to Island

View Toward Lake from Island High Point

 

View Toward Second Island

View from Camping Area on Back of Island

We also stopped along Rt 12 to get shots of the river.

Sunny Spot Along Tieton River

Tieton River Along Rt 12

By the time we got back to Squaw Rock RV Park it was about 5:35 pm.  The wagonmaster informed us that we needed to hurry our supper in order to get over to the front of the campground to get a group photo by the campground sign.  The campground wanted a photo to mount on the wall of the office.  He clearly considered the tour visit a great promotional opportunity.