Zen and the Art of Contemplative Relaxation - Rimrock Lake, 7.25.21 - 7.28.21
Sometimes it’s nice to leave the hiking boots at home and go on an excursion for some true rest and relaxation. My dear wife thinks that it is good for me to sit around once in a while with nothing to do. “Become one with your camp chair” is her mantra for me and with this in mind we gathered up Bob and Dana and drove off in search of a place to sort of do nothing for a few days. With that said, I can do nothing for about a half hour before I begin to get a rash and a low grade fever. I like to “do” and becoming one with my camp chair is a bit of a stretch in my book as a qualifying activity. But I’m a team player and truth be told, with so much planned hiking coming up in August, becoming one with my camp chair actually sounded pretty good. We didn’t plan this trip very long ago and I felt lucky to have secured two camp sites in a private campground on the shores of Rimrock Lake. I had driven past this lake only once and thought it may have potential for camping with the RVs so it was a big question mark as to whether or not it would be a good place to go camping or not.
Rimrock Lake is on Highway 12 on the eastern side of White Pass. To get there we drove down through the eastern side of Mount Rainier National Park and then went over the pass and down to the lake. The resort turned out to be much to our liking. As RV campgrounds go, I’m not fond at all of the meat market approach of cramming a bunch of RVs right next to each other in nice neat rows with barely enough room between each one for a picnic table. This place had maybe twenty sites. A few were right next to the highway which would be a drag but we had been assigned sites 15 and 16 which in hindsight may have been the best spots in the place. They were right next to each other but 16 was slightly higher and we had big Ponderosa Pines between our sites. However, the best thing about these spots was that they were right above the lake itself with only a small hill leading down to the water. The pull-ins were designed so that the entire right side of our rig was aimed straight at the lake. We had great views of the lake from our side door, kitchen windows and bedroom window right by my head.
The new setup. The Navibahn and Mr. Green Jeens.
Now these are what I call sweet campsites
Bridgit inside the Navibahn
If you read the fine print on Bridgit’s Mantra Of Relaxation, it clearly states that floating on a lake on a SUP (Stand Up Paddleboard or a PN (Plastic Noodle qualifies as becoming one with your camp chair. Right next to our site was a path that dropped to a private cove which was a perfect spot to practice resting and relaxing. The water temperature was heavenly! We wallowed for a long time before finally making our way back up for some dinner. It’s a good thing we purchased a Coleman propane grill because the fire danger is so high there is a total burn ban and that includes charcoal. It was very calm when we arrived but the afternoon saw a decent wind come down the valley from the Cascades. It was a very comfortable warm wind but if you had a site directly exposed to it you would get pretty windblown. The Navibahn was pretty exposed, but the bright side to that was the wonderful steady breeze we had flowing straight through the RV all night long which felt great. Bob and Dana’s rig while slightly uphill from ours was able to use our rig as a wind block so it was calm as a clam at their picnic table.
Looking uplake at sunset from by our site
I left the window wide open all night so I could feel the breeze and look across the lake. The sun rose just after six and I was up to take a few pictures before brewing up my morning coffee.
Sunrise on Rimrock Lake
Bob and Dana own kayaks so they got out on the water early while the surface was super smooth. Meanwhile we whipped up a hearty breakfast of bacon, eggs and English muffins out at the picnic table on the Coleman stove.
Bob and Dana kayaking on Rimrock Lake
After breakfast we got Dana and Bridgit all situated with their paddleboards before deserting them. Bob and I hopped into Mr. Green Jeens in search of action and adventure. Not the mamby pamby kind of action like sitting in a camp chair all day. I can do that for about four minutes after which the call of the wild takes hold of me and I must succumb to my wanderlust.
The previous evening we gazed down the lake to a formidable rock formation. The map showed it as being something called Kloochman Rock. I had already heard of it since it was one of the first summits listed in Fred Beckey’s Cascade Alpine Guide, the Bible of Northwest climbing. Kloochman Rock rose prominently above the valley floor so we decided to see how close we could get to it in Mr. Green Jeens. Past the dam at the end of the lake we followed several dirt forest roads until we found the trailhead to get to the rock. I get the impression it is not climbed very often and there were no cars in the small parking area. After scoping out the rock we also drove up a different road to a small little lake before driving roads around Rimrock Lake and back to our camp.
Kloochman Rock from Rimrock Lake
The back side of part of Kloochman Rock from near the trailhead
It was still only noon when we got back to camp so after lunch and another fine session of swimming we still had three hours until dinner time. Let’s see. Sit in a chair all afternoon? Drive up a gnarly 4WD road to a high ridge? I agonized over what my decision would be for at least a third of a second before Bob and I jumped back in Mr. Green Jeens and left the girls floating on their boards in search of new husbands.
This time we had our eyes on a forest road that looked like it switchbacked up to the top of a high ridge. I was hoping that perhaps we might get some good views if we were up higher and that’s just what happened. The road started out pretty smoothly as it wound its way up and up. We eventually came to a junction that we were pretty sure led to some radio towers but first we opted to follow the road out to where it ended at a trailhead to a mountain I’d never even heard of. The views I had in mind were not to be seen but we did get great views of an area called Nelson Ridge and Mt. Aix. Mt. Aix is a very prominent peak east of Mt. Rainier and has the distinction of being the very first peak I ever summited in Washington State back in May of 1991.
Along the drive back to the radio tower junction we came to a cut in the ridge so we stopped to explore. Just by the road was a spectacular view looking way down to Rimrock Lake and out to Mt. Adams and the Goat Rocks Crest. It was exactly what I had in mind and I couldn’t have been more pleased (well, yes, I could have been more pleased and I was a few minutes later). Photos snapped, we went back to the side road leading up to the towers. This road was a bit rougher and we put ‘er down into 4WD for the last mile up to the top of the ridge and the radio towers. Being even higher and more open, we not only had even better views of Mt. Adams and the Goat Rocks but from here Mt. Rainier began to tower over the ridges to the west. I was extremely pleased with how our day had gone. I rested and relaxed in the lake and still got to explore in Mr. Green Jeens. I was a happy man.
Part of the Goat Rocks Crest. I climbed the peak on the right (Old Snowy) on a solo backpack trip a two years ago.
Mount Rainier from the radio tower ridge
Near the top of the road to the radio towers
The next morning after breakfast we all piled into Mr. Green Jeens for an excursion back up to Mt. Rainier. Since we had all day we had the rare luxury of stopping at every scenic pullout to see what there was to see. One in particular had a really nice vista of The Mountain. I NEVER get tired of seeing Mt. Rainier.
Bridgit, Jon and the one they call Tahoma
We drove back over White Pass, up to Cayuse Pass and then headed up towards the summit of Chinook Pass to a parking area just short of the pass. From here it is a very short walk across the highway and up a hill to Upper Tipsoo Lake. Bridgit and I had been here a few years ago when we did a loop hike called the Naches Peak Loop. On that trip we had seen a mama bear and her two cubs in the meadows just above the lake. You could clearly see that Bridgit was just hoping beyond hope to see another one this time. She marched Bob and Dana straight up the hill right to where we had seen the bear before. "It was right here" she would holler and I’m sure Dana was thinking “and why are we going right to where the bear was”? But alas, no bears were to be seen on this day. Still, I was extremely pleased that it was early enough in the day that I was able to get some good shots of Rainier with Upper Tipsoo Lake before any other people milled about and ruined the shots. The hillsides were carpeted with brilliantly colored wildflowers. For being so close to the road and a parking area, this was really a beautiful place.
Mt. Rainier reflected in Upper Tipsoo Lake
Magenta Indian Paintbrush
Mt. Rainier and Upper Tipsoo Lake
Cousin Itt Flowers I forgot their real name.
Clear Creek Falls (228 ft) Overlook
Cute little lizard on path to the lake cove
Do we looked relaxed enough?
I did sit in my camp chair and contemplated the universe and yes, it was very relaxing. I managed to find the answers to all the questions that have been asked throughout the course of history and I have now moved on to try and figure out how to levitate with a forty pound backpack.
Last night sunset on Rimrock Lake