Mt. Rainier with Mom and Dad

Mom on the Longmire trail, Mt. Rainier National Park 

Dad on Longmire trail, Mt. Rainier 

So I've been visiting my parents for a week in Puyallup (home of the famous Washington state fair), and we always like to visit Mt. Rainier National Park, with a stop at the Cottage Bakery along the way.  It's May, so no snow, but plenty of green everywhere.  We took the short Longmire trail, past an occasional beaver pond (pictured above) and the mineral springs that once were the reason for Longmire's health spa, in operation from the late 1890s to 1915s.  The Longmires hacked a trail from Puyallup to Mt. Rainier, allowing people to travel to "take the waters."  A mere $8 per head got you room and board and access to the springs. The original hotel, which would house 500 people each summer, is long gone, but the percolating springs remain. 

Mom points excitedly at the bubbling springs. 

You can still see a one room log cabin, built circa 1888 on the trail.  Otherwise, it's just you and the forest, and beaver construction.

The beaver decided he didn't want to finish the job, after all.