Today we got up and said a moment of prayer because there isn’t any fountain diet Coke within 45 miles of Packwood. That is really harsh! Ok, after dealing with the Coke issue we headed out for the Nisquallly (West) entrance to Mount Ranier National Park. This entrance is 23 miles North of Packwood via National Forest Rd 52. NF-52 follows a river most of the way to Hwy 706 which leads to the park. NF-52 is a beautiful drive and we took our time during the trip stopping very often to admire the raging rapids of Nisqually River. A few miles inside the park is the Longmire lodge and museum. The Longmire buildings are historical dating back to the early 1900’s when the park was the 5th established National Park. The lodge is pretty small and basic compared to Yellowstone, Yosemite, and other big parks. We had a nice basic lunch in the lodge dining room. After lunch we drove to the Paradise Lodge and recreation area. All along the route are beautiful views of the mountain and three really nice waterfalls. The road to Paradise is the only part of the park open at this time. The weather was pretty nice, in the 50’s to 60’s. The mountain started off being obscured by clouds but by the halfway point the mountain was visible except for the very peak. Pretty good for this time of year.