I've never posted a meet before, but I believe they go in this section, right? Anyways, MR_Loyale and myself are planning an old-school meet on the weekend of the 27th.

 

While talking at WCSS, we thought there weren't any regular old-school Subaru meets, but we thought it'd be nice to have one. In the future, we might be planning a meet every month or so.

 

This meet will be at Mt. Rainier, Washington. Specifically, we are planning to go to Cougar Rock Campground. This campground is just south of the mountain. I believe the campground closes after that weekend, so we will be the last people in. It's first come first serve, so no guarantees that you can find a campsite. Online, it says the fee will be $12-$15.

 

If for any reason Cougar Rock is unavailable (e.g. all sites are full, road is closed, campground is closed, etc.), then the closest alternative is White River Campground. It's located just northeast of Mt. Rainier, and costs $12 to get in. This too is first come first serve, so no guarantees on a spot here. 

 

Both campgrounds feature water, flush toilets, and fire grates. Cougar Rock sits at 3180 ft high in elevation, and White River sits at 4400 ft high.

 

I think the thing I want to stress is, no guarantees. I don't know if the campgrounds will close prematurely; I don't know if the roads will be accessible; I don't know what the weather will be like. Think of it as going at your own risk.

 

If you're interested in joining us, just let me know. 

Ill be there hopefully... I hope there is snow!... I'm not even gonna check the weather...just gonna hope

Snow would be fun, but kinda doubtful. It's still pretty early in the season, but we will be at a decent elevation. Just have to wait and see!

I might be up for coming for one day, but not the whole weekend.

If you can make it, feel free to stop by. What day are you thinking of coming up? 

We will have a 6ft Subaru flag. Should be easy to spot. Hopefully the Park Ranger won't come and ask us if we are selling cars.

If you can make it, feel free to stop by. What day are you thinking of coming up? 

 

If I make it, it would likely be Saturday during the day, sleeping there and heading home Sunday.  Depends on the weather, how much I worked during the week, and how big my paychecks are.  If I am too tired from the week I need the weekend to recharge.  If I have plenty of energy then its no big deal to drive up.

Edited September 20, 201312 yr by Flowmastered87GL

Since I have never been to Rainier,  I decided to take a pre-trip run up there to get a lay of the land. As my Subie is FWD, I wanted to know the condition of the roads and such as there is no way my FWD would handle heavy snow. Met a couple of friends at Krispy Kreme and they rode with me in the Dodge. Ironically in the very same lot that security accused us of using to sell cars when we were meeting for the WCSS trip, was a car sale by Bruce Titus.

 

HWY 7 has a detour which delays the time to get there. We made it to Cougar Rock to check it out and there were plenty of campsites open. Next weekend is the last weekend of the season.

Edited September 22, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

I'm still mixed.... part of me really wants to get rest... the other part wants to just come and relax and chat and BS with other old schoolers (yes my Baja is new, but it has the heart of an old schooler (and a brat badge on the back)) so I am still flaky on coming.

Man, you must love doing pre-trip runs. I just run with it and hope all goes well (and Google Maps tells the truth).  But I guess going up a mountain in a FWD, it can be worrysome.

 

Flowmaster, just see how you feel a day or two before the trip. Make sure you got the gas money and the energy to come up. As I initially stated, we might try doing a meet every month or so. Maybe we'll do a meet down south. Personally, I felt the drive to WCSS was too short. I'd love to do an interstate journey. Maybe some time in the coming months we might do a trip to central Oregon and we can pick you up on the way. I'd love to go to southern Idaho too. No, no. I would love, LOVE, love, love, love to go to Wyoming! That's where the original owner of my Loyale bought the car. That's where my car was born (well, besides being made in Japan). I'd love to go to the dealership in Wyoming that my car came from. Maybe next summer?  Ugh, I digress, haha. 

 

On topic, I have work and school on Friday. I won't be able to leave for the mountain until Friday evening about. Not sure if I can be a part of a convoy going there (if we have one planned) since I'll be pretty late. But I do have the weekend off of work though. I'm pretty excited. 

Not a bad idea Grant.  

Planing to go interstate well that might make things more complicated and could require more than a months notice.    Honestly I think a random destination could be as much fun as camping and you need a lot less stuff.  Pick a restaurant  for one meal hang out and head home... Just my thoughts on it.

For the frequent meetings like monthly, I like the ideas of a meetup and short cruise to restaurant. Perhaps a longer trip once every quarter or so. That way there is lots of lead time for planning vacation time etc.   There is a car club in Philly on youtube that has frequent "Cars and Coffee" events in which they simply show up near a coffee joint, grab a cup of their favorite, walk around looking and talking cars an then a short cruise off to some place for lunch.

 

I think we could do something similar. Long cruises in the winter wet nasty months are going to be hard to get anyone to do. But I bet we could almost always get at least a small group at say a Krispy Kreme or some other coffee joint.

 

Anyway, these details can be discussion at the cougar Rock gathering. It is a wonderful place with lots of trails and great scenic view points. I might end up going early since I have Thursday off.

Edited September 23, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

I'm still mixed.... part of me really wants to get rest... the other part wants to just come and relax and chat and BS with other old schoolers (yes my Baja is new, but it has the heart of an old schooler (and a brat badge on the back)) so I am still flaky on coming.

 

Don't worry. Eventually everything is "Old School". We would love to see your Baja as well as have someone from outside Washington join us. That would help for planning trips into your neck of the woods. I personally think a trip to McMinnville would be really cool. You can sleep once you get to the campsite (easy for me to say right?). Anyway, hope you make it.

Man, you must love doing pre-trip runs. I just run with it and hope all goes well (and Google Maps tells the truth).  But I guess going up a mountain in a FWD, it can be worrysome.

 

Flowmaster, just see how you feel a day or two before the trip. Make sure you got the gas money and the energy to come up. As I initially stated, we might try doing a meet every month or so. Maybe we'll do a meet down south. Personally, I felt the drive to WCSS was too short. I'd love to do an interstate journey. Maybe some time in the coming months we might do a trip to central Oregon and we can pick you up on the way. I'd love to go to southern Idaho too. No, no. I would love, LOVE, love, love, love to go to Wyoming! That's where the original owner of my Loyale bought the car. That's where my car was born (well, besides being made in Japan). I'd love to go to the dealership in Wyoming that my car came from. Maybe next summer?  Ugh, I digress, haha. 

 

On topic, I have work and school on Friday. I won't be able to leave for the mountain until Friday evening about. Not sure if I can be a part of a convoy going there (if we have one planned) since I'll be pretty late. But I do have the weekend off of work though. I'm pretty excited. 

 

 

Google Maps had no clue about the State Route 7 detour. It added about an hour to our trip. Yes I do love doing pre-trips and my Dodge Ram needed to have its legs stretched as it has been sitting for months.  Was a fun drive, the gas bill, not so fun. If I can get 16mpg  in it I do a victory dance.

Edited September 22, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

You must have taken a real scenic route, that detour shouldn't add 10 minutes.  

 

Google Maps had no clue about the State Route 7 detour. It added about an hour to our trip. Yes I do love doing pre-trips and my Dodge Ram needed to have its legs stretched as it has been sitting for months.  Was a fun drive, the gas bill, not so fun. If I can get 16mpg  in it I do a victory dance.

You must have taken a real scenic route, that detour shouldn't add 10 minutes.  

 

 

You are probably right. I have never driven that without the detour so I don't know.

Google maps predicted we would take 1 hour 28 minutes to get to Cougar Rock from the Tacoma Mall Krispy Kreme. One of the guys even had a GPS talkie turner gadget that kept telling us to do a U-Turn when we turned onto the detour route. Over and over  all it would say is "take a U turn".

 

It sure seemed like we ended up taking at least an extra 30-40 minutes to get there. May not have anything to do with the detour though.  Also there was construction in certain places that may have added to the time.

Edited September 22, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

Not a bad idea Grant.  

Planing to go interstate well that might make things more complicated and could require more than a months notice.    Honestly I think a random destination could be as much fun as camping and you need a lot less stuff.  Pick a restaurant  for one meal hang out and head home... Just my thoughts on it.

 

I like your idea. Just brainstorming for October. What is October known for other than Halloween? A Soob-toberFest trip to Leavenworth perhaps?

That should be fun!.   The last time I went  there I found a place with a bunch of hot sauces and jellies.  I  thought my mouth would spontaneously combust for about 5 minutes...it was great!  

 

You are probably right. I have never driven that without the detour so I don't know.

Google maps predicted we would take 1 hour 28 minutes to get to Cougar Rock from the Tacoma Mall Krispy Kreme. One of the guys even had a GPS talkie turner gadget that kept telling us to do a U-Turn when we turned onto the detour route. Over and over  all it would say is "take a U turn".

 

It sure seemed like we ended up taking at least an extra 30-40 minutes to get there. May not have anything to do with the detour though.  Also there was construction in certain places that may have added to the time.

I try to pay attention to the electronic signs that are posted by the detours as I have found them to provide pretty good information. 

Yeah, just like how pilots do cross country flights just to get some food. We can do the same. Just for me, the longer the trip, the more it makes sense to stay a couple nights. Leavenworth would be fun. I've been there many, many times, but I've always wanted to drive old Blewett pass. I hear it's pretty sketchy, but that makes it fun, right?

 

I'll probably be at Cougar Rock on Friday night. Google Maps never knows about detours, haha. But they shouldn't take too long. Oh well, I don't care how long it takes to get there. 

Heres the detour route...

 

 

 

Another good place to look before heading out is the WSDOT site for detours, closures etc.

 

http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/trafficalerts/pugetsound.aspx

That should be fun!.   The last time I went  there I found a place with a bunch of hot sauces and jellies.  I  thought my mouth would spontaneously combust for about 5 minutes...it was great!  

 

I work with a bunch of developers from India, they could also make some foods for you that would do that if you like. They are always bringing in that stuff and trying to get me to eat it.

Edited September 23, 201312 yr by MR_Loyale

My neck made up my mind for me.  I can barely move it.  No way I could survive the drive up there, putting up a tent AND sleeping on an air mattress.  So I am not going to make it up there.  I will try to hit one of the future events.

They are predicting 80% chance of snow Friday night 1-2 inches. I am not going to risk it in my FWD car. Sorry I am out.

They are predicting 80% chance of snow Friday night 1-2 inches. I am not going to risk it in my FWD car. Sorry I am out.

It looks like the predicted snow level is somewhere between 4000 and 5000 ft higher than Cougar Rock, I think you would be safe.

 

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/data/rainier_report.html