Weekly Hike #9: Beyond Sunrise

On August 8, Mr. D and I got up early and headed to Mount Rainier National Park and our first hike together in over a month. Usually, when we go to Mount Rainier we enter the park from the southwest corner and head right up to Paradise. This time, however, we had heard that there was roadwork going on between Longmire and Paradise, and that there could be substantial delays, so instead, we entered the park at the northeast corner and headed to Sunrise.

Sunrise is, at 6,400 feet, the highest point reachable by road on the mountain. Sunrise also is a place of spectacular views:

There was a trailhead near the Visitor Center, with lots of destinations, all of them up:

We decided to hike to Frozen Lake. The trail was steep, but smooth, and we made fairly quick progress. That's Mr. D ahead of me on the trail.

We reached Frozen Lake, and discovered that they call it "frozen" for a reason. Not only was there snow still floating in the lake in August, but there was a very cold wind blowing across it. Despite having to immediately switch from short sleeves to sweatshirts, we stopped to enjoy the view.

Initially, we thought we would circle back to Sunrise via the Burroughs Mountain trail, but a large snowfield (and neither of us with our hiking poles) caused us to turn around. Instead, we walked for a half hour on the Berkeley Park trail, which provided more spectacular views.

Then, because we wanted to move on to another part of the park, we headed back to Sunrise. But before getting in the car, we enjoyed one last look:

The rest of the day's adventures didn't involve hiking, but I'll share some highlights:

We ate our lunch on the shore of the beautiful Ohanapecosh River, and then strolled through the Grove of the Patriarchs, home of magnificent old growth cedars and Douglas fir trees.

Then we drove up to Paradise, our favorite spot on the mountain. On the way there, I shot this photograph of the south face of the mountain:

This turned out to be our only glimpse of the summit, because by the time we reached Paradise, the top of the mountain was completely shrouded with clouds. We contented ourselves with a short walk along the edge of the meadows, and enjoyed the scent and sight of blooming wildflowers. Then we headed home.

We aren't through with Mount Rainier for this hiking season, however. We will be heading back for a day of hiking at Paradise in September, weather permitting, so stay tuned.

Weekly Hike #18: Sunny this Time!

I know that you all have been waiting with bated breath for the elusive hike number 18. (Well, maybe one or two of you have.) On September 19th, following days of checking the weather forecast, Mr. D and I returned to Paradise on Mount Rainier, with only one goal: a sunny day hike with views, to make up for all the clouds and rain that we experienced at the end of August.

There was no question what hike we would do. We both love hiking up to Panorama Point, and enjoying the spectacular views while we eat our lunch. This time was no different. Here are the view highlights from this day:

That isn't Mount Rainier, although it certainly looks like it, doesn't it? It's Mount Adams, also known as Mount Rainier's "Little Brother". It looks a lot closer to us than it actually was, thanks to my 55-250 millimeter lens.

Mount Adams is located southeast of Mount Rainier. When I turned and faced the southwest, I was able to see and photograph Mount St. Helens on the horizon. This is the side of the mountain that blew out when Mt. St. Helens erupted on May 20, 1980.

After enjoying these wonderful vistas and eating our lunch, we headed back down the trail toward Paradise. We once again were treated to a relatively close encounter with a marmot:

When we got back to Paradise, and before heading home, we paused for while to soak in the view.

It's always sad to leave Mount Rainier after our last hike of the season, but as I've said before: We'll be back next year, Mount Rainier, we'll be back.

Weekly Hikes #12, #13 and #14: On the Cloudy Mountain

I'm still a bit behind in telling you about my recent hikes, so this is post is going to be mostly photos. Last month, from August 26th through the 29th we were on Mount Rainier, staying at the Paradise Inn, and hiking every day except the last one, when there was a downpour that started overnight and was still going strong when we headed home.

We had a great time, but there was one thing that was very disappointing: we never saw the top of Mount Rainier, because it was cloud-covered the whole time we were there. Here is what it looked like:

Just because it was cloudy didn't mean that we couldn't hike, however. I'd like to take you on a photo tour of the three hikes that Mr. D and I did while at Paradise.

Day One: We arrived around noon, and after eating our picnic lunch, we set out on the Lakes Trail, then the High Lakes Trail, looping back to the Lakes Trail, which brought us back to the Paradise Inn. We saw wonderful alpine meadows, filled with wildflowers, and a serene little pond that reflected the sky.

Day Two: We drove a few miles below Paradise and parked at Christine Falls, then walked a quarter of a mile down the road to the Comet Falls trailhead. The trail started out relatively flat, and we passed some of the cascades of beautiful Christine Falls before the trail began to get steep and rocky. It was a real slog getting to the falls, but once we did, the view was worth it.

Day Three: Whenever we are at Paradise we hike up to Panorama Point and have our lunch looking out over the Paradise valley and the Tatoosh Range. This time, the view wasn't the highlight of the hike, although we enjoyed it. We were more enthralled by the wildlife. Very early in the hike we saw a doe calmly nibbling greenery near the trail and totally ignoring the hikers going by. Later in the hike we had several close encounters with the marmots that live in the high alpine meadows.

Being at Paradise isn't all hiking. Mr. D and I went on some pleasant walks on the paved trails near the Visitor Center, and we hung out and enjoyed being in the inn. So, to finish this post, here are some photos from our walk and our time at the inn.

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #26: Smoky

Wow, it's been a while since my last post, hasn't it? Well, there is a reason for that, and I'll share it soon in an upcoming post.

Today I want to share some photos from our annual hike at Paradise on Mount Rainier. It was very different from our day there last year, even though it was only three days later than last year. First of all, due to a very hot and dry August and September, the wildflowers had already bloomed, and were mostly gone. Secondly, there was this:

That haze you see draping the Tatoosh Range is smoke. Severe wildfires in eastern Washington caused heavy smoke to drift over the Cascades and envelop Mount Rainier. The air quality improved as the day went on, but we were always able to see (and smell) the smoke.

The smoke didn't stop us, and we still were able to hike up as far as Panorama Point, elevation 6,800 feet, to our usual picnic spot. Here are some images from the hike up:

At Panorama Point, the view wasn't as spectacular as in other years, but I did see something there that I have never seen before: a cairn! (You know how I love cairns...)

We also saw a rather daunting sign next to the route across the snowfields:

Even though the air was smoky and the wildflower season was almost over, we found beauty to enjoy. It is still Paradise, after all.