Category: Mt. Rainier

Despite the lack of postings, we have been hiking on Mt. Rainier the last three or four weeks, though we didn’t actually see the mountain until last week.  Our first hike was one of the last ones we took last year, the High Lakes Trail.  The highlight of the day was fields covered by Avalanche Lilies, far more than we have seen in previous years.  I suspect that is because we also saw more snow than we’ve seen in previous years.  It’s almost as if the lilies were trying to replace the snowfields that were just melting.

Although it was the sheer number of Avalanche Lilies that most impressed us, the photographer in me couldn’t figure out how to convey that in a single shot, so, as usual, I went for a closer shot, 

and an even closer shot, one that shows a surprisingly delicate beauty but seems to thrive in an unforgiving environment. 

We were also greeted by a personal favorite — (Indian) Paintbrush.

I was a little surprised/disappointed that the Canada Jays didn’t join us for lunch but I was thrilled to spot a seldom-seen Sooty Grouse with several chicks that had apparently mastered camouflage because they didn’t actually show up on any of the many shots I took.

My favorite shot of the day was actually taken after we had finished the hike and had stopped for a bathroom break at Narada Falls.  Right in front of the only parking spot left in the lot were these beautiful Tiger Lilies,

the perfect way to end a nearly perfect day.

Although our weekly trip to Mt. Rainier ended this week because of dense smoke from numerous wildfires, we did manage to walk another piece of the Wonderland Trail by walking from Reflection Lake to Lake Louise last. week.  Unfortunately, my Sony camera suffered a malfunction at the beginning of the hike, and I had to resort to my iPhone 11 to take pictures.  

We had actually spotted Lake Louise on our Reflection Lake hike last year but had never visited it.  It’s a rather short hike from Reflection Lake, all downhill, except for the climb back to Reflection Lake.

It was the perfect hike for a hot day descending through a dense forest and crossing several creeks that feed the lake.

From the lake we could see the overlook where we headed next; it’s a lot higher than it looks in the picture.

This shot from the Overlook gives a much more accurate depiction of how far we climbed from Lake Louise.

Luckily, we reached the high point of our hike by noon and could enjoy the lush meadows that make up the High Lakes Trail.

We continue to have beautiful weather in the Pacific Northwest, and we’ve done our best to take advantage of it by trying to hike on Mt. Rainier once a week.  After our hike on the southeast flank of the mountain, we decided to hike the northeast flank.  Worried that there would be too many people hiking the main trail, we took another trail we had never done before and were pleasantly surprised — though we still saw more people than we expected.

The lack of recent rain was beginning to show as the trail was quite dusty and flowers next to the trail were looking parched.

This emerald lake hundreds of feet below looked mighty inviting, 

but we settled for a lunch stop at the much closer Shadow Lake.

Not sure where all the Canada Jays were, but the only wildlife we saw on the trail was this bold, little chipmunk.

Flowers galore, but none more striking than this Magenta Paintbrush,

Which isn’t to say that I ignored all the other flowers

even some that didn’t quite look like flowers.